University Hospitals Sussex is the subject of an important Independent Maternity Review (IMR), commissioned by the Department of Health on behalf of the Secretary of State. This is due to commence in October 2026 and is expected to last at least 3 years. The review will examine approximately 1,000 cases of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths, neonatal harm due to severe brain injury and severe maternal harm dating back to at least 2018. The purpose is to understand what happened, reach conclusions on the care provided, provide answers for families and identify learning for the organisation and wider NHS. The review is, by its’ very nature, extremely sensitive and politically charged. The impact is expected to be significant for the families at the heart of the review, current and past staff and the wider organisation. In parallel, the Trust is the subject of an active police investigation – Operation Bramber.
The programme of work required to ensure the Trust can meet the needs of families, the IMR team, Sussex Police, staff and other bodies is complex and diverse. It will span quality and corporate governance, information management, information governance, analytics, communications, wellbeing, recruitment, training, inclusion and professional standards. Working effectively with teams across Women and Children’s services and critical corporate teams will be essential to identify, manage and complete all the actions required for readiness and to run it smoothly.
The programme manager will provide expert leadership in developing and overseeing the countdown to readiness plan and day to day management of the delivery plan once the review is live. They will ensure a single version of the truth is in in place capturing all the week on week actions required to enable the Trust to be ready on time, identifying critical interdependencies and ensuring the sequencing of tasks is effectively managed. They will proactively identify risks, work to resolve those they can and escalate others to the Quality Director and Director of Regulatory Affairs.
Once the IMR is live, their focus will move to programme management of the operational activities required to service the review and any Police investigations, working across clinical and corporate services to embed attention to detail, robust audit trails, pace and proactive problem solving. They will also support core governance activities – routine reporting, risk and issue management for internal and external audiences.
As the IMR and investigations are evolving entities, this will require flexibility in when and how to respond. Given the nature of the work, high standards of professionalism, discretion, sensitivity and commitment to preserving confidentiality of highly sensitive information are critical.
At UHSussex (UHSx), diversity is our strength, & we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First. Your uniqueness & experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of Staff Networks to help break down barriers, & can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) & a Veteran Aware Trust.
We treat our patients & staff with the same compassion & empathy we expect for ourselves. We’re here for them when they need us, and we go above & beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in our candidate information pack & wellbeing programme, for staff which is extensive & designed to support you when you need it, including where possible, flexible working to support work life balance - because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves.
As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching & training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us & throughout your career we will help you to grow & develop. We hope that in choosing UHSx you are choosing a long & happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make & feel valued for all that you do.
We look forward to receiving your application & the start of your journey with UHSx.
Candidate Information Pack: https://www.uhsussex.nhs.uk/resources/candidate-information-pack/
Leadership
Own the production, management and maintenance of the countdown plan to readiness and the operational delivery plans, ensuring that these are fit for purpose and evolve to meet changing needs.
Take responsibility for ensuring that the clinical and corporate teams within the scope of the programme actively inform the countdown and delivery plans and own delivery of their contributions.
Own the risk and issues registers, ensuring that these comply with Trust standards and have robust assurance measures as well mitigations described and liaise with the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer’s team to ensure risks are logged on Divisional or Corporate registers as appropriate.
Lead embedding best practice programme management techniques to ensure rigorous management of all critical activities and regular gateway reviews.
Act as champion for evidence-based assurance ie challenge colleagues to provide objective evidence that tasks have been completed and are having the necessary impact.
Team Management
Contribute to recruitment and induction of new members of staff to the team, including ensuring staff understand how to use systems used to record, track and log evidence of completion of tasks.
Train the IMR and Bramber Business Manager to maintain and manage the countdown and delivery plans, risks and issues register to ensure resilience during times of sickness or annual leave.
Prioritise own workload flexibly and using sound judgement, to ensure that risks to delivery are minimised
Work with the Quality Director to ensure there is a drum beat of daily, weekly and monthly tasks, with allocated responsible individuals which are followed through and closed off and hold people to account for their contribution
Work with the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Director to develop the network of contacts in the IMR team, Divisions and Corporate functions needed to build and iterate the readiness and delivery plans and deliver the actions within agreed timeframes.
Programme Management
Build a suite of programme documents for the IMR with input from subject
matter experts –a countdown plan, a delivery plan for when the review is live, interdependencies maps, stakeholder and engagement plan, risks and issues log and benefits mapping using recognised programme management techniques.
Work with the IMR and key corporate team to ensure there is a robust set of policies and SOPs used to run the IMR and police investigations and respond to the diverse range of enquiries and requests. These must ensure compliance with Trust policies, information governance & Caldicott principles. Ensure robust processes are in place to review and update these before they are beyond their due date.
Work with the business manager to ensure that robust document management systems are in place to record all contacts with the IMR team, communications, supporting documents and evidence of completion, using Nottingham University Hospitals systems as a basis for
Ensure there is a clear forward look available for the programme of actions due in the next week, month and quarter to inform team meetings, huddles, the expert panel and reporting internally and to DHSC-NHSE. Work with teams to anticipate and mitigate risks and issues.
Track completion of tasks in the programme plan robustly and provide check and challenge on the evidence used to deem something complete and effective, to ensure the programme operates robust assurance.
Flex to provide support to other members of the team during periods of pressure, including the programme team in perinatal services.
Participate in learning and reflection activities to evaluate and improve the team’s response to the IMR and Operation Bramber, including facilitating formal gateway reviews.
Participate in joint learning with members of the team from Leeds Teaching Hospitals and sharing of good practice.
Work with members of the Team and the Perinatal Services to ensure there is an audit trail of evidence actions have been closed and benefits have been realised.
For full details, please review the attached job description and person specification.
