The Chair
will provide leadership, strategic direction and challenge to the Maternity and
Newborn Safety Investigations Special Health Authority and ensure that it
establishes a reputation as a vigorous and trustworthy organisation with
patients and the wider public, clinicians and NHS organisations both locally
and nationally.
The Chair will ensure that
the Authority undertakes independent, timely and meaningful investigations into
cases of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality; and that these
contribute to maternal and neonatal safety at local and national level. They
will also ensure that all of this action is with a view to improving local
capacity for investigations to be conducted locally at trust level.
The Chair will lead and support the newly
established Board of Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) and MNSI Executive
Directors (EDs). The Chair will hold the Chief Executive and Finance Director
to account and will share corporate responsibility for the decisions of the
MNSI Board and the performance of the organisation.
Along with the NEDs and other board members, the Chair
will contribute to stakeholder engagement, accountable governance and effective
systems for financial control and risk management.
Chair Designate
The new Authority is expected to be legally established
from April 2023, at which point the new Chair’s formal appointment to the new
Authority will begin. However, we are looking to agree the appointment and
appoint the chosen candidate as Chair Designate by the start of 2023.
The time commitment required as Chair Designate may be
less than required when Chair. This will be subject to discussion with the
chosen candidate. If the time commitment is less, remuneration will be pro-rata
to the rate for the role of Chair
The Chair’s
specific responsibilities will include:
Board
Leadership
Strategic
DirectionOversee the setting of the strategic direction of the MNSI; creating
a ‘vision’ for where the new body sits within the NHS landscape, building upon
existing good practice and how it influences positive change.
Provide
board level oversight and accountability to MNSI’s responsibilities to deliver
investigations that improve maternal and neonatal safety and to build local
investigation capacity.
- Provide insight on the developments and issues facing the NHS independent sector and from patient representative groups to board discussions, ensure the Board has access to accurate, high quality and timely information for decision making.
Organisational DevelopmentThis is a post for the new Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) Special Health Authority.
The MNSI will continue the maternity investigation programme, which is currently a function of the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB).
a.undertake independent investigations of qualifying maternity cases and producing reports on investigations findings
b.consider data, conclusions and recommendations made in its investigation reports to identify key trends and provide system-wide learning to the health system at local, regional and national level; and
c.collaborate with appropriate bodies to escalate safety concerns
The Special Health Authority is expected to consist of approximately 175 staff and have a budget of approximately £16m. Staff will transfer over to the Special Health Authority from the current Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch once established.
The Special Health Authority will contribute to improving safety in maternity by conducting independent, safety investigations, which will contribute to the Governments ambition to halve the number of stillbirths, maternal deaths, neonatal deaths and brain injuries.
Once appointed, the Chair Designate is expected to contribute to activities and decisions regarding the establishment of the new Special Health Authority, including the new board, with whom the successful candidate will work to support the establishment of the MNSI which is expected to be operational by April 2023.
This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the
Commissioner’s website