Clinical safety officer

Band 7 · Clinical safety officer · 522 job evaluation points

Runs the clinical risk management process for a set of products or changes, leading hazard workshops, maintaining hazard logs, and writing clinical safety case reports for approval.

Responsibilities

Lead hazard identification workshops with product teams, clinicians, and suppliers.
Assess clinical risks and agree controls, then check that the controls work through testing and evidence.
Write and maintain hazard logs and clinical safety case reports for products and changes.
Review supplier safety documentation for systems the organization buys.
Investigate safety incidents involving health IT and recommend improvements.
Advise digital teams on the clinical risk management process and safety by design.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Registered clinical practice in digitalThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: make sound clinical judgments about the effect of digital services on care challenge unsafe practice, in digital or clinical settings, with confidence support other clinicians to apply their professional standards to digital work
Clinical risk managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead hazard identification and risk assessment for a product or change write and maintain hazard logs and clinical safety case reports agree risk controls with product teams and check that they work advise teams on applying clinical risk management standards
Human factors and usability in clinical systemsThis reference	Working (2)	You can: take part in usability tests and simulations of clinical tasks spot common design hazards, such as similar-looking options or hidden alerts
Medical device software regulationThis reference	Working (2)	You can: follow a software life cycle process that meets medical device standards produce the records that such a process requires
Clinical leadership in digitalThis reference	Working (2)	You can: give clinical input to product teams on workflows and safety help clinical colleagues adopt new systems
Understanding health and care servicesThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: analyze how a service fits into care pathways across organizations work with clinicians, care staff, and patients to shape digital services explain the effect of digital decisions on care, safety, and staff workload
Information governance and data protectionThis reference	Working (2)	You can: apply data protection principles to your work contribute to data protection impact assessments handle information requests and records correctly
Communicating informationUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: work collaboratively in a group and build relationships with others identify issues through Agile 'health checks' and work with others to address them manage stakeholder expectations be flexible and capable of proactive and reactive communication host or moderate difficult discussions within the team or with senior stakeholders
Enabling and informing risk-based decisionsUK GDaD PCF	Working (2)	You can: work with risk owners to advise and give feedback advise on risk impact and whether it's within risk tolerance describe different risk methodologies and how these are applied, as well as the proportionality of risk

Typical qualifications and experience

Current registration with a clinical professional body, with substantial clinical experience.
Training in clinical risk management for health IT, or equivalent experience.

Band 7 outline

Knowledge: Highly developed specialist knowledge, typically to master's level or equivalent experience.
Autonomy: Works to organizational policy; decides how results are achieved; is the expert others consult.
Scope: Several products or services, or a specialist function.
Leadership: Leads a team or a professional practice area.
Accountability: Delivery of a service or specialist function, and its budget if held.

Job evaluation (illustrative)

Factor	Level	Level summary	Points
Communication and relationship skills	5	Gives highly complex or contentious information needing developed persuasion and negotiation, presents to large groups, or communicates where there are significant barriers to acceptance.	45
Knowledge, training, and experience	6	Specialist knowledge across the range of the specialism (postgraduate diploma level or equivalent).	156
Analytical and judgmental skills	4	Judgments on complex facts or situations needing analysis, interpretation, and comparison of options.	42
Planning and organizational skills	4	Plans a broad range of complex activities or strategies, adjusting them as needed.	42
Physical skills	3	Developed skills needing speed or accuracy, such as advanced keyboard use.	27
Responsibility for patient and client care	5	Develops programs of care, provides specialist clinical technical services, or gives specialized advice on patient care.	30
Responsibility for policy and service development	3	Implements policies for own area and proposes changes that affect other areas.	21
Responsibility for financial and physical resources	3	Authorizes payments, buys some assets or supplies, monitors or holds a delegated budget, or maintains assets.	21
Responsibility for people	3	Manages a group of staff day to day, teaches core or specialist training, or gives core HR advice.	21
Responsibility for information resources	5	Designs and develops major information systems, or runs information systems for several services as the main duty.	34
Responsibility for research and development	2	Regularly does research, development, trials, or equipment and system testing as part of the job.	12
Freedom to act	4	Results are defined, but the job holder decides how to achieve them, within broad policy.	32
Physical effort	1	Sitting, standing, and walking, with little physical effort.	3
Mental effort	4	Frequent prolonged concentration, or occasional intense concentration.	18
Emotional effort	2	Occasional exposure, or frequent indirect exposure, to distressing circumstances.	11
Working conditions	2	Occasional unpleasant conditions, frequent travel or outdoor work, or near-continuous screen use on most days.	7
Total (Band 7: 466 to 539)			522

Patient care is scored at level 5 because the job gives specialized advice on the safety of systems used in patient care. Mental effort reflects prolonged concentration on safety documentation and evidence.