Associate Director of Nursing - Patient Experience and Complaints
Thank you for your interest in this role, we would be delighted to welcome you to Sherwood Forest Hospitals.
Sherwood is nationally recognised as being an excellent place to work and deliver care. We are rightly proud of the 5,500 colleagues who work here annd know that happy colleagues deliver better care.
Our teams work in a supportive, inclusive environment, which nurtures wellbeing and has opportunities for development and progression. We do not just care for our patients, we also care for you.
We would love you to join us.
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Job overview
Are you a compassionate, visionary nursing leader with a passion for improving patient experience and outcomes? We are seeking an exceptional Associate Director of Nursing for Patient Experience and Complaints (ADON) to join our senior leadership team and help drive our Trust’s ambition to deliver outstanding, patient-centred care.
This is a high-impact role where you will lead the Trust’s Patient Experience and Complaints function, ensuring it meets both internal goals and external regulatory requirements. You will be instrumental in shaping our patient engagement agenda, embedding a culture of continuous improvement, and ensuring that the voices of our patients and communities are heard and acted upon.
As ADON, you’ll provide expert guidance and support to clinical and non-clinical teams, enabling them to deliver high-quality, compassionate care. You will also represent the Trust at local, regional, and national forums, keeping us at the forefront of developments in patient experience and regulatory compliance.
This role offers a unique opportunity to make a real difference across the organisation—supporting governance, influencing strategic direction, and ensuring we continually strive for excellence in how we listen to, learn from, and care for our patients.
Apply now to join our team!
Main duties of the job
To understand the role in more detail, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.
Working for our organisation
We are an award-winning NHS Foundation Trust working alongside health and social care colleagues across the county to provide acute and community healthcare services to more than 420,000 people across Mansfield, Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, and parts of Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.
We put the patient at the heart of everything that we do and it is our aim to make sure that every patient is treated as we would want a member of our own family to be treated. At the same time, we expect our staff to be caring, kind and courteous to each other and to look out for each other.We believe that we are truly a clinically-led organisation.
We are proud that our Trust colleagues have voted us the best acute Trust to work for in the East Midlands for seven years running in the National NHS Staff Survey, while the Care Quality Commission has rated our Trust as ‘outstanding’ for care and our King’s Mill Hospital as the only ‘outstanding’ NHS-run hospital in the East Midlands.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To understand the role in more detail, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.
Person specification
Knowledge Requirements
Essential criteria- Proven knowledge of the broader nursing, education and professional issues
- Extensive working knowledge of contemporary health care issues and professional standards
- Understanding of the complex dynamics of a multiprofessional environment
- Excellent presentation and teaching skills
- Excellent report writing skills and action planning
- Ability to work under pressure
- Computer literate
- Sound general management experience – budget management skills, business case preparation, staff management
- Evidence of operational and strategic development of patient safety initiatives and strategies
- Experience in education and professional development
- Experience in delivering change and improvement projects
- QSIR Practitioner, understanding of methodologies of change and technique
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Educated to a Masters Level or equivalent
- PRINCE II qualification or equivalent
- Evidence of continuous professional and management development showing a combination of short courses, structured self study or formal management courses
- Clinical background, current registration with appropriate body
Further Requirements
Essential criteria- Highly motivated and resourceful with a proactive approach to innovation
- Ability to act autonomously with minimal supervision
Experience
Essential criteria- Extensive senior nursing experience within a complex organisation/NHS
- Experience of working towards Care Quality
- Commission and the NHS Resolution standards
- Significant experience with service improvement methodologies
- Analytical skills to collate and understand data
- Ability to write sound reports in a timely manner
- Proven track record in leadership and management
- Evidence of participating in and leading organisational change that has led to changes in quality
- Proven experience of operating and communicating effectively with clinicians and Directors
- Complaints Management
- Experience of working with external agencies and influencing internal change
- Experience of initiating, conducting and evaluating risk assessments and investigations
- Previously responsible for a budget, involved in budget setting and working knowledge of financial processes
Contractual Requirements
Essential criteria- Regular attendance
- Ability to work flexibly
- NMC Registration
Applicants are kindly requested to refrain from using AI at any stage during the recruitment process. Applications, including personal statements and behaviour examples, must be truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.
If you would like this information in an alternative format or in a different language please contact us on 01623 622515 ext 3271.
Please note that we no longer accept handwritten/paper applications and that the email address given on your application will be used for all correspondence regarding this post.
We reserve the right to close a vacancy before the closing date if a sufficient number of applications have been received. Priority for vacancies at the Trust will be given to existing employees of Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust whose roles are currently at risk of redundancy due to organisational change.
Only applications received on or before the closing date will be considered for short listing. This is to ensure that the Trust meets its commitment to Equality of Opportunity.
In submitting an application, you authorise Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to confirm any current and previous NHS Service details and you agree to the Trust obtaining and transferring personal date held about you, including Occupational Health data (inoculations and screening tests).This data will be shared using the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and third party systems via an automated process and will only be used for the purposes of maintaining your employment record.
Please note if you are successful in obtaining this position and the post involves regulated activity you will be required to undertake a Disclosure & Barring Service check. The Trust will pay for the check initially and then the money will then be deducted from your first salary once you've commenced employment.The current price of a check is £26.40 for a standard check and £54.40 for an enhanced. If you are asked to complete a DBS check and have a previous identity that you do not wish to be disclosed to your employer and/or on your DBS certificate, you should call or email the dedicated sensitive applications team before submitting your application.
The team is experienced in dealing with sensitive cases and will advise you of the process and what you need to do.
Please note any genuine job offer letters will only be received if you have applied, interviewed, and received a verbal offer from the appointing manager for a vacancy within Sherwood Forest Hospitals. If you receive a job offer and you are not sure of its authenticity, please report it to the following email [email protected]