Head of Clinical Coding Operations

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board; Poole; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

£6,000 attraction incentive payment

Job summary

University Hospitals Dorset is seeking a Head of Clinical Coding Operations to lead the clinical coding service across inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department activity. You will drive performance, quality, workforce leadership, and service delivery with clinicians and cross-functional teams.

As UHD embarks on a major transformation, you will oversee coding quality improvements, backlog reduction, and digital innovation, including AI-enabled solutions and ICD-11 readiness, across multiple

Qualifications

• NCCQ must be held and CPD in clinical coding, education or assurance.
• Postgraduate leadership/management training preferred.
• Experience with NHS clinical coding standards and datasets.

Responsibilities

• Lead the operational delivery of Clinical Coding services across inpatient, outpatient and ED activity.
• Develop a high-performing workforce through effective leadership and staff development.
• Drive improvements in coding quality, productivity, timeliness and backlog reduction.
• Engage with clinicians and other teams to improve clinical documentation and engagement.
• Lead service transformation including CDI approaches and outpatient/ED coding expansion.
• Support coding assurance and quality improvement in partnership with the Health Information Management Data Assurance team.
• Support digital innovation and the safe adoption of AI-enabled technologies and ICD-11 readiness.

Skills

NCCQ

Leadership

Management

Clinical coding

AI in coding awareness

Education

National Clinical Coding Qualification (NCCQ)

Postgraduate qualification in leadership/management

Tools

Encoder software

EPR systems

AI-enabled coding tools

Job description

This is an exceptional opportunity to join University Hospitals Dorset at a pivotal time in the development of our Clinical Coding and Health Information Management Service. We are transforming Clinical Coding into a modern, clinically engaged and strategically important function, supported by strong executive sponsorship, investment and a clear vision for the future. As part of this transformation, we are expanding coding services, strengthening clinical engagement, developing new career pathways and exploring the adoption of AI support. As Head of Clinical Coding Operations, you will provide senior operational leadership for the Trust’s Clinical Coding Service, with responsibility for performance, quality, workforce leadership and service delivery across inpatient, outpatient and emergency department activity. Working closely with clinicians, operational, finance and digital teams, you will drive improvements in clinical documentation and operational performance. You will lead a workforce, deliver sustainable service improvement and support the continued development of Clinical Coding within a wider Health Information Management model., As Head of Clinical Coding Operations, you will provide senior operational leadership for Clinical Coding services across University Hospitals Dorset, ensuring the delivery of accurate, timely and high-quality coded data that supports patient care, organisational performance and income assurance.,

Responsibilities

• Leading the operational delivery of Clinical Coding services across inpatient, outpatient and emergency department activity.
• Managing and developing a high-performing workforce through effective leadership, workforce planning, performance management and staff development.
• Driving improvements in coding quality, productivity, timeliness and backlog reduction, ensuring compliance with national standards and local requirements.
• Working closely with clinicians, operational teams and corporate colleagues to improve clinical documentation and strengthen clinical engagement.
• Leading service transformation, including the expansion of outpatient and emergency department coding and the development of Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) approaches.
• Supporting coding assurance and quality improvement in partnership with the Health Information Management Data Assurance team.
• Supporting digital innovation and the safe adoption of AI-enabled technologies while ensuring readiness for future national developments, including ICD-11, As a senior leader within the service, you will work alongside an experienced management team helping to drive service improvement, strengthen clinical engagement and support the future development of Clinical Coding and Health Information Management services.
• UHD are investing, developing and transforming Trust services in line with the New Hospital Programme. As part of this, some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or permanently. Recruiting Managers will be happy to answer any service-specific questions at interview.

Person Specification – Essential

• National Clinical Coding Qualification (NCCQ)
• Evidence of ongoing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in clinical coding, education, or assurance.
• Clinical Coding Auditor or Trainer qualification.
• Postgraduate qualification or formal training in leadership, management, or service improvement., oAwareness of national clinical coding development programmes and future classification changes.
• oAwareness of national benchmarking, mortality review, and assurance programmes (e.g. GIRFT, HED, mortality coding frameworks).
• oUnderstanding of ED/A&E coding requirements and standards
• oAwareness of national clinical coding development programmes and future classification changes.
• oAwareness of national benchmarking, mortality review, and assurance programmes (e.g. GIRFT, HED, mortality coding frameworks).
• oUnderstanding of ED/A&E coding requirements and standards

Person Specification – Desirable

• Clinical Coding Auditor or Trainer qualification.
• Postgraduate qualification or formal training in leadership, management, or service improvement.

Additional Experience

• Extensive post-qualification experience in clinical coding within the NHS, covering inpatient activity and including exposure to outpatient
• Significant experience of operationally managing and leading a Clinical Coding service, including direct responsibility for senior staff or managers.
• Experience of managing and deploying workforce resources to meet competing service demands.
• Experience of mortality coding assurance or mortality review processes.
• Proven experience of working closely with senior clinicians, care group leadership, and corporate teams to address documentation quality, coding performance, and operational issues., Experience of implementing or supporting digital (EPR) or AI-enabled solutions within clinical coding or health information management services.
• Experience of working across multiple sites within a large or complex NHS organisation.
• Experience of contributing to national benchmarking or improvement programmes (e.g. GIRFT, HED)., Advanced operational understanding of national clinical coding standards and classifications (ICD-10, OPCS-4)
• Confident user of clinical coding systems, encoder software, and operational performance dashboards.
• Ability to oversee and assure coding quality, accuracy, and productivity across multiple coding domains.
• Highly developed analytical skills, with the ability to interpret complex performance, quality, and assurance data and translate insight into operational action., Awareness of AI-enabled clinical coding tools and their workforce and training implications.
• Experience of supporting coding quality improvement or optimisation initiatives.
• Experience of using benchmarking or assurance outputs to drive service improvement.
• Awareness of ICD-11 developments and implications for operational delivery., Expert knowledge and application of ICD-10, OPCS-4, and National Clinical Coding Standards and datasets.
• In-depth understanding of the role of clinical coding within the NHS and its impact on patient safety, governance, reporting, benchmarking, and organisational assurance.
• Proven knowledge and understanding of the impact of clinical coding on the NHS financial regime, including financial flows, income assurance, and operational risk.

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.

We are seeking an experienced, qualified Clinical Coding professional with a proven track record of leadership, service improvement and partnership working within complex healthcare organisations. If you are looking for a role where you can influence strategy, lead change and make a lasting impact, we would love to hear from you.

Benefits

We are pleased to offer a £6,000 attraction incentive payment for this role, with full details confirmed in line with Trust processes.

Essential (Duplicate)

• National Clinical Coding Qualification (NCCQ)
• Evidence of ongoing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in clinical coding, education, or assurance.

Desirable (Duplicate)

• Clinical Coding Auditor or Trainer qualification.
• Postgraduate qualification or formal training in leadership, management, or service improvement.