Location
Job description
Job Overview
At Hywel Dda University Health Board, patient safety and staff wellbeing sit at the heart of everything we do. Safe, sustainable working hours for doctors in training are essential — not only to protect patients, but to ensure our future workforce can train, thrive and deliver the best possible care.
The Guardian of Safe Working Hours plays a crucial, high-impact role in achieving this. As a senior, independent advocate, you will be the voice for resident doctors, ensuring that the safeguards set out in the 2026 Terms and Conditions of Service (TCS) are upheld and embedded across the organisation.
Working collaboratively with doctors in training, rota coordinators, education teams, local managers and NWSSP (Shared Legal and Employer Services), you will identify risks early, champion improvement, and provide clear assurance that working patterns are safe, fair and contractually compliant.
This is a role for someone who is passionate about patient safety, medical education and improving working lives — and who wants to make a tangible difference across a large and diverse Health Board.
Main duties of the job
As Guardian of Safe Working Hours, you will:
Working for our organisation
Hywel Dda University Health Board plans and provides NHS healthcare services for people living in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, and bordering counties.
We have over 13,000 staff and together we provide primary, community, in-hospital, mental health and learning disabilities services.
We work in partnership with the three local authorities, as well as public, private and third sector colleagues, including our valued team of volunteers.
Our services are provided in:
Hywel Dda University Health Board operates a bilingual policy. All applicants are invited to apply in Welsh, any application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application made in English.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR APPLICANTS: Applications for our roles are carefully reviewed and shortlisted based on specific criteria, which varies from job to job. Using a generic application to apply for multiple roles or relying on automated AI application services, such as Lazy Apply or AI Apply, may not provide the necessary information, leading to your application being overlooked. To ensure your application is given full consideration, we recommend submitting a tailored application that directly addresses the criteria listed in the Person Specification section of the advert.
By submitting your application to NHS Jobs/Trac, you are giving your consent for elements of your application data to be transferred to the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and other secure, internal NHS Workforce systems in order to support and manage your recruitment and employment within your employing organisation; to be used by Recruitment for purposes of checking your Professional Registration online (where applicable).
These processes are in line with Fair and Lawful processing in line with current Data Protection Legislation especially those in relation to your personal or sensitive personal data (sensitive personal data is defined as any declared physical or mental health conditions, racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, trade union membership, political opinion, religious beliefs). As an organisation, we ensure that the legislation defining confidentiality is observed such as use of data for specific, defined purposes, and use of data that is relevant and not excessive whilst practicing data accuracy and security of all held personal identifiable information (PII)
If you are successfully appointed, by completing the application form you authorise the UHB to obtain any previous NHS service details including all electronically held sickness information, via the Inter Authority Transfer process on the national Electronic Staff Record (ESR).
To work in the UK, all candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (RoI) nationals require sponsorship to obtain either a Health and Care visa or Skilled Worker visa , unless you have permission to work via another route. Non UK / RoI candidates wishing to apply should self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship by visiting Work in the UK . If you are eligible for the Health and Care visa, application costs are lower and you do not need to pay the annual Immigration Health Surcharge.
At Hywel Dda University Health Board, patient safety and staff wellbeing sit at the heart of everything we do. Safe, sustainable working hours for doctors in training are essential — not only to protect patients, but to ensure our future workforce can train, thrive and deliver the best possible care.
The Guardian of Safe Working Hours plays a crucial, high-impact role in achieving this. As a senior, independent advocate, you will be the voice for resident doctors, ensuring that the safeguards set out in the 2026 Terms and Conditions of Service (TCS) are upheld and embedded across the organisation.
Working collaboratively with doctors in training, rota coordinators, education teams, local managers and NWSSP (Shared Legal and Employer Services), you will identify risks early, champion improvement, and provide clear assurance that working patterns are safe, fair and contractually compliant.
This is a role for someone who is passionate about patient safety, medical education and improving working lives — and who wants to make a tangible difference across a large and diverse Health Board.
Main duties of the job
As Guardian of Safe Working Hours, you will:
- Be a visible and trusted champion for safe working hours, promoting a culture where concerns can be raised openly and acted upon promptly.
- Provide clear assurance to Hywel Dda University Health Board and the employer (NWSSP) that resident doctors are safely rostered and working in line with the TCS.
- Oversee and assure the safety and equity of rotas for less than full-time resident doctors, ensuring they support both training quality and service delivery.
- Receive, review and monitor all exception reports relating to safe working hours, identifying trends, risks and areas for improvement.
- Ensure exception reports are escalated appropriately to rota coordinators, Medical HR (where available) and local management teams, supporting timely remedial action and decisions around TOIL or additional payment.
- Ensure exception reports linked to access to training are shared with educational supervisors and contribute to regular reporting to the Associate Medical Director for Medical Education.
Working for our organisation
Hywel Dda University Health Board plans and provides NHS healthcare services for people living in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, and bordering counties.
We have over 13,000 staff and together we provide primary, community, in-hospital, mental health and learning disabilities services.
We work in partnership with the three local authorities, as well as public, private and third sector colleagues, including our valued team of volunteers.
Our services are provided in:
- Four main hospitals: Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth; Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen; Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli; and Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest
- Five community hospitals: Amman Valley and Llandovery hospitals in Carmarthenshire; Tregaron Hospital in Ceredigion; and Tenby and South Pembrokeshire hospitals in Pembrokeshire
- Two integrated care centres: Aberaeron and Cardigan in Ceredigion, and several other community settings
- 47 general practices (six of which are health board managed practices); dental practices (including four orthodontic); 97 community pharmacies; 43 general ophthalmic practices; and 8 ophthalmic domiciliary providers
- Numerous mental health and learning disabilities services
Hywel Dda University Health Board operates a bilingual policy. All applicants are invited to apply in Welsh, any application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application made in English.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR APPLICANTS: Applications for our roles are carefully reviewed and shortlisted based on specific criteria, which varies from job to job. Using a generic application to apply for multiple roles or relying on automated AI application services, such as Lazy Apply or AI Apply, may not provide the necessary information, leading to your application being overlooked. To ensure your application is given full consideration, we recommend submitting a tailored application that directly addresses the criteria listed in the Person Specification section of the advert.
By submitting your application to NHS Jobs/Trac, you are giving your consent for elements of your application data to be transferred to the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and other secure, internal NHS Workforce systems in order to support and manage your recruitment and employment within your employing organisation; to be used by Recruitment for purposes of checking your Professional Registration online (where applicable).
These processes are in line with Fair and Lawful processing in line with current Data Protection Legislation especially those in relation to your personal or sensitive personal data (sensitive personal data is defined as any declared physical or mental health conditions, racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, trade union membership, political opinion, religious beliefs). As an organisation, we ensure that the legislation defining confidentiality is observed such as use of data for specific, defined purposes, and use of data that is relevant and not excessive whilst practicing data accuracy and security of all held personal identifiable information (PII)
If you are successfully appointed, by completing the application form you authorise the UHB to obtain any previous NHS service details including all electronically held sickness information, via the Inter Authority Transfer process on the national Electronic Staff Record (ESR).
To work in the UK, all candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (RoI) nationals require sponsorship to obtain either a Health and Care visa or Skilled Worker visa , unless you have permission to work via another route. Non UK / RoI candidates wishing to apply should self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship by visiting Work in the UK . If you are eligible for the Health and Care visa, application costs are lower and you do not need to pay the annual Immigration Health Surcharge.
Job details
EmployerSign in to view the employer name
LocationUnited Kingdom
Posted18 May 2026
SalaryNot specified
SponsorshipVisa Sponsored ✓
Categories
⚕Health and Care
