Quality Officer

**Position**
**Description**

**Very Special Kids believes that all children and young people have the right to**
**quality of life, no matter how long or short their life may be.**

Position Title: Quality Officer

Location: Malvern

Department Corporate

Reporting To: General Manager Clinical Services

Main Purpose of

Position:
To ensure that Very Special Kids effectively manages clinical risk,

monitors and initiates improvements across the organisation, supports

organisational policy development, promotes excellence in paediatric

palliative care and consumer-centred care, and maintains accreditation

against recognized and best practice industry standards. Responsible for

the oversight of infection prevention and control and audit activities

across the hospice facility.

Number of

Direct Reports

0

Decision Making

Authority

As per Very Special Kids’ Delegation of Authority

Key

Relationships
- Internal:

- General Manager Clinical Services
- Service Delivery managers and senior leaders
- Service delivery staff
- eQstats Super Users
- Management Team members
- External:

- Accreditation provider (currently Australian Council on Healthcare
- Standards)
- HICMR
- Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare
- Magentus (eQstats systems support)

Key Selection

Criteria

Qualifications/ Education Training and Work Experience

Essential
- Degree qualifications in health, preferably nursing or allied health.
- Prior experience in a similar role in a community or healthcare

organisation.
- Demonstrated understanding and experience in:
**vsk.org.au**
- Healthcare quality management systems, accreditation and

continuous quality improvement activities.
- Assessment, analysis and response to clinical risk.
- Infection prevention and control.
- Review of clinical incidents.
- Developing and writing policy and procedures within a health

care setting.
- Proven ability to work collaboratively, build strong relationships and

achieve multiple stakeholder alignment.
- Advanced proficiency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Desirable
- Post-graduate qualifications in quality or risk management, quality

systems auditing or infection prevention and control.
- Project management experience.

Personal Attributes
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and

verbal, and a proven track record in engaging with a range of

stakeholders.
- Ability to work well under pressure and be flexible to changing

priorities and environment.
- Analytical thinker.
- Outcome-oriented with the ability to take the initiative, effectively

prioritise work and meet deadlines.
- Strong values connection with the Very Special Kids values and

genuine empathetic regard for people.

Guiding Principles

All employees are required to demonstrate the Very Special Kids Guiding

Principles:

- We offer compassionate, individualised care for families across their

entire journey
- Our approach is forward thinking, positive and authentic
- We collaborate to deliver the best support for families
- We are purpose driven and act with integrity, respect and kindness

**Name of Responsibility Key Performance Indicators**

Paediatric palliative care service excellence - Initiate and/or engage in project

teams and working groups that

support excellence in paediatric

palliative care service delivery,

measurement and evaluation. This

may include, but is not limited to:

- Models of care - medical,

integrated service delivery,

Hospice admissions
- Evaluation of service delivery

outcomes
- Informed consent processes
- Rights of the child

**vsk.org.au**

Clinical risk and compliance management

processes
- The eQstats operational risk register

is monitored for trends, and these

are reflected in the organisational

risk registers.
- Assigned Hospice compliance

obligations in Comply Online**(Very

Special Kids’ online legislative

compliance monitoring system)**are

managed according to specified

timeframes.

Development, review and maintenance of

policies and procedures
- Clinical policies and procedures are

developed to comply with legislation

and industry standards.
- Service delivery teams are supported

to review clinical policies and

procedures according to schedule.
- Development of policies and

procedures is supported across the

organisation.

Accreditation process and compliance with

industry standards
- Very Special Kids maintains:

- Compliance with Child Safe

Standards.
- Accreditation against National

Safety and Quality Health

Service Standards.
- Action plans and gap analyses

associated with the above are

progressed/actioned.

Clinical incident reporting, review and

response processes
- Ensures clinical incidents are

reviewed within optimal timeframes

by responsible manager, escalated

where necessary and corrective

actions are initiated when required

Reporting on clinical and quality key

performance indicators to board and

operational committees
- Prepare and provide reports on