Chief Medical Scientist Quality Manager

Principal Duties & Responsibilities:

Quality Management

The quality manager reports to the Directorate Management Team through the Laboratory Manager and has sufficient free time from other commitments to oversee and implement on a daily basis the quality system.  Through the Directorate Management Team, the Quality Manager has the authority and responsibility for the following roles:

• Maintain throughout the directorate the awareness of the primacy of the patient in relation to all Hospital activities.
• Ensuring the quality management system on behalf of laboratory management is established, implemented and maintained.
• In conjunction with the Directorate Management Team, Chief Medical Scientist, Principal Biochemist and Other Line Managers,, ensuring compliance with relevant national, European and international standards including ISO 15189, AML-BB, relevant EU Directives, applicable INAB/EA/ILAC guidelines, INAB Regulations and Terms and Conditions, and relevant legislation.
• Setting and monitoring directorate key performance indicators (KPIs) in conjunction with the Directorate Management Team, Chief Medical Scientists, Principal Biochemist and Other Line Managers.
• Coordinate action plans for non-attainment of KPI’s.
• Setting and monitoring directorate quality of objectives in conjunction with the Directorate Management Team, Chief Medical Scientists, Principal Biochemist and Other Line Managers.
• Ensuring that continual quality improvement is achieved, identifying areas and particular projects where there is the potential for improvement of quality, investigating result, service complaints and incidents and ensuring that effective immediate and follow up actions are taken. (Ref: QP-GEN-0004 Quality Improvement).
• Ensuring maintenance of and training in QMn-GEN-001 Quality Manual.
• Ensuring that there is a functional document control system controlling all documents (internally generated and from external sources) (Ref: MP-GEN-0002 Management of Documentation Preparation and Control).

o        Ensuring that all documents generated adhere to pre-defined templates.

o        Ensuring that only current documents are in circulation.

o        Ensuring that documents are not altered without authorisation in conjunction with the heads of the departments.

o        Ensuring that documents are reviewed on schedule, or before that, if quality and safety are affected.

• Ensuring that QMS documents and forms are retained for reference and inspection and are readily available.
• Ensuring that internal audits of system and process performance are scheduled, performed and sufficiently documented and that each audit is closed within a desirable time frame. (Ref: QP-GEN-0002 Internal and External Audit).
• Review and trending of non-conformances raised in the Directorate while ensuring sufficient root cause analysis and effective corrective actions.
• Ensuring change management procedures are implemented and adhered to across the Directorate.
• Ensuring validation procedures are implemented and adhered to across the Directorate.
• Ensuring that internal quality control is routinely performed in conjunction with the heads of the departments.
• Ensuring that external quality assessments are performed on all tests and addressed at the relevant meetings (Ref: QP-GEN-0003 External Quality Assessment).
• Co-ordinating awareness of the needs and requirements of users.
• Monitoring user satisfaction through user meetings and user surveys.
• Partaking in laboratory and quality meetings, decision making and policy implementation as appropriate.
• Reporting to laboratory management at the QMS/CP&O meeting on the functioning and effectiveness of the quality management system.
• Maintaining and administering the Q-Pulse System.
• Complete audit training for staff as required. Educating and training the laboratory's staff in quality principles and practice e.g. audit training and risk assessment training.
• Ensuring participation in the evaluation of clinical effectiveness, audit and risk management activities of the parent organisation.
• Point of contact for external accreditation bodies e.g. INAB
• Follow up on external inspections to include recording of findings and verifying the completion of root causes analysis and corrective action as required by the reports of the inspectors.
• System administrator for INAB CRM system.
• To provide information periodically for management quality review and the annual management review, (Ref MP-GEN-0001 Management of the Laboratory).
• Ensuring supplier contracts and service level agreements are implemented and adhered to across the directorate. Ensure completion of supplier and referral laboratory reviews.
• Ensuring examination processes are managed correctly.
• Liase with hospital Quality department as required.
• To ensure IT functionality meets the quality standards required by ISO 15189 and JCI
• Deal with complaints, queries and problems in a timely and appropriate manner and referring unresolved issues to the Directorate Management Team or hospital represnetatives/management as required.

The job description is an outline of the post as it is currently perceived by the hospital and will be subject to review and amendment. This job description will therefore be subject to change in light of the various strategies for the hospital and the development of the Clinical Directorate model and any future developments that arise and will evolve and change over time. 

Selection Criteria: 

Selection criteria outline the qualifications, skills, knowledge and/or experience that the successful candidate would need to demonstrate for successful discharge of the responsibilities of the post. 

Applications will be assessed on the basis of how well candidates satisfy these criteria.

Mandatory:

1. Statutory Registration, Professional Qualifications, Experience, etc

(a) Candidates for appointment must:

(i) Be registered, or be eligible for registration, on the Medical Scientists Register maintained by the Medical Scientists Registration Board at CORU.

OR

(ii) Applicants who satisfy the conditions set out in Section 91 of the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005, (see note 1 below*), must submit proof of application for registration with the Medical Scientists Registration Board at CORU.

The acceptable proof is correspondence from the Medical Scientists Registration

Board at CORU confirming their application for registration as a Section 91 applicant was received by the 30th March 2021.

AND

(iii) Possess one of the following NFQ Level 9 post graduate qualifications or equivalent qualification at minimum Level 9 validated by the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine;

• MSc Clinical Laboratory Science, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).
• MSc Clinical Laboratory Science, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin).
• MSc Clinical Chemistry, University of Dublin, Trinity College
• (TCD). MSc Biomedical Science, University of Ulster (UU)
• MSc Biomedical Science, Cork Institute of Technology (CIT)/University
• College Cork (UCC).
• MSc Biomedical Science, Munster Technological University (MTU)/University
• College Cork (UCC).
• MSc Molecular Pathology, Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)/University of
• Dublin, Trinity College (TCD).
• MSc Medical Science, Atlantic Technological University (ATU)

OR

(iv) An equivalent qualification at minimum Level 9 validated by the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine (ACSLM).

OR

(v) Have attained the Fellowship of the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine awarded before July 2018.

OR

(vi) Have attained the Fellowship examination of the Institute of Biomedical Science (Awarded prior to 1999).

AND

(vii) Possess at least seven years full time clinical experience (or an aggregate of seven years full time clinical experience) as a medical scientist in a clinical diagnostic laboratory since qualifying as a medical scientist, two years of which were spent in a promotional post (e.g. Medical Scientist, Senior or Medical Scientist, Specialist).

AND

(viii) Demonstrate evidence of Continuous Professional Development.

AND

(b) Candidates must have the requisite knowledge and ability (including a high standard of suitability, management, leadership and professional ability) for the proper discharge of the duties of the office

AND

Provide proof of Statutory Registration on the Medical Scientists Register maintained by the Medical Scientists Registration Board at CORU before a contract of employment can be issued. (Applicable to Section 38 applicants only)

2. Annual registration

(i) On appointment, practitioners must maintain annual registration on Medical

Scientists Register maintained by the Medical Scientists Registration Board at

CORU

And

(ii) Practitioners must confirm annual registration with CORU to the HSE by way of the annual Patient Safety Assurance Certificate (PSAC).

Role Specific:

Have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and a high capacity for responsibility and individual initiative.  Demonstrate adaptability to the rapid changes taking place in the health services.

Informal Enquiries ONLY to: (Please note NO APPLICATIONS will be accepted via the Informal Email)