General Manager

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust

Reporting to the Associate Chief Operating Officer, the post holder will be an integral member of the Care Group's Management Team and will be responsible for supporting the delivery of the Care Group's strategy and the Division's overall strategies and objectives.

In addition to supporting the delivery of the Care Group's strategy, the General Manager will take operational responsibility for the Diagnostic and Clinical Support services; this will include leading the senior team and ensuring services are delivered effectively and safely. The Diagnostics and Clinical Support Care Group includes Imaging Services, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, and Bed Management Team.

The post holder will have the requisite management experience to allow them to effectively oversee the performance of teams and will possess the personal qualities and skills to deal competently with operational issues.

The General Manager will implement patient-centred clinical operational strategy and plans, advising the Care Group Leadership team and ensuring that systems and processes are in place and adhered to.

The General Manager will lead plans and strategies for the Care Group, this includes accountability for the delivery of those clinical and clinical technical services within their area.

Main duties of the job

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. To provide leadership and direction to the Diagnostic and Clinical Support Care Group, ensuring policies and procedures are developed and implemented to deliver clinical standards safely and effectively, ensuring performance targets are achieved within the allocated financial resources.
2. Accountable for the Care Group, working closely with the Clinical and Service Managers to ensure the service objectives are achieved.
3. Represent the Care Group at regional and partnership forums ensuring services are routinely benchmarked with the network.
4. Develop Care Group plans that ensure the service is delivered in line with the Trust's and Divisional Strategy and supports the Trust's strategy for High Performing Services.

Key Relationships

Divisional Managers, Therapy Managers, Clinical Managers, Clinical Specialists, Consultants, Community teams, external providers.

About us

As one of Europe's biggest and busiest children's hospitals, at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, we treat everything from common illnesses to highly complex and specialist conditions. In addition to our main hospital site, we offer paediatric services at a number of community sites and hold local clinics across Merseyside, Cumbria, Shropshire, Wales, and the Isle of Man. We also provide specialist inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs in our recently relocated and newly opened state-of-the-art facility.

Alder Hey has a thriving research portfolio and leads research into children's medicines, infection, inflammation, and oncology. We are becoming recognised as one of the world's leaders in children's healthcare and research. We contribute to public health, lead cutting-edge research, and teach the next generation of children's specialists. Alongside this is our Innovation Hub, a dedicated space where clinicians and industries can come together to create new products and technologies.

We know that a children's hospital is different and that our job is more than just treating an illness. To us, every child is an individual. As well as giving them the very best care, we set out to make them feel happy, safe, and confident as they play, learn, and grow. At Alder Hey, we are here to look after a child and their family and that includes mums, dads, brothers, and sisters.

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. To provide leadership and direction to the Diagnostic and Clinical Support Care Group, ensuring policies and procedures are developed and implemented to deliver clinical standards safely and effectively, ensuring performance targets are achieved within the allocated financial resources.
2. Accountable for the Care Group, working closely with the Clinical and Service Managers to ensure the service objectives are achieved.
3. Represent the Care Group at regional and partnership forums ensuring services are routinely benchmarked with the network.
4. Develop Care Group plans that ensure the service is delivered in line with the Trust's and Divisional Strategy and supports the Trust's strategy for High Performing Services.

Communication

Planning and Organising Skills Lead on service improvement projects or initiatives for the Care Group, overseeing the development of project plans, and delivery of individual projects, delegating to senior leads when appropriate.

Responsible for the interpretation, development, and implementation of clinical and non-clinical policies pertaining to the Care Group, liaising with other agencies as appropriate.

Receive, manage, and analyse and interpret highly complex data, communicating findings to the Care Group and the Division.

Responsibility for patient/client care Ensure the Care Group has a strategy for ensuring best use of clinical practice across all areas, ensuring that all clinical practice adheres to current legislation.

Ensure the Care Group has a policy to ensure continuous improvement and review of quality standards and has the competence to respond with appropriate plans when services fail to meet them consistently.

Ensure the Care Group has robust governance systems in place, with supporting programmes established within the team to monitor and deliver clinically effective high-quality services.

Responsibility for policy/service development Responsible for the identification and delivery of service development opportunities in order to achieve standards of best practice within the Care Group.

Ensure that research and development is facilitated within the Care Group.

Maintain personal familiarisation with national and local policy changes that have the ability to affect the safe and effective operations within the Care Group.

Responsibility for Financial and Physical Resources Responsible for Care Group budget, ensuring cost-effective use of resources, identify budget pressures as they arise, and develop actions to address them which results in the delivery of a balanced budget.

Oversee the development of business cases within the Care Group to support the development or reconfiguration of services as and when required.

Responsible for ensuring the Care Group delivers its cost improvement programme alongside the Service Managers, Clinical Director, Specialty Directors, Heads of Service, and Clinical Service Managers.

Authorised signatory for all claim sheets e.g., overtime, expenses, and general orders etc.

Responsible for advising the Division regarding the procurement of equipment, ensuring value for money, whilst ensuring the equipment meets the needs of services.

Responsibility for Human Resources

Responsibility for Information Resources

Person Specification

Qualifications, Experience and Knowledge

• Education to degree level or equivalent
• Knowledge and understanding of a range of issues across the NHS and NHS patient agenda.
• Higher professional or management degree (Masters Level) or equivalent knowledge acquired by experience.
• Evidence of continuing professional development including regular attendance on internal and external study programmes.
• Extensive experience working at a senior management level in a large complex organisation preferably within the NHS.
• Previous experience of effective workforce planning and service developments
• Exposure to solving issues within a complex healthcare environment
• Recent experience of internal/external partnership working at a senior level
• Proven experience of effectively managing policy implementation and demonstrable service development work
• Experience of managing and developing multi-disciplinary teams
• Demonstrable experience at a senior management level, with clear evidence of responsibility for supporting operational delivery including clinical quality, people management, budget responsibility, and successful delivery of performance targets within strict financial controls.
• Understanding and appreciation of diversity
• Key issues and pace of change facing the NHS nationally and locally, assess and describe impact on services.
• Principles and impact of the NHS Constitution
• Knowledge and understanding of computerised financial, management, budgetary management, and workforce information systems
• Knowledge and understanding of governance arrangements and standards in the NHS and the wider health and social care economy

Skills

• Coaching & values led leadership style, encouraging engagement and empowerment amongst staff and stakeholders, and in developing high performing teams
• A high level of communication skills, to include but not exclusively, mediation, negotiation, consultation, facilitation, presentation, training, and coaching skills using well-developed interpersonal skills to influence, inform, reconcile differences and resolve conflicts.
• Solve problems, using a solution-focused approach demonstrating competent persuasive and influencing skills
• Analyse detailed data and information, including preparing responses to issues, weighing risks and forming judgements often within tight timescales.
• Support business planning processes on behalf of the Care Group
• Coordinate Care Group activity to meet challenging performance targets within tight financial controls
• Implement agreed policy on behalf of the Care Group and ensure successful implementation
• IT literate and able to use standard office software and bespoke systems.
• Imaginative and innovative in developing new ways of working in meeting patient care and service needs
• Cope with competing priorities and a demanding workload
• Deal with uncertainty and complexity in a political environment
• Work in an environment with frequent interruptions, and within stressful, unpredictable situations including responding to and solving urgent and emergency situations day to day.
• Demonstrate competent project management skills

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.

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust