Assistant Directorate Manager

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Surgery Division.

This role is integral to support the operational management of services, ensuring key national standards are met and support the restoration of elective services.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will have responsibility for an agreed set of specialties within the Directorate and will assist the Directorate Manager with the delivery of corporate policy, business planning and service development in line with the Trust’s vision, values and strategic goals.

The post holder will have responsibility for leading the delivery of a range of national and locally agreed operational standards across their designated specialities.

The post holder will be responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the specialty and will optimise capacity to ensure waiting times are kept low.

The post holder will have specific budgetary responsibility for a defined group of medical secretaries and will work in close conjunction with them to ensure that all pertinent key performance indicators (KPIs) are achieved, in particular the 18-week and cancer targets.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Service and Operational Management

• To ensure the department maximises its capacity in delivering elective operations and Outpatient appointments to manage the clinical risk associated with overdue follow ups and deliver 92% of pathways under 18 weeks.
• To ensure, if necessary, the department delivers extra theatre and outpatient sessions to reduce its backlog of overdue appointments and elective procedures.
• To support the Clinical Service Lead(s) and Matrons in defined areas; in particular by attending Clinical Unit meetings and working closely with the Finance, Human Resources and Information departments in providing the Heads of Services and Matrons with the appropriate information to manage their service areas and achieve performance targets.
• To rigorously monitor and manage performance within own area of responsibility, to assist in achieving outpatient, diagnostic, in-patient and day case targets.  A high level of service knowledge is required to make decisions on changes needed to achieve the specific aims, objectives and targets of the clinical units.
• To engage clinicians, managers and other staff groups in developing robust pathways to ensure delivery of 18-week RTT standard.
• To develop and manage the systems of waiting list management that are patient-focused, efficient, and effective and that allow pro-active management of delivery based on demand.
• To regularly monitor and interrogate systems (e.g. Choose & Book, PAS and the Theatre Management System) to ensure that theatre lists are fully utilised to ensure the optimal use of capacity liaising with Clinical Service Leads as appropriate.
• To assist and where appropriate lead on any Trust Transformation projects e.g. flexible working and outpatient productivity.

People Management and Development

• To manage the selection, recruitment, and induction of staff within a defined area.
• To provide effective leadership, motivation, individual performance management and development processes to achieve the Clinical Directorate’s aims and objectives.
• To manage medical secretaries on a day-to-day basis ensuring the capability, conduct and performance of the staff is appropriate to their roles.
• To regularly assess the service provision of the medical secretary support in relation to the Trust target for typing output, addressing any shortfalls appropriately and in accordance with the Trust’s Performance Development policy.
• To provide a supportive and developmental environment in which staff are motivated to realise their full potential and to undertake staff appraisals routinely and in accordance with Trust policy.
• To ensure that staff attend all mandatory and developmental training in accordance with policy.
• To resolve disputes and conflicts at a local level wherever possible but when necessary to effectively manage staff using the Capability, Grievance and Disciplinary policies.

Budgetary and Financial Management

• Responsible for managing and monitoring expenditure for the medical secretaries’ budget aligned with service provision.
• To order goods in accordance with the Trust’s financial framework and Standing Financial Instructions.
• To support the identification and delivery of cost improvements, service developments and income generation opportunities within the Directorate.
• To ensure best value and use of resources at all times.
• To identify, implement and monitor year-on-year cost improvement initiatives in accordance with targets.
• To assist the Divisional Manager in the production of outline and full business cases

Risk Management

• To ensure that all accountable staff are competent to undertake their roles.
• To ensure that all staff under the post holder’s direction comply with Trust policies and procedures.
• To fully understand the Trust’s incident reporting processes using the Datix System to record incidents with severity of 3 or below and to make senior staff aware of any level 4 or 5 incidents. To implement relevant actions identified from any resultant root cause analysis and action plan.
• To complete investigations following Datix submissions for areas of responsibility
• To undertake risk assessments and implement risk reducing measures for the areas of responsibility.
• To promote a culture that continually reviews performance using incident and complaints as tools for continuous improvement.