Deputy Chief Medical Officer - Integrated Physical & Community Health

NELFT NHS Foundation Trust; Ilford; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

A community healthcare provider in Ilford is seeking a Deputy Chief Medical Officer to lead strategic clinical initiatives within Integrated Physical and Community Health. Candidates must have significant leadership experience in physical-health or community-care settings. The role aims to ensure high-quality, integrated care across various communities. This opportunity offers the chance to influence healthcare delivery and ensure that every individual receives compassionate and effective services.

Benefits

Commitment to work-life balance

Proactive health and wellbeing support

Equality and diversity initiatives

Qualifications

• Senior leadership in NHS physical-health or community-care services.
• Experience in frailty, long-term conditions, or virtual-ward services.
• Track record of service improvement.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic clinical leadership for adult physical-health and community services.
• Influence care integration across communities.
• Lead clinical strategy across physical-health services.

Skills

Leadership in physical-health or community-care

Knowledge of NHS strategic priorities

Experience in out-of-hospital services

Partnership working with Primary Care Networks

Education

Inclusion on GMC Specialist Register

Job description

Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) – Integrated Physical and Community Health

Substantive – 10 Programmed Activities plus 20% responsibility allowance.

Base: Goodmayes Hospital, with travel across the NELFT footprint

Salary: Consultant pay scale (top point) plus 20% responsibility allowance

Please note: This role is open to General Practitioners, Consultant Physicians and Consultant Geriatricians.

We are seeking a senior, credible clinician with a strong track record of leadership in physical-health or community-care settings. You will have a deep understanding of :

• Primary care and neighbourhood working
• Frailty and long-term-condition pathways
• Out-of-hospital and intermediate-care services (, virtual wards, rapid response)
• Partnership working with multidisciplinary teams and system partners

You will be motivated by NELFT’s values — We are kind, we are respectful, and we work together with our communities — and by our commitment to equity, inclusion, learning, and compassionate leadership.

Main duties of the job

This is an exceptional opportunity to join the Executive Medical Leadership Team at North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) as Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) for Integrated Physical and Community Health — a newly created senior leadership role shaping the future of care across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway.

The DCMO for Integrated Physical and Community Health will provide strategic clinical leadership for all adult physical-health and community services, ensuring that every person - whether living with mental illness, frailty, or long-term conditions - receives high-quality, joined-up, compassionate care.

The postholder will lead clinical strategy across the full spectrum of physical-health services, including inpatient and outpatient care, frailty and rehabilitation pathways, virtual wards, rapid-response, urgent treatment centres and intermediate-care services. They will work closely with neighbourhood teams, primary care networks, acute providers and system partners to deliver the ambitions of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan and the integration of care across communities .

This is a unique opportunity to influence at scale — embedding prevention, integration, and quality improvement across the continuum of physical and community health.

Working for our organisation

Our Values 2025 - 2030

Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co‑produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.

They are :

• We are kind.
• We are respectful.
• We work together with our communities.

These three values help us tostrive to provide the best care by the best people.

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period.

Starting with Us

NELFT places great importance on new starters being properly welcomed into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks, including mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process, new starters will also have the opportunity to meet the executive team, senior managers, and attend several drop‑in sessions focusing on engagement, health and wellbeing, and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further details.

This is one of three new Deputy Chief Medical Officer roles in a strengthened medical‑leadership structure, alongside :

• DCMO – Mental Health (Psychiatry)
• DCMO – Babies, Children and Young People (BCYP)

Together, these roles ensure that the medical voice is central to decision‑making across the organisation and system — strengthening safety, quality, and integration.

For an informal conversation about the position, please contact Dr Helene Brown, Acting Chief Medical Officer - and assistant :

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Inclusion on General Medical Council Specialist Register (General Practitioner, Physician or Geriatrician)

Experience

Essential criteria

• Senior leadership in NHS physical-health or community‑care services
• Experience across frailty, long-term conditions, out‑of‑hospital or virtual‑ward services
• Partnership working with Primary Care Networks or neighbourhood teams
• Track record of service improvement

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• In‑depth understanding of NHS strategic priorities, particularly the 10 year Health Plan and integrated‑care models
• Sound grasp of quality governance, Quality Improvement and change management

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT :

• A long‑standing and award‑winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long‑term / chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
• A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
• Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
• Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.