Director of Clinical Services | JR113654

Job description

Job responsibilities

Director of Clinical Services (DCS)

WHO ARE WE?

• We are Circle Health Group.

• We are the number one independent provider of hospital services in this country, with more than 50 hospitals, 6000 specialists and 2 million patient visits each year.

• We offer high quality, safe, accessible and affordable healthcare.

• We want to be the most innovative and patient focused healthcare organisation.

WHO ARE YOU?

• You make sure that standards of patient care are consistently applied and maintained.

• You maintain and enhance customer service and satisfaction.

• You promote and safeguard the wellbeing and interests of all patients, employees and visitors.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Strategic Clinical Leadership

• Lead the clinical governance agenda to ensure compliance with all regulatory, legal, and professional standards, maintaining a minimum CQC rating of GOOD, while striving for OUTSTANDING.

• Provide visible leadership and clinical on-call support, acting as the senior advisor on all clinical matters within the hospital.

• Develop and implement strategies that align with national guidance (e.g. NICE) and reflect effective, efficient patient pathways.

Patient Safety, Quality and Risk Management

• Ensure all measures are taken to safeguard the health, safety, and wellbeing of patients, maintaining a high-quality, safe clinical environment.

• Oversee investigations of incidents, near misses, complaints, and risks ensuring lessons are learned and shared, and improvements are embedded through action planning.

• Lead the hospitals clinical audit programme and ensure outcomes inform continuous quality improvement and policy adherence.

Professional Standards and Development

• Maintain and uphold professional standards in line with NMC, HCPC, GMC, and other regulatory bodies.

• Lead NMC revalidation and HCPC/GPC CPD processes, supporting staff compliance and personal development.

• Guide newly employed or qualified staff through preceptorship and early development, ensuring they are safe and supported in their roles.

Workforce Leadership and Safe Staffing

• Ensure safe staffing levels across all clinical areas, with appropriate skill mix and staff competency at all times.

• Champion continual professional development, team engagement, and a culture of learning and accountability.

• Act as a coach and mentor to teams, providing inspirational leadership that reflects CHGs values and behaviours.

Governance, Audit, and Compliance

• Lead hospital participation in internal and external audits, ensuring timely actions and adherence to best practice.

• Support the Executive Director with consultant performance and advise on matters relating to practising privileges.

• Drive a culture of openness, psychological safety, and professional integrity where staff feel confident to speak up about concerns.

Operational Performance and Service Excellence

• Work collaboratively with senior management and consultants to optimise patient care, safety, and service efficiency.

• Support hospital business planning, workforce strategy, and implementation of new clinical services or models of care.

• Use clinical data and performance metrics to inform decision-making and continuous improvement initiatives.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

Essential:

• NMC or HCPC-registered healthcare professional with extensive senior leadership experience in a hospital setting.

• Demonstrated success in clinical governance, risk management, and quality improvement.

• Deep understanding of regulatory standards (CQC, NICE, NMC, HCPC, etc.) and national healthcare frameworks.

• Excellent leadership, communication, and change management skills.

• Proven ability to lead investigations, manage risk, and embed learning from incidents and audits.

Desirable:

• Masters degree in Healthcare Leadership, Management, or a relevant clinical specialty.

• Experience in private healthcare or multi-specialty hospital operations.

• Familiarity with managing practising privileges and consultant engagement.

• Experience leading CQC inspection readiness and successful improvement programmes.

WHAT SORT OF PERSON ARE YOU?

• You are a great communicator with different people at different levels.

• You are an excellent judge and decision maker.

• You are a highly effective problem solver.

• You are proactive and driven to succeed.

• You are punctual, committed and reliable.

• You are flexible and adaptable.

WHAT ELSE?

• This is intended as an outline of the general areas of activity. This is not exhaustive and may change due to future changes and developments.

• You have to maintain your knowledge and conduct your duties responsibly with the guidance of the Health & Safety at Work Act.

• You treat all patient information as confidential and would only breach confidence if you felt that a patient or member of staff was at risk of harm.

Health & Safety / Confidentiality

You must maintain knowledge of Health and Safety at Work Act. Ensuring appropriate measures are taken in respect of Health and Safety for staff, visitors and contractors.

In the course of their duties employees will have access to confidential material about patients, members of staff and Circle Health Group. On no account must information relating to identifiable patients be divulged to anyone other than authorised persons, for example, medical, nursing or other professional staff, as appropriate, who are concerned directly with the care, diagnosis and/or treatment of the patient. Similarly, no information of a personal or confidential nature concerning individual members of staff should be divulged to anyone without the proper authority. Failure to observe these rules will be regarded as serious misconduct, which could result in disciplinary action being taken including dismissal.

This job description is intended as an outline of the general areas of activity. This job description is not an exhaustive document and may be subject to alteration in the light of future changes and developments.

Opportunities with Circle Health Group

Circle Health Group is committed to creating a diverse workforce offering inclusive opportunities for all our colleagues. Our definition of diversity goes beyond the established characteristics protected by the Equality Act, as we strive to attract candidates with diverse experiences, backgrounds, identities or expressions, skills, work stylesand more.

Were passionate about creating an environment where our people can thrive, grow and develop professionally and personally. Our principles and values guide our colleagues to be selfless, compassionate, committed, collaborative, brave, agile, tenacious and creative and are at the core of our purpose and culture.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• NMC or HCPC-registered healthcare professional with extensive senior leadership experience in a hospital setting.
• Management qualification.

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrated success in clinical governance, risk management, and quality improvement.
• Deep understanding of regulatory standards (CQC, NICE, NMC, HCPC, etc.) and national healthcare frameworks.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and change management skills.
• Proven ability to lead investigations, manage risk, and embed learning from incidents and audits.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing clinical functions across multiple specialties.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Circle Health Group

Address

The Chiltern Hospital

London Road

Great Missenden

Buckinghamshire

HP16 0EN

Employer's website

https://www.circlehealth.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)