Assistant Service Manager

Job responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Coordinates operational management of the department working closely with the other managers including the support manager, Deputy Service Manager/Service Manager and Divisional Management team.
• Coordinates and plans activities for the delivery of services, contributing to long term plans and making daily adjustments in order to deliver service.
• Provides leadership and direction for the Support Manager and the administrative team within the department, ensuring clear communication of policy, business objectives and agreed targets.
• Implements effective and appropriate performance management systems and processes to ensure delivery of performance targets.
• Responsible for the management of Trust patient waiting lists, ensuring robust processes are implemented to ensure all patients are seen within national targets.
• Plans and organizes a comprehensive administration and clerical function to support the requirements of the patient referral and booking system.
• Plans, implements and monitors systems and processes to facilitate the tracking of target patients to ensure patients are seen within appropriate time scales.
• Makes plans to implement legislative changes which impact on local administrative processes.
• Undertakes complex staff planning, organizing rotas, allocating and reallocating tasks and staff on a daily basis to meet service delivery requirements.
• Analyses, investigates and resolves complex administrative queries and issues/problems.
• Interprets and analyses data in relation to performance management using Trust software to develop performance management reports.
• Proposes and implements policies and procedures within outpatients and health records, some of which impacts across the Trust e.g. redesign of health information systems, redesign of case note architecture.
• Leads on substantial programmes of work, to improve administrative services, across pathways of care or for specific patient groups as designated.
• Develops and introduces strategies and process changes to ensure recurrent achievement of activity at target levels. This includes liaison with clinicians to influence working practices to achieve the necessary changes.
• Provides advice to patients / relatives on an individual basis, providing nonclinical information with regards to queries relating to the patient administrative pathway for example, outpatient appointments, waiting times etc
• Develops own work plan in line with divisional and Trust objectives, working within organisational and broad occupational policies

Financial Management & Business Planning

• Authorised signatory for payments in relation to stationary stores within agreed financial limit.
• Supports the Deputy Service Manager in undertaking day to day budget management duties, including monitoring spend against budgets.
• Supports the Deputy Service Manager in developing and monitoring schemes and action plans to implement cash-releasing efficiency savings targets.
• Ensures organisational procedures are deployed across department for control of activities against budget.
• Ensures that departments work to achieve organisational effectiveness and deliver services within available resources.
• Uses and analyses financial information systems to ensure robust financial monitoring and budgetary performance, analyses complex financial queries or discrepancies in budget.

Human Resource Management

• Responsible for the line management of the Support Manager and administrative staff within the department to ensure that work is done effectively and on time
• Implements Trust strategy and policy for HR management and development including recruitment and selection, discipline, grievance, performance appraisal
• Undertakes the management of recruitment and selection of staff with the support of the team leaders, ensuring compliance with Trust policy.
• Provides appraisal/performance review of all administrative staff resulting in clearly understood objectives and personal development plans that reflects both the needs of the Trust and the longer-term goals of staff.
• Manages sickness /absence in accordance with policy for the management of sickness absence; undertakes return to work interviews.
• Takes action under Trust personnel policies (e.g. grievance, disciplinary, capability) where necessary.)
• Ensures systems are in place within departments to identify poor performance, conduct issues and that any individuals identified are appropriately supported and managed within Trust policies
• Oversee training requirements of staff within areas of responsibility, proactively looking for opportunities to enhance the teams knowledge and skill base. Ensure all new starters are inducted accordingly and supported to meet required levels of competence and confidence.
• Manage the administration processes for temporary cover for annual leave, vacant posts and exceptional cover, for example, for sickness or maternity leave ensuring a smooth transition is always maintained.
• Handle any concerns of supervised staff relating to both personal and departmental matters and aim to find solutions
• Identify staffing needs necessary to support new and increasing workload of the directorate
• Regularly assess existing posts within the department, make changes when necessary to assure levels of service and implement more efficient ways of working.

Policy and service development

• Works within broad organisational and professional policies
• Support the management team to implement innovation, technology, and new ways of working, contributing to policy and process development. These policy and process changes will impact outside the immediate work area and impact on other teams/departments.
• Document and implement standard operating procedures within areas of responsibility, ensuring review on a regular basis to reflect current practice.
• Responsible for the effective planning of the departmental workload and ensuring effective service provision. This will require complex short and mid-term plans to be drawn up but they will be subject to review and change as service requirements change.

Information Management

• To support, where necessary, preparations for external reviews and quality assurance programmes.
• Develops maintains and manages systems and processes required to support patient access.
• Liaises with information and data quality team regarding patient waiting times; analyses complex information with regards to patient waits, investigating and resolving potential waiting time breaches
• Co-ordinating responses to consultation documents and special initiatives
• Support the development of strategic plans for the clinical development of departments
• Manages the operation of systems which process, update and store information e.g. patient or staff
• Display effective analytical skills when making service-related decisions. There will often be a range of options and the post holder will be required to effectively analyse situations and make judgements on the appropriate course of action.
• Manages the storage and retrieval of patient information.
• Interprets information to complete statutory NHS returns, ensuring that work is completed with local and national timescales and legal requirements

Equality and Diversity

• To recognise the importance of peoples rights and interpret them in a way that is consistent with Trust procedures, policies and legislation
• To challenge behaviour that infringes the rights of others.
• To identify and take action where necessary to address discrimination and oppressio

Health & Safety

• Monitor and maintain health, safety and security of self and others in own work area
• Identify and assess potential risks in work activities and help others in how to manage these risks appropriately
• Act a role model and work within legislation and Trust procedures on risk management
• Take immediate and appropriate action including supporting others to manage risks in relation to adverse incident reporting via hospital incident reporting system
• Identify training needs in health and safety whilst identifying appropriate resources

Additional Requirements

• In the absence of the Service Manager and Deputy Service Manager attend meetings, ensuring divisional views are conveyed on appropriate matters, such as clinical governance, risk management meetings and ensure issues are brought back to the directorate and division for further discussion.
• Follow risk management procedures at all times including the identification, assessment and management of risk within the division.
• To abide by all Trust policies and procedures
• To be responsible for own professional /personal development.

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to Degree level or equivalent management qualification
• Additional specialist knowledge and experience over a range of areas including staff management, information systems, performance management, service improvement and legislation

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in a management role within the NHS
• Track record of achieving performance targets
• Experience of service improvement and reconfiguration projects.
• Experience of achieving set objectives, organizational and performance targets.
• Experience of working across departmental and organizational boundaries to deliver specific targets and to improve services for patients
• Experience of working in a pressurized, unpredictable environment
• Experience of managing conflict
• Experience of staff management - HR & Performance

Desirable

• Experience of working within an NHS Acute Trust
• Experience of staff management within NHS organisation

Skills

Essential

• Ability to interpret and implement national and local strategy and policy drivers
• Able to motivate a team
• Good interpersonal skills both written and verbal.
• Able to negotiate at all levels
• Ability to implement and manage change
• Advanced key board skills, ability to use IT packages and patient information systems.
• Analytical and problem solving skills
• Ability to communicate effectively with individuals at all levels and across agencies.
• Good analytical skills and the ability to deduce key points from complex data in order to make decisions.

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge across a range of NHS services and functions
• Understanding of confidentiality
• Has insight into strengths and development needs
• Knowledge of clinical governance and risk management agendas.
• Knowledge of business planning process and its application in service delivery.

Desirable

• Knowledge of national political agenda, the external environment, including national and regional strategies and priorities.
• Knowledge of change management and quality improvement theory.

Values

Essential

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).