Job summary
The post holder is responsible for providing strong operational leadership to a multidisciplinary clinical team within the Mental Health Hub in Bexley. The role ensures the delivery of a high-quality, efficient, and patient-focused adult mental health service, operating within available resources and in line with Trust values.
A central aspect of the role is ensuring that services are comprehensive, adaptable, and recovery-focused, with meaningful involvement of service users and carers embedded across the care pathway. The post holder ensures that clinical activity, team performance, risk management, and service standards are maintained to a high level while promoting a positive team culture and supporting continuous improvement in the locality.
Main duties of the job
- Lead the day-to-day operation of the multidisciplinary team, overseeing referral screening, assessments, treatment planning, and smooth patient flow through the service.
- Manage, supervise, and support staff, ensuring regular supervision, performance monitoring, development planning, and clear communication across the team.
- Hold and manage a clinical caseload, including complex cases, offering guidance and clinical oversight to colleagues to ensure safe and effective care.
- Embed strong risk management practices, ensuring the team responds appropriately to safeguarding concerns, serious incidents, complaints, and learning opportunities.
- Oversee resource and budget management, ensuring services are delivered cost-effectively while maintaining clinical quality and compliance with Trust policies and operational standards.
- Lead on recruitment and workforce development, contributing to service planning, team culture, and continuous improvement across the locality.
- Promote equality, diversity, inclusion, and patient-centred values, ensuring the service is responsive, accessible, and aligned with the Trust's values and strategic priorities.
About us
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We're Kind
- We're Fair
- We Listen
- We Care
Job description
Job responsibilities
Leadership & Management
The post holder provides effective leadership to ensure the team delivers safe, highquality care aligned with Trust standards and operational policies. Responsibilities include driving performance, supporting staff through supervision and development, ensuring HR processes are followed, and promoting a positive, inclusive team culture. The role involves monitoring service demand, developing action plans, supporting workforce planning, contributing to policy development, and ensuring systems are in place to track service activity, unmet needs, and financial performance.
Clinical & Operational Responsibilities
The role requires managing a clinical caseload, including complex cases, and offering clinical guidance to staff. The post holder ensures effective risk management, safeguarding compliance, and appropriate responses to incidents and complaints. They promote evidencebased practice, maintain oversight of referral screening, assessments, and treatment planning, and ensure the team follows agreed procedures, governance frameworks, and operational standards. Active involvement in embedding learning from incidents and complaints is essential.
Governance, Communication & Service Quality
The post holder ensures strong communication systems within the team, supporting accurate information sharing around risk, care planning, and discharge coordination. They maintain high standards of clinical documentation and ensure compliance with governance, health and safety, and infection control requirements. The role promotes equality, diversity, inclusion, and a recoveryfocused approach, while engaging with service users and carers to improve service quality and experience.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Leadership & Management
The post holder provides effective leadership to ensure the team delivers safe, highquality care aligned with Trust standards and operational policies. Responsibilities include driving performance, supporting staff through supervision and development, ensuring HR processes are followed, and promoting a positive, inclusive team culture. The role involves monitoring service demand, developing action plans, supporting workforce planning, contributing to policy development, and ensuring systems are in place to track service activity, unmet needs, and financial performance.
Clinical & Operational Responsibilities
The role requires managing a clinical caseload, including complex cases, and offering clinical guidance to staff. The post holder ensures effective risk management, safeguarding compliance, and appropriate responses to incidents and complaints. They promote evidencebased practice, maintain oversight of referral screening, assessments, and treatment planning, and ensure the team follows agreed procedures, governance frameworks, and operational standards. Active involvement in embedding learning from incidents and complaints is essential.
Governance, Communication & Service Quality
The post holder ensures strong communication systems within the team, supporting accurate information sharing around risk, care planning, and discharge coordination. They maintain high standards of clinical documentation and ensure compliance with governance, health and safety, and infection control requirements. The role promotes equality, diversity, inclusion, and a recoveryfocused approach, while engaging with service users and carers to improve service quality and experience.
Person Specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential
- Relevant professional qualification (e.g., RMN, OT, Social Worker, Psychologist).
- Educated to degree level or equivalent
- Educated to master's level or able to demonstrate equivalent relevant experience.
Desirable
- Additional leadership or management-related study aligned with service management responsibilities.
- Post-qualification training relevant to adult mental health practice
- Evidence of continued professional development relevant to operational or clinical leadership.
Experience
Essential
- Significant experience and demonstrable achievement in clinical practice across varied settings.
- Experience of providing professional support, supervision, and motivating staff.
- Experience of managing staff and understanding Health and Social Care governance.
Desirable
- Experience managing complex cases and supporting staff in their management.
- Experience contributing to service development, policy implementation, or improvement initiatives.
- Experience leading or supporting incident investigations, safeguarding alerts, or complaint handling.
Skills / Abilities / Knowledge
Essential
- Ability to communicate complex and emotive information effectively with staff, service users, carers, and other stakeholders.
- Strong understanding of integrated governance and management of clinical and non-clinical risks.
- Skilled in managing challenging situations, including responding appropriately to aggression.
Desirable
- Open, facilitative, and adaptable leadership style that supports service delivery
- Ability to hold professionals and peers to account to maintain high standards.
- Strong performance-management skills, including setting expectations and driving improvement.
Person Specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential
- Relevant professional qualification (e.g., RMN, OT, Social Worker, Psychologist).
- Educated to degree level or equivalent
- Educated to master's level or able to demonstrate equivalent relevant experience.
Desirable
- Additional leadership or management-related study aligned with service management responsibilities.
- Post-qualification training relevant to adult mental health practice
- Evidence of continued professional development relevant to operational or clinical leadership.
Experience
Essential
- Significant experience and demonstrable achievement in clinical practice across varied settings.
- Experience of providing professional support, supervision, and motivating staff.
- Experience of managing staff and understanding Health and Social Care governance.
Desirable
- Experience managing complex cases and supporting staff in their management.
- Experience contributing to service development, policy implementation, or improvement initiatives.
- Experience leading or supporting incident investigations, safeguarding alerts, or complaint handling.
Skills / Abilities / Knowledge
Essential
- Ability to communicate complex and emotive information effectively with staff, service users, carers, and other stakeholders.
- Strong understanding of integrated governance and management of clinical and non-clinical risks.
- Skilled in managing challenging situations, including responding appropriately to aggression.
Desirable
- Open, facilitative, and adaptable leadership style that supports service delivery
- Ability to hold professionals and peers to account to maintain high standards.
- Strong performance-management skills, including setting expectations and driving improvement.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
