Freedom to Speak Up Lead Guardian

Freedom to Speak Up Lead Guardian

The closing date is 20 April 2026

The Lead Freedom to Speak Up Guardian is an essential role. Using national frameworks, guidance and best practice examples, and working closely with the Trust Leadership Team, you will lead on developing and delivering a vision and long-term strategy for the FTSU service, to ensure NUH fosters, instils and embeds a strong and positive speaking up culture at all levels.

The Lead FTSU Guardian will be highly visible and will advocate, promote and drive forward the Freedom to Speak Up agenda across the Trust. NUH recognises the intrinsic link between staff safety and patient safety and between good staff experience and good patient experience. This role will contribute to the development of our culture to improve the experiences of our patients and staff.

Main duties of the job

In this role you will be responsible for leading, developing and delivering the FTSU vision and long term strategy, to enable and further develop a positive speaking up culture across NUH.

You will ensure that there is an effective communications strategy in place within the Trust for speaking up and work closely with colleagues in other teams (eg Patient Safety, Patient Experience, People) to share lessons learnt to enhance the development of an open culture that promotes continuous improvement.

You will lead and develop a high-performing team, ensuring that they are able to support staff within the Trust to raise concerns, as well as identifying and addressing any barriers to speaking up, with the support of a network of local FTSU Champions. You will have key leadership responsibility for promoting, developing and improving the service to ensure that all staff have awareness and access and are actively encouraged and supported to speak up. You will provide oversight, support and guidance to the Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, ensuring cases are progressed appropriately and in line with national guidance and Trust policy, and undertake Freedom to Speak Up Guardian activities and casework.

About us

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) was established in 2006 and we are one of the biggest and busiest NHS Trusts in the country and provide services to over 2.5 million residents of Nottingham.

NUH are, by any measure, a large, complex, person-centred organisation. With over 17,000 employees from a wide range of professional backgrounds, they are one of the region's largest employers.

NUH has an excellent national and international reputation for the quality of their patient care and for their research, education and innovation. They have strong links to the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and Loughborough University. This allows for the provision of excellent training and education for their students, as well as being a major research organisation.

For information about the Trust, including business plans, annual reports, and services, visit their website.

Benefits

• Access to the Staff Wellbeing programme including our 24-hour staff advice and emotional support service, financial advice service, a staff physiotherapy service and staff support networks
• Access to Spiritual and Pastoral Care Services
• Salary sacrifice schemes
• Cycle to work and travel passes
• NHS discounts

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading to gain further details of the role and requirements.

For further information or to discuss the role informally and gain more detail, please contact Ash Warchol at a.warchol.nhs.net to book an appointment with Melanie Lloyd, Director of Education and Organisational Development/deputy Chief people Officer

Person Specification Knowledge and Experience

• Significant Experience of working at a senior level as a FTSU Guardian within a large complex organisation
• Experience of managing and leading a team, undertaking appraisal, monitoring sickness absence and training

Knowledge and Experience (continued)

• Extensive knowledge of working closely with Chair/CEO and FTSU NED, as well as other Execs to highlight areas of concern, feedback themes and share experiences and outcomes

Communication

• Excellent written and verbal communication including influencing and negotiating skills

Training & Qualifications

• Educated to Master's level (in a relevant discipline) or equivalent level, or equivalent experience of working at a senior level.
• Post-graduate management, leadership or specialist qualification or previous experience of coaching
• Be proficient in the use of Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook & Teams)

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Address

Trust Headquarters, City Hospital Campus