Improvement Advisor
Job summary
We are seeking an experienced and motivated Improvement Advisor to support the implementation of the Electronic Patient Record programme across Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
This is an exciting opportunity to work at the centre of a major clinical, operational and digital transformation programme. The post holder will provide Quality Improvement expertise to support EPR workstreams, helping teams to understand current ways of working, identify waste and unwarranted variation, redesign workflows, test change safely, and measure whether the EPR delivers meaningful benefits for patients, staff and services.
The EPR programme is both a technical deployment as well as an unique opportunity to improve patient safety, flow, reliability, staff experience and patient care. Quality Improvement support will help ensure the programme starts with the problems that matter most to patients and staff, by maximising system functionality to meet the needs of its users.
The successful candidate will work closely with clinical, operational, digital and administrative teams across a range of workstreams, including emergency care, inpatient wards, pharmacy, theatres and outpatients. The role will support current-state diagnosis, process mapping, work-as-done observation, facilitated co-design, rapid-cycle testing and benefits realisation.
Main duties of the job
The Improvement Advisor will provide hands-on Quality Improvement support to EPR workstreams, ensuring that digital implementation improves real clinical and operational workflows rather than digitising existing inefficiencies.
The post holder will support teams to define the priority problems the EPR needs to solve, establish baseline performance, understand current work-as-done, identify duplication and waste, and support the co-design of future-state workflows.
The role will include facilitating multidisciplinary groups, supporting project delivery from initiation through to closure, applying Quality Improvement science and the Model for Improvement, and ensuring that changes are tested, adapted and implemented safely.
The post holder will also support measurement for improvement by developing outcome, process and balancing measures, using run charts, Statistical Process Control, surveys and audits where appropriate to understand whether changes are being realised and sustained.
The post holder will work with clinical teams in their area's, wards, unit and services to identify where there are opportunities to improve with new digital tools.
A key part of the role will be supporting sustainability beyond go-live by helping teams develop standard work, documentation, local ownership and transition plans so that improvement becomes embedded into business as usual.
About us
NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHL Group) was formed on 1 November 2024, born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our communities.
We are one of the largest employers in region, with over 18,900 colleagues who are dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.
For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services that extend to more than two million people in the North West.
We operate from five hospital sites:Aintree University Hospitalis the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside, and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility.Broadgreen Hospitalis home to several elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation.Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospitalprovide specialist services incardiothoracic surgery,cardiology and respiratory medicine, both in the hospital and out in the community.Liverpool Women's Hospitalspecialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year. TheRoyal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single en-suite bedrooms and mainly focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Provide Quality Improvement expertise, advice and practical support to EPR workstreams across the full project lifecycle, from initiation through to closure
- Support clinical, operational and digital teams to define high-risk and high-volume problems that the EPR needs to address
- Undertake current-state diagnosis, process mapping and work-as-done observation to identify variation, duplication, rework, workarounds and potential safety risks
- Facilitate multidisciplinary co-design sessions with clinical, operational, administrative, pharmacy, diagnostic and digital colleagues
- Apply Quality Improvement science, including the Model for Improvement, to support testing and implementation of EPR-related changes
- Use rapid-cycle testing / PDSA methods to test workflows, templates, training approaches, escalation processes and role design before wider rollout
- Support benefits realisation by developing meaningful outcome, process and balancing measures linked to safety, flow, reliability and staff experience
- Use Quality Improvement measurement approaches, including Statistical Process Control where appropriate, to understand performance and variation over time
- Coach and support frontline teams in improvement methods, helping staff build confidence, ownership and capability
- Ensure sustainability plans, documentation and procedures are in place when improvement work transitions into business as usual
- Provide updates, reports and papers to support local governance, programme governance and Quality and Safety Committee reporting where required
- Work with senior managers, service leads, clinicians, departments, external NHS organisations, suppliers, local government and other stakeholders as required
Person Specification
Qualifications
- Relevant first degree or equivalent
- Relevant advanced Diploma, other higher degree or equivalent
- A clinical, nursing or therapies qualification for those projects requiring clinical expertise
- Formal Quality Improvement qualification or equivalent QI experience in a business environment
Experience
- Experience of working in a Quality Improvement environment
- Substantial experience of providing improvement support to a series of complex, large inter-related projects
- Substantial experience of managing a project team
- Substantial experience of using Microsoft Office applications
- Working with colleagues at all levels including senior clinicians
- Working on unfamiliar topics requiring rapid assimilation of new technical knowledge
- Teaching and presentation skills
- Experience of delivering change management initiatives
- Analyses of non routine data, interpretation and resolution
- Experience of working in a NHS environment
Knowledge
- A good understanding of the application of information and IT systems to support patient care
Skills
- Ability to lead a team of diverse individuals to deliver projects to meet aims and objectives
- Thorough understanding of the benefits of using Quality Improvement Science and the ability to adapt these to meet the requirements of the project.
- Plan improvement projects which impact across clinical and non clinical areas
- Ability to manage independently and make decisions in line with organisational Strategy and objectives
- Ability to check own and others work to ensure all products are of a high quality
- Ability to frequently concentrate for prolonged periods of time, managing interruptions as appropriate.
- Excellent interpersonal and facilitation skills
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Experience of dealing with and communicating complex and contentious information
- Excellent negotiation, motivation and influencing skills
- Ability to persuade senior managers and frontline staff of the importance of the project or programme
- Ability to present programme and project management techniques and tools in a non-technical format.
- Ability to delivery presentations to a large audience
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.
Employer details
Employer name
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Aintree Hospital (cross site working required)
Liverpool
L9 7AL
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.liverpoolft.nhs.uk/