Senior Advocate/advocate - Telford, Shropshire, United Kingdom - NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board

Description

Maternity & Neonatal Independent Senior Advocate
NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board

The Independent Senior Advocate (ISA) helps parents-to-be, new parents and families to have a voice, be listened to and heard by their Maternity and Neonatal care providers.

ISAs can provide support to women and their families, navigating the healthcare system and providing advocacy when they have a concern about the care they are receiving.

In particular, ISAs will be available to families attending follow up meetings with clinicians, where concerns about Maternity or Neonatal care are discussed, aiming to improve communication and support families in understanding and communicating what is important to them.

The ISA can support people navigate through formal complaints, serious incidents and health safety investigation branch processes where an adverse outcome has occurred.

The ISA can also support families with unusual and complex needs in working with professionals to develop their personalised care plans, meeting individual needs and supporting safe care.

This role is funded by NHS England and initial guidance states that it would not be appropriate to employ currently practicing clinicians from Maternity Services / Trusts in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin into this role as it would undermine the level of independence required.

Therefore, we will not be expecting applications from clinicians that are currently working with organisations that provide maternity care in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.

Work with colleagues in the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin LMNS to establish mechanisms to receive and record referrals from women and families where concerns have been expressed about their Maternity or Neonatal care.

To act as a trusted intermediary between women and families and clinicians and the Maternity & Neonatal Trusts, aiming to break down barriers to being listened to and heard.

Help women and families navigate complexity, signposting to appropriate sources of advice and support both within and external to the NHS where necessary.

To work towards resolving concerns and brokering improvements early in the pathway, set out for example in Personalised Care and Support Plans, so that care better meets a woman's needs and there is less likely to be ongoing poor experience.

To ensure that women and families are aware of their rights and options and explain the options open to them.

Where necessary to help women and families navigate through formal complaints processes where an adverse outcome has occurred, signposting to other resources

NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin was created on 1 July 2022 and is responsible for planning and buying a wide range of health and care services for the whole of Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.

These include GP and primary care services, hospital care, community healthcare and mental health services. This means we can have closer links to our patients so we can develop more personalised local health services.

Joining our inclusive and innovative team comes with a range of benefits including flexible & agile working arrangements, pension scheme and generous annual leave allowance.

With our training schemes and support networks, you will be empowered to play a leading role in the future of healthcare, whatever your specialism or interest.

And as a member of NHS staff you will receive plenty of discounts too.

The Midwifery Independent Senior Advocate (ISA) helps parents to be, new parents and families to be listened to and heard by their Maternity and Neonatal care providers.

ISAs can provide support to women and their families, navigating the healthcare system and providing advocacy when they have a concern about the care they are receiving.

The ISA can support people navigate throughformal complaints processes where an adverse outcome has occurred.

Work with LMNS colleagues to establish mechanisms to receive and record referrals from women and families where concerns have been expressed about their Maternity or Neonatal care.

• Respond to referrals and be available to women and families, to join followup meetings with clinicians.
• Build and understanding of the concerns expressed by women and families and reflect that understanding back to women and families to help them feel listened to.
• To work collaboratively with ISAs working in neighbouring areas to maximise availability to women and families.

To act as a trusted intermediary between women and families and clinicians and the Maternity & Neonatal Trust, aiming to break down barriers to being listened to and heard.

• Help women and families navigate complexity, signposting to appropriate sources of advice and support both within and external to the NHS where necessary.

• To ensure that women and families are aware of their rights and options and explain the options open to them, where necessary to help women and families navigate through formal complaints processes where an adverse outcome has occurred, signposting to other resources.

Regularly report to LMNS and Trust Level Boards, providing robust feedback on both individual events and trends, providing recommendations to improve service user experience and patient safety.

• Establish regular reporting to the Quality and Safety Groups and other appropriate forums.
• Where necessary, and with the Senior Responsible Officer for the LMNS, escalate unresolved cases of concern, to Trust Boards and through the national network of ISAs.
• Data and Information
• Contribute to the evaluation of the Independent Senior Advocates maintaining and making available information about referrals from women and families, outcomes of case and monitoring data.
• Gather information on trends in cases, to share learning from those trends through NHS England regions and to the national network of Independent senior Advocates.

Build positive working relationships with senior clinical colleagues in the Trusts they will be working alongside including, Directors and Heads of Midwifery and senior obstetricians, to build trust and open communication.

• Develop active working relationships with the chair of the local Maternity Voices Partnership, to maximize the potential for collaborative working.
• Where necessary, to have robust and challenging conversations with clinicians, advocating on women and families behalf.
• Contribute to providing information about the ISA role amongst local organisations, to ensure that women and families who need to access their service know their options.
• Develop effective communication with relevant local organisations (e.g. Healthwatch, local advocacy groups), to ensure their role is well understood, and to ensure that women and families from groups who are least likely to express concerns about their care feel more able to do so.

Equality and Diversity

• Educated to masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level.

Advocacy qualification and counselling training, or equivalent level of experience.
Evidence of Continued Professional Development (CPD)
Ability to recognise and overcome barriers on behalf of women and their families.
Ability to identify risks, anticipate issues and create solutions and to resolve problems.
Evidence of planning and delivering programmes and projects and services on time.
Commitment to and focused on quality, promotes high standards in all they do.

Values diversity and difference; Self-awareness in teams of emotional intelligence, biases and personal triggers with cultural sensitivity and awareness.

Values diversity and difference operates with integrity and openness.
Must be a car driver with a valid driving licence or have access to transport with appropriate business insurance in order to travel the to meet the needs of the service
Knowledge, Skills, Physical Skills & Training
Extensive experience of advocacy.
Experience of working at a senior level and of influencing change

Extensive knowledge of specialist areas acquired through post graduate diploma or equivalent experience or training plus further specialist knowledge.

Evidence of post qualifying and continuing professional development.
Must have an understanding of the background to and aims of current healthcare policy
Experience of building effective cross functional working relationships to drive organisational agenda.
Evidence of complex relationship building with senior stakeholders
Understanding of issues surrounding equality and diversity and of the differences between people.