Assistant Divisional Manager 

Main Purpose

The Assistant Divisional Manager – Bedford provides operational and strategic management support to the Divisional Manager, Head of Nursing and Divisional Director, supporting the development and modernisation.

The postholder is responsible for the effective delivery and development of services within the Bedford sub-division, working closely with the wider directorate leadership team.

The role is primarily based at Bedford, with regular travel to sites within the portfolio, including occasional visits to City Road and other North Division sites.

Location: Bedford

Job Type: Temporary 

Duration of booking: Expected to last 2 months with possible extension

Proposed start date: ASAP

Pay Rates: £30.53 per hour PAYE inclusive of holiday pay

Hours / Working Days: 37.5 hours per week / Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm 

Sector: Healthcare 

Based: Office / Hospital

Key Responsibilities

Operational and Performance Management

• Be accountable for the delivery of divisional services within available resources and Trust/statutory requirements.
• Review and redesign services to improve patient needs, service efficiency and achievement of divisional objectives.
• Identify and manage service pressures, using judgement to respond to routine and urgent issues and develop, monitor and review action plans.
• Lead the development of new services and initiatives, including preparation of bids and business cases.
• Monitor divisional activity, income and NHS plan targets, identifying areas for improvement and implementing achievable action plans.
• Work with commissioning colleagues to ensure services are appropriately funded, using activity, performance, audit and other relevant data to inform planning and reporting.
• Lead and participate in projects, including significant service transformation and change programmes, to deliver efficiency and quality improvements.
• Support operational patient flow and work collaboratively across disciplines to improve service efficiency and patient experience.
• Participate in the Trust senior manager on-call rota.
• Represent the Division at Trust and external meetings.

Finance and Service Delivery

• Manage delegated budgets and ensure services are delivered within agreed financial resources, taking corrective action where required.
• Authorise resources and validate/sign off invoices within delegated budgets.
• Support divisional financial planning and undertake financial investigations as required.
• Work with the Divisional Manager to maximise income, control expenditure and deliver cost improvements and efficiencies.
• Implement agreed Cost Improvement Programmes (CIPs) in line with corporate objectives.
• Identify opportunities for additional income and efficiency savings.
• Support planning and delivery of the divisional capital programme, including risk assessment and equipment replacement priorities.
• Lead the planning and organisation of departmental service plans and support delivery of the annual divisional business plan.

Risk Management, Patient Involvement & Clinical Governance

• Support the Head of Nursing, Quality Partner and clinical leads in implementing and maintaining the Division’s clinical and corporate governance framework.
• Support effective approaches to gathering and responding to patient and carer views.
• Investigate and respond to patient/carer complaints in line with Trust policy, ensuring appropriate investigation, timely responses, learning and corrective action.
• Monitor and manage incidents and risks, ensuring appropriate mitigation and escalation to improve patient and staff safety and reduce financial liabilities.
• Undertake serious incident investigations and participate in risk assessments as required.
• Undertake research and benchmarking to identify best practices and support continuous improvement and innovation.
• Represent the Division on Trust-wide operational working groups.
• Provide operational support for divisional risk management and coordinate departmental risk registers.

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

•  Graduate level qualification or equivalent experience
•  Evidence of continued professional development within healthcare management
•  Postgraduate management qualification eg. MA, Pg Dip, NHS Management Training Scheme 

Experience

• Previous proven operational management experience in the NHS or similar environment 
•  Able to demonstrate evidence of effective financial management 
•  Experience of working with NHS service delivery targets 
•  Experience of line managing individuals and/or a team 
• Experience of analysing data, facts and other evidence to identify problems and to propose and implement solutions 
•  Experience of working with staff to effect change, requiring negotiating and influencing skills 
• Experience/understanding of the following areas: health and safety, risk management and clinical governance 
•  Demonstrable record of achieving change in a health care setting 
•  Business planning experience 

Knowledge

•  Good knowledge of NHS and healthcare policy; familiarity with recent political trends in health care 
•  Knowledge and awareness of NHS access targets and data requirements