Lay Chair (Bank)

Job overview

Lay Chair (Bank)

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is seeking to appoint a bank of Lay Chairs to support Advisory Appointments Committees for consultant appointments. Lay Chairs play an important independent role in ensuring that panels are conducted fairly, consistently and in line with the relevant regulations, Trust processes and our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

What we are looking for

• A genuine commitment to patients and the promotion of first-class health care services.
• A degree level or equivalent education; or other senior level relevant experience; in a business or leadership environment.
• The ability to facilitate a group; to reach sound, impartial decision-making, exercising reasoned judgement and applying professional expertise and knowledge.
• The ability to facilitate constructive and productive panel discussions, enabling all panel members to contribute to decision making and managing disagreements between panel members.
• Experience chairing senior committees and working in complex governance structures.
• The ability to prepare written outcomes that explain and justify decisions in an accurate, clear, and concise manner.
• There is no requirement to have a background in healthcare, but the post holder must have an awareness of the range of work undertaken by Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and the Trust values.

Main duties of the job

Post duties:

• To ensure the timetable set for the AAC process is reasonable.
• To oversee the shortlisting of candidates to ensure fairness and consistency
• To ensure, at the interview stage, that sufficient time is allowed for prior discussion and agreement on the questions that the panel will ask and the structure of the interviews, a suitable period for each interview and adequate time for post-interview discussion.
• To ensure appropriate reasonable adjustments are made where appropriate.
• Manage other parts of the selection process i.e., presentation (if planned)
• Keep the references confidential until the panel agree who to offer the role.

To ensure that AAC members:

• Are given an opportunity, prior to interview, to clarify points of detail concerning the job description and/or person specification

For further information, please see the attached job description and person specification for a full list of duties and responsibilities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information regarding the role please read the attached job description and person specification.

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.