Consultant in Health Protection

Job responsibilities

Communication and Key Working Relationships

The post holder will develop working relationships and communicate regularly with a wide range of individuals, clinical and non-clinical, internal and external to UKHSA.

This will include:

Internal

UKHSA Regional teams

Other UKHSA divisions/directorates

External

Lower & Upper Tier Local Authorities

Directors of Public Health & teams

Education

Social Services

Environmental Health

Health Protection Boards

Office of Health Improvement and Disparities

NHS England

Integrated Care Systems

NHS Acute Trusts & provider organisations

Infection Prevention & Control teams

Hospital staff including clinicians, microbiologists and infection control

Local Resilience Fora and Local Health Resilience Partnerships

Environment Agency

Animal Health

Water / Utilities Companies

Care Homes

Universities / Colleges/ Schools

General Practitioners and other staff in Primary Care

Health & Wellbeing Boards

Care Quality Commission

Local Prisons

Emergency Services

Emergency Planning Resilience and Response (EPRR) team

Response

• Will be expected, when required, to assume overall responsibility for the management of incidents and outbreaks of infectious diseases, lead the local Health Protection team response to non-infectious environmental hazards and chemical incidents and assume overall responsibility for the day to day running of the acute response function.
• To utilise an evidence-based approach to manage clinical/professional advice and discussions within the team and support and participate in the teams formal case review process.
• To ensure the monitoring of standards, ensuring quality and consistency and to take action where any shortfall occurs.
• May be responsible for any ongoing longer-term management of issues relevant to a defined geography area within their area.

Surveillance

• Contribute strategically to the development and maintenance of effective systems for the surveillance of communicable disease and environmental hazards.
• Proactively use surveillance outputs to inform and influence local and national Public Health actions, policies and strategies.
• Lead, plan and design agreed initiatives to address health needs, health inequalities and health impact assessment, with a particular focus on health protection

Partnership Working

• Take a lead in the proactive development and contribution to key relationships with a wide range of individuals and stakeholders and take responsibility for the maintenance of professional networks relevant to role.
• Influence, and where appropriate, lead the development and implementation of system wide priorities and programmes for public health action or improvement.
• Employ highly effective communication, negotiation and influencing skills to enable stakeholder relationships to deliver objectives with:
  • External organisations and wider NHS stakeholders to ensure collaboration in the strategy in the Sector
  • Internal leaders and staff to gain input to the development of systems, processes and activities

Research, Teaching and Training

• Contribute to research activity to complement the health protection evidence base and where agreed, to lead research projects.
• Deliver appropriate teaching activities across a range of audiences.
• Contribute to training programmes (including supervision) for Foundation Year Doctors and Specialist Trainees in the Faculty of Public Health training scheme as appropriate, and to the training of health and care professionals and practitioners within the locality.

Management and Leadership

• To be a visible, positive leader and role model. Meeting and demonstrating high professional standards.
• Oversee the development and implementation of policies and protocols for a wide range of health protection issues.
• Lead and coordinate defined areas of work as agreed with the Deputy Director for Health Protection e.g. specific communicable disease and non-infectious environmental hazards, quality and training.
• Where agreed, lead the locality/patch-based health protection team.
• May undertake line management responsibilities including budgetary responsibilities as agreed with the Deputy Director Health Protection or Regional Director.

Personal and Professional Development

• Participate in organisational and professional appraisal and revalidation as appropriate.
• Pursue a programme of Continuing Professional Development, including mandatory training, in accordance with the requirements of a recognised Professional body e.g. Faculty of Public Health, Royal College of Pathologists.
• On the occasions when a medical qualification and GMC specialist registration are required, medically qualified members may be asked to undertake specific duties such as in the development of Patient Group Direction or Medical Officer functions in the Regulations of the Public Health Act. Such occasions may be based on legislative or organisational requirements.
• Where appropriate, contribute to and support the development of individuals and the team through appraisal, personal development planning, coaching and mentoring.

Other Duties

• The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by your line manager.
• The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of UKHSA Regions

Candidates should refer to the Job Description for a full overview of the role and remit of the post prior to completing their application

ExternalOpen to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).

Stage 1 - application

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on essential criteria, and this will be in the form of:

Application form (Employer/ Activity history section on the application) a (1500) word Statement of Suitability.

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.

The Application form and Statement of Suitability will be marked together.

Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment

Please do not exceed 1500 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2 - Interview

You will be invited to an in person interview at 3 Piccadilly Place, Manchester, remote attendance may be permitted in exceptional circumstances.

Knowledge, experience, skills & abilities will be tested at interview .

A 10 minute presentation will be required, the subject will be provided prior to interview. Slides can be used.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

The successful candidate will be appointed to the point of the Consultant salary scale appropriate to their years of seniority or if from a background other than medicine to NHS Agenda for Change Band 8d.

Inclusion in the GMC Full and Specialist Register with a license to practice (or be eligible for registration within six months of interview).

If included in the GMC Specialist Register/ in a specialty other than public health medicine, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health practice.

Public Health Specialty Registrar applicants who are not yet on the GMC Specialist Register must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry at the date of interview; all other applicants must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they have applied for inclusion in the GMC.

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at our office in 3 Piccadilly Place, Manchester, M1 3BN. We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month).

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Qualifications

Essential

• Inclusion in the GMC Specialist Register or UK Public Health (Specialist) Register
• If included in the GMC Specialist Register in a specialty other than public health medicine, infectious diseases medicine or medical microbiology, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health medicine, infectious diseases medicine or medical microbiology practice
• Public health specialist registrar and specialist trainee applicants who are not yet on the GMC Register/UKPHR must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry at the date of interview; all other applicants must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they have applied for inclusion in the GMC/UKPHR
• Applicants must meet minimum CPD requirements in accordance with the requirements of the Faculty of Public Health/Royal College of Pathologists/Royal College of Physicians or other recognised body
• MFPH, or MRCPath, or MRCP

Behaviours and Attitudes

Essential

• Strong commitment to public health principles
• Commitment to team-working and respect and consideration for the skills of others
• Self-motivated, pro-active, and innovative
• High standards of professional probity

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Minimum 6 months experience in Health Protection practice
• Practical experience in leading and facilitating change
• Experience of communicable disease control in a wide variety of settings including out of hours on call
• Experience of working with other agencies
• Experience of emergency planning
• Understanding of key agencies involved in health protection
• Knowledge of methods of developing clinical quality assurance, audit, quality improvement and evidence based clinical and/or public health practice
• Understanding of social and political environment
• Understanding of laboratory microbiology services
• Understanding of clinical infectious diseases services
• Understanding of clinical toxicology services
• Understanding of the principles of radiological protection

Desirable

• Experience of budget management and financial processes
• Experience and demonstrable competency in dealing with environmental hazards / chemical incidents
• Ability to undertake prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases of public health importance
• Peer reviewed scientific publications, presentation of papers at conferences, seminars, etc

Skills and Capabilities

Essential

• Strategic thinker with proven leadership skills, including management of change
• Able to prioritise work, and work well against a background of change and uncertainty
• Adaptable to situations, can communicate with people of all capabilities and attitudes
• Project management
• Understanding of epidemiology and statistics, public health practice, health promotion, health economics and health care evaluation
• Excellent oral and written communication skills (including dealing with the public and the media)
• Effective interpersonal, motivational and influencing skills
• Ability to respond appropriately in unplanned and unforeseen circumstances
• Sensible negotiator with practical expectation of what can be achieved
• Substantially numerate, with highly developed analytical skills using qualitative and quantitative data
• Computer literate
• Ability to design, develop, interpret and implement policies
• Ability to concentrate for long periods (e.g. analyses, media presentations)
• Resource management skills

Desirable

• People management and training
• Training and mentoring
• Have an awareness of and be working towards the key core competencies set out in Civil Service Competency Framework 2010-2017 and KSF for those on AfC terms and conditions

Equality and Diversity

Essential

• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships, both in terms of day-to-day working practices, and in relation to management systems

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).

UK Registration

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