Directorate Support Officer

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join the Surgical Division as Directorate Support Officer covering General Surgery and Urology.

This would be an excellent opportunity for someone wishing to progress their career within the NHS. We are looking for a highly organised and self-reliant individual. You will be working with a wide range of stakeholders including Consultant Surgeons, Secretaries, Theatres and Outpatients whilst assisting in the management of the day to day function of the services. You will need to be an excellent communicator and be able to manage access and activity targets including working to our internal and national targets.

Main duties of the job

Support with line management of Directorates administrative staff

Ensure there are adequate procedures in place within the specialities for booking of patients in a timely manner, to be aware of the status of capacity and booking, ensuring maximum utilisation of available capacity within our Out Patient and Theatre activity

Make operational arrangements for additional Theatres/Outpatient sessions, according to availability of Consultants; this includes liaising with Theatres and Outpatient staff and the relevant clinics on all sites

Manage administrative and medical recruitment in the Directorate

RTT Validation and understanding of the Trusts RTT policies and procedures

Cancer Pathways Validation and understanding of the Trusts Cancer policies procedures

Support the departments Rota's, including managing sickness and vacant rota gaps

Creating Agenda's and taking minutes within the monthly directorate meetings

About us

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester

Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Being open and honest

Ensuring people feel cared for

Showing respect to everyone

We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

DBS Checks and Costs

Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check (at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.

Details

• Date posted: 21 July 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 5
• Salary: £32,073 to £39,043 a year
• Contract: Fixed term
• Duration: 12 months
• Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working
• Reference number: C9365-26-0558
• Job locations: The Alexandra Hospital, Woodrow Drive, Redditch, Worcestershire, B987UB, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Key Working Relationships

Internal: Divisional Management Team, Waiting List Manager, Team Leaders Health Records, Medical Secretaries, Appointments Clerks, Receptionists, Ward Clerks, Information Department, Patient Services Department, Legal Services

External: Primary Care Networks (PCNs), Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), Patients and their relatives

Job Purpose

To support the Directorate Team in working with the clinical teams and management teams to establish clinical and non-clinical performance targets and co-ordinate the monitoring of these through an agreed set of performance indicators

To Line management of Directorates administrative staff

To participate in the management of complaints/PALs issues

To use skills/knowledge to: further develop patient pathways to improve access to surgical services; to improve the flow and management of complaints within the Division

Ensure personal skills and knowledge of National and Local Access Policies are maintained by attending in-house training and through the direction of the Divisional Management Team

To liaise with patients/relatives concerning their surgical pathway; administrate complaint/concerns to ensure all relevant information is gathered to enable to the Directorate to effectively investigate and respond to the complainant

To have a good working knowledge of the Trusts electronic systems to enable the post-holder to undertake his/her role ie, Datix, Oasis, Bluespier

Key Duties

Support with line management of Directorates administrative staff

To have an in-depth knowledge of the Patient Access Policy, assist with the review of this Policy and be able to advise other staff on aspects of this Policy. Monitor the achievement of standards within the policy and good practice guidance and ensuring action is taken to improve performance against these standards

To liaise with Medical Secretaries, Health Records and Information staff to ensure patients are entered on to the waiting list appropriately. Check waiting list entries are correct, according to Patient Access Policy

Ensure there are adequate procedures in place within the specialties for booking of patients in a timely manner, to be aware of the status of capacity and booking, ensuring maximum utilisation of available capacity

Make operational arrangements for additional Theatres/Outpatient sessions, according to availability of Consultants; this includes liaising with Theatres/Outpatient staff and the relevant clinics on all sites

Work with Consultants and medical secretaries with regards to non-clinical prioritisation of patients for treatment, availability of operating slots, discuss situations where a decision needs to be made to remove a patient from the waiting list and those patients whose care could be transferred to alternative surgeons to expedite patient pathways, ensuring Access Policy is followed

Contact patients to agree treatment plan, taking account of patient availability and preferences, availability of surgeons and theatre/clinic capacity. Ensure that all action is documented appropriately on the Patient Administrative System

Make operational arrangements for additional theatre sessions, according to availability of surgeons; this includes liaising with theatre staff, anaesthetic staff and the relevant wards on all sites

Respond to information requests from the Trust Access Team and ICBs with regard to surgical specialty patients

Provide Directorate Managers with regular position statement on the position in relation to Access Targets, and inform of any cancellations, where capacity is required and not available, remedial action of any potential difficulties

Monitor mandatory training and PDRs of administrative staff within the Directorate

Manage administrative and medical recruitment in the Directorate

RTT Validation and understanding of the Trusts RTT policies and procedure

Cancer pathways validation and understanding of the Trusts Cancer Pathways policies and procedures

Escalation of appropriate at risk items to senior management

General Duties

Tofacilitate completion of monthly payroll turnaround documents for the specialties

Support administrative staff as required

To undertake any other duties as may be required as appropriate in accordance to the needs of the service