Deputy Director for Patient Safety (Digital) | NHS England

An exciting secondment/ fixed term opportunity to backfill our Deputy Director of Patient Safety (digital) has arisen within the National Patient Safety Team until 1 October 2026 initially.

We are looking for an enthusiastic individual with exceptional leadership skills to to take on the role of Deputy Director of Patient Safety (Digital), to lead and work as part of the Digital Clinical Safety function within the National Patient Safety Team in delivering an effective service supporting managers and staff across the wider team and system.

The vision of the Digital Clinical Safety team isto improve patient safety though a digitally enabled NHS. The team endeavours to support this vision by:
• using digital technology and intelligence
• engaging and enabling people
• setting governance standards, and
• promoting safety innovation and systems

To achieve these aims we are improving how digital safety intelligence is shared when things go wrong and giving professionals the training and tools needed to deploy safer digital health technologies. We are also refreshing the standards that govern digital safety and building an evidence base for how digital technologies are contributing to safer care.

Our work can be divided into six workstreams:
1. Learn from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE): delivery and continual improvement of an end-to-end patient safety learning service which supports good safety culture and helps improve patient care​
2. Clinical Risk Management: Collecting and reviewing incidents and information about digital clinical safety and using it to provide improvements
3. Training: Supporting the development of and expanding access to new digital clinical safety training materials
4. Best practice: Optimising the guidance that supports digital clinical safety standards, and developing guidelines and best practice blueprints
5. Scan4Safety: Providing guidance and tools to support the adoption of end-to-end scanning technologies to better track implanted medical devices
6. Research & Benefits: Generating evidence for how digital can be best applied to patient safety challenges

The post holder will have accountability and responsibility for the strategic and operational development of the workstream. Plans to achieve the strategy will be underpinned by the delivery of short to medium term objectives.

The NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose by:
• Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
• Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
• Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
• Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
• Delivering value for money.

If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit

Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.

Key aspects of this role will be to:
• Lead the Digital Clinical Safety workstream within the National Patient Safety Team including line management and team oversight
• Oversee the continuous product development and service delivery of the Learn from Patient Safety Events system (LFPSE)
• Ensure the Digital Clinical Safety Strategy is understood by all stakeholders and is delivered utilising all available resources efficiently and effectively
• Ensure the development and management of relevant strategic plans within the Sector
• Ensure appropriate system and processes are in place to enable the implementation of the strategy plans in the new organisations
• Proactively manage the key risks and issues associated with ensuring appropriate actions are taken to mitigate or respond
• Monitoring and establishing accountability on the overall progress of the strategy to ensure completion within agreed timescales
• Manage the whole budgetary implications of activity
• Avoid the destabilisation of business as usual
• Manage and actively promote the relationships with key stakeholders

This role will lead programmes of work to drive forward all aspects of digital safety, collaborating with partners throughout the NHS. You will have:
• Extensive knowledge of patient safety and digital technology in the health and care landscape
• Experience of running major programmes of work, ideally combining NHS patient safety/quality improvement or regulation
• Excellent strategic skills as well as organisational ability
• Considerable line manager experience with a coaching style
• Superb level of written and verbal communication skills including confidence presenting to large audiences
• Experience of stakeholder engagement with a diverse group of audiences, ideally including experience working with NHS and social care staff, digital health innovators and larger tech companies, officials, ministers and patient/lay representatives
• Strong interest in improving safety and NHSE’s digital mission

The role’s base is flexible however there is a requirement for travel to London for occasional meetings. Where relevant, there may be travel across England with the need for overnight stays, some of which maybe consecutive.

You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
Secondments

Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.

This advert closes on Tuesday 23 Sep 2025