We are seeking an experienced, motivated, and forward-thinking leader to join The Christie NHS Foundation Trust as our Quality Improvement & Audit Manager. This is an exciting opportunity to lead and deliver high-quality quality improvement and clinical audit programmes that drive excellence in patient outcomes, safety, and experience.
Working closely with the Quality Improvement & Audit Lead, you will provide operational leadership and expert guidance to embed a culture of continuous improvement. You will ensure improvement and audit activity is aligned to Trust priorities, clinical governance requirements, and national standards, while leading and developing a specialist team.
You will play a key role in building improvement capability across the Trust through training, coaching, and effective stakeholder engagement. As a credible subject matter expert, you will influence and collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders to deliver meaningful and sustainable change.
The successful candidate will have a proven track record in quality improvement and clinical audit, with strong project management and analytical skills. You will be resilient, proactive, and confident working in complex environments, with the ability to deliver measurable improvements in patient care. Experience of applying quality improvement methodologies (e.g. PDSA, driver diagrams, process mapping, measurement for improvement) is essential.
The postholder will provide operational leadership and day-to-day management of the Quality Improvement and Clinical Audit (QICA) function, ensuring high quality improvement and clinical audit activity is effectively delivered and embedded across the organisation.
Working closely with the Quality Improvement & Audit Lead, the role will support the delivery of the Trust’s Quality Strategy by ensuring quality improvement and clinical audit programmes are aligned to organisational priorities, clinical governance requirements, and national standards.
They will work collaboratively with clinical leaders, managers, patients, and wider partners to promote a culture of continuous learning, transparency, and improvement, ensuring that audit findings and improvement initiatives translate into measurable and sustainable improvements in patient safety, experience, and clinical effectiveness.
The role will also ensure robust processes are in place for monitoring compliance with national guidance, supporting effective reporting through governance structures and contributing to organisational assurance and regulatory requirements.
Working for your organisation
The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres and an international leader in cancer research. We are a performance-driven, high-achieving organisation, with the patient at the heart of everything we do. Our ambition is to be one of the leading comprehensive cancer centres in the world.
A Foundation Trust since 2007 we are one of Europe’s leading comprehensive cancer centres, treating over 44,000 patients a year and with a turnover in excess of £220m. Based in Manchester we serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, and as a national specialist around 26% of patients are referred to us from other areas of the country.
Our combination of service, research and education provides opportunities for innovation, and we use a strong business approach to develop our services. Our ambitious strategy includes delivering services closer to patients’ homes for example through our network of Christie radiotherapy centres and developing new treatments for patients in our early phase trials unit which is the largest in the world.
If you think you could be the person we are looking for and wish to arrange an informal discussion, please contact Eugene Collins - Quality Improvement & Audit Lead:
[email protected]
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Human Resources:
- Provide active first line management of departmental staff, setting work plans and priorities with the guidance of the Quality Improvement & Audit Lead; including recruitment, induction, sickness/absence monitoring, appraisal and personal development plans in line with processes.
- Lead the departmental team to implement, deliver and adhere to national, regional and Trust initiatives, guidelines, policies and procedures such as quality improvement, confidentiality, health & safety.
- Develop and implement training and development opportunities for departmental staff.
Physical and Financial Resources
- To be aware of budgetary controls and monitoring and support the budget holder in this.
- Contribute towards the procurement and maintenance of all physical assets, including IT equipment and software.
- To be responsible for the safe and proper use by users of IT equipment and software such as Office 365, Microsoft Forms, Snap, Tableau, monday.com.
Service
- To contribute to and implement the quality improvement and clinical audit plan in line with the Trust Quality Strategy and produce policies for the department in line with national and local clinical governance priorities.
- To co-ordinate the development of the Trust quality improvement and clinical audit programme, reflecting national, regional and local priorities including the requirements of NICE, national audit programme, PSIRF, quality improvement priorities and CQC outcomes. To maintain a database of all types of projects to ensure there are accurate records, communication and planning.
- To coordinate the process for reviewing, monitoring and reporting progress with national guidance in the Trust. To maintain a database of responses ensuring that relevant guidance is included in the quality improvement and clinical audit programme to confirm compliance. To support individual leads and managers to assess and implement guidance, including carrying out risk assessments.
- To oversee the project management of the quality improvement and clinical audit programme, delegating and prioritising work as appropriate within departmental resources.
- To develop and oversee the Trust clinical audit database to support regular reports, archive, classification and management of projects.
- To provide regular reports of quality improvement and clinical audit activity and findings to divisions, governance committees and the Trust Board, including the trust’s annual Quality Accounts and annual clinical audit and improvement reports.
- To work closely with a wide range of healthcare professionals to ensure that appropriate quality improvement and clinical audit tools are designed to measure standards of care and deliver improvements where indicated.
- To communicate efficiently with staff at all levels, including the presentation of the results of
complex projects to small and large groups.
- To promote good practice at all stages of projects, requiring advice and technical support:
o Project Planning:
To ensure appropriate use of the local project proposal process.
To organise meetings with relevant participants to establish clear aims and objectives of the project and responsibilities of staff taking part.
o Design and Methodology:
Undertaking fieldwork as necessary including population and sample definition
Design and co-ordinate questionnaires and other data collection tools as required, including encouraging and supporting data requests from the Trust’s EPR.
o Data Collection:
Use tools provided to retrieve information from the EPR when is cannot be extracted.
Occasional review of patients’ records to support audit processes.
To support data quality and use of electronic information sources.
o Analysis/Interpretation:
Design databases/spreadsheets to prepare statistical analysis using relevant software including, Microsoft Forms, Snap and Excel.
Undertake analysis of data and produce preliminary reports for interpretation with participants .
o Reports and action plans:
Produce detailed reports integrating all information extracted from data analysis.
To advise on recommendations and improvement planning.
To facilitate the change process to ensure maximum benefit to patient care.
o Presentation and dissemination:
Organise presentation seminars to disseminate results of audits (Trust wide).
Produce comprehensive presentation slides (Powerpoint).
Present reports to participants, interested groups and committees.
To support clinicians to submit projects for publication through appropriate media (journals, posters and conference presentations).
- To resolve conflicting situations about complex queries arising from projects and raise issues with data quality appropriately.
- To attend committees as required to provide quality improvement and clinical audit advice and promote a quality improvement culture as appropriate.
- To contribute to supporting arrangements for managing quality improvement and clinical audit within Divisions.
- To undertake the provision of training to Health Care Professionals and other staff as required in quality improvement and clinical audit, including on Trust induction.
- To oversee the maintenance of the quality improvement and clinical audit intranet pages as an information and training resource for the trust.
Professional Requirements
- To develop professional and personal skills through continual professional development and training in quality improvement, clinical audit and clinical governance
- Participate in meetings and activities at local, regional and national level; specifically, the National Quality Improvement and Clinical Audit Network (NQICAN) and NICE managers forum.
Freedom to Act
- The postholder has significant discretion to work within a set of defined parameters.
- Work autonomously, prioritising own workload.
