Head of Patient Access

Bupa Diagnostic & Secondary Care (London) Limited; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Registration fees paid

25 days holiday

Health insurance

Enhanced pension & life cover

Discounts & other benefits

Job summary

King Edward VII's Hospital is hiring a Head of Patient Access to lead the Contact Centre, Reservations, Front of House and Security, ensuring a seamless patient journey from first contact through admission.

You will report to the Chief Operating Officer and drive transformational improvements, workforce planning and governance across a high‑volume service environment within a prestigious UK hospital.

Qualifications

• Significant senior operational management experience within healthcare.
• Experience leading patient access, customer contact, booking, admissions or similar high‑volume operations.
• Strong analytical and commercial skills with data-driven decision making.
• Proven ability to deliver service improvement and operational transformation.
• Knowledge of business continuity, operational resilience and risk management.
• Understanding of sustainability objectives and measurable outcomes.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influence across clinical/exec teams.
• Experience managing budgets, contracts and supplier relationships.
• Degree‑level qualification in Healthcare Management or related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead Contact Centre and Reservations to ensure responsive, patient‑centred booking and admission.
• Provide senior leadership for Front of House, reception, portering and Security.
• Collaborate with Heads of Department to optimise demand, capacity and utilisation.
• Develop operational reporting using activity, productivity and financial data.
• Drive service improvement and process redesign to boost patient access and experience.
• Lead Business Continuity Planning and resilience initiatives.
• Oversee Sustainability Strategy and inter‑departmental delivery with Bupa.
• Provide visible leadership with workforce management and performance development.
• Manage budgets, contracts and supplier relationships for efficiency and safety.
• Work with consultants and clinical teams to achieve objectives and service excellence.
• Ensure risks, incidents, complaints and audit actions are properly managed and reported.

Skills

Senior ops management

Cross-service leadership

Patient access ops

Analytical skills

Service transformation

BCP & resilience

Sustainability knowledge

Stakeholder management

Budget & contracts

Healthcare management degree

Education

Degree in Healthcare Management or related

Job description

Job Description: Head of Patient Access King Edward VII's Hospital, 5-10 Beaumont Street, Marylebone, London W1G 6AA Permanent (37.5hrs) On-Site Competitive Salary + Fantastic Benefits

We make health happen At King Edward VII's Hospital, exceptional healthcare begins long before treatment starts.

As our Head of Patient Access, you'll play a pivotal role in ensuring patients, consultants and colleagues experience a seamless, efficient and exceptional journey from first contact through to admission and beyond.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, you'll provide senior operational leadership across a diverse portfolio including Contact Centre, Reservations, Front of House and Security services.

You’ll also lead the Hospital's Business Continuity Planning and Sustainability Strategy, helping to ensure operational resilience while supporting the delivery of our long-term strategic objectives.

This is an outstanding opportunity for an experienced operational leader to influence patient access, optimise capacity and service utilisation, lead transformational improvement programmes and enhance patient and consultant experience within one of the UK's most respected independent hospitals.

You’ll be at the heart of our commitment to delivering exceptional service, creating an environment where teams thrive, operational excellence is embedded and patients receive the highest standards of care and support.

How you'll help us make health happen

• Lead the Contact Centre and Reservations functions, ensuring responsive, accurate and patient-centred enquiry, booking and admission processes.
• Provide senior leadership and oversight for Front of House, reception, portering and Security services, ensuring a safe, welcoming and efficient environment for patients, consultants and visitors.
• Work closely with Heads of Department, Finance and Transformation teams to understand demand, capacity and service utilisation, identifying opportunities to improve operational efficiency and maximise available resources.
• Develop and maintain operational performance reporting, using activity, productivity, capacity, utilisation and financial data to identify trends, bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement.
• Drive service improvement, transformation and process redesign initiatives that enhance patient access, operational performance and patient experience.
• Lead the Hospital's Business Continuity Planning and operational resilience programme, ensuring plans are maintained, tested and aligned to organisational requirements.
• Lead delivery of the Hospital's Sustainability Strategy, working collaboratively across departments and with Bupa to embed sustainable practices and monitor progress against agreed objectives.
• Provide visible leadership to managers and teams across the portfolio, ensuring effective workforce management, performance development and delivery against agreed objectives.
• Manage delegated budgets, contracts and supplier relationships, identifying opportunities for efficiencies while maintaining safety, quality and experience standards.
• Work collaboratively with consultants, clinical teams, senior leaders, Bupa teams and external partners to support organisational objectives and service excellence.
• Ensure risks, incidents, complaints, audit actions and service issues are appropriately managed, providing assurance and performance updates to the Chief Operating Officer.
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and exceptional customer service across all patient access functions.

Key Skills / Qualifications

Essential

• Significant senior operational management experience within healthcare or another complex, highly regulated service environment.
• Strong leadership experience across multiple operational services, with responsibility for managers, teams, suppliers and outsourced or managed service providers.
• Experience leading patient access, customer contact, booking, admissions or comparable high-volume service operations.
• Strong analytical and commercial skills, with experience using capacity, utilisation, productivity, financial and performance data to drive operational improvement.
• Proven experience delivering service improvement, operational transformation or process redesign programmes.
• Knowledge of business continuity, operational resilience and risk management, with the ability to coordinate organisation-wide planning and improvement activities.
• Understanding of sustainability principles and experience translating strategic objectives into measurable operational outcomes.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills with the ability to build strong relationships across clinical, operational and executive teams.
• Experience managing budgets, contracts and third-party supplier relationships.
• Degree-level qualification in Healthcare Management, Business, Operations or a related discipline, or equivalent substantial senior operational experience.

Desirable

• Postgraduate qualification in Management, Leadership, Service Improvement, Project Management or Change Management.
• Experience within an independent healthcare or private hospital environment.

Benefits

Our benefits are designed to make health happen for our people. Viva is our global wellbeing programme and includes all aspects of our health - from mental and physical, to financial, social, and environmental wellbeing. We support flexible working and have a range of family friendly benefits. Joining Bupa in this role you will receive the following benefits and more:

• Payment of professional registration fees
• Equivalent to 25 days holiday per year, increasing through length of service, with option to buy or sell.
• Bupa health insurance as a benefit in kind
• An enhanced pension plan and life insurance
• Various other benefits and online discounts

Part of a Globally Trusted Healthcare Group When you join King Edward VII, you also become part of Bupa - a global healthcare leader with the scale, stability and expertise of a major international brand.

Being backed by Bupa means access to an extensive network of clinical and operational specialists, shared best practice from across the organisation, and the support of well-established systems that help you grow, develop and deliver exceptional care.

Our size gives us strength, while our purpose keeps us personal. We champion diversity and want our people to reflect the communities we serve. Everyone is encouraged to "Be you at Bupa", and we actively welcome colleagues from all backgrounds and experiences.

Bupa takes pride in being a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer and will aim to offer an interview/assessment to disabled applicants who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. We’re committed to ensuring you’re treated fairly during the recruitment process and offer reasonable adjustments to anyone who may benefit from accommodations to the recruitment process.

Time Type: Full time Job Area: Locations: King Edward VII Hospital Be at the heart of helping people live longer healthier, happier lives and making a better world.

We employ more than 80,000 people globally who are making this a reality. If you've got the belief, the drive and the talent to help us in our ambition then we’d like to hear from you.

Wherever you work, one thing stands out about Bupa people. Our customers are our passion - they’re at the heart of our positively different culture of care.

At Bupa you’ll be challenged, you’ll be encouraged to innovate, and collaborate with colleagues who are committed to delivering exceptional experiences.

We trust, respect and consider everyone, knowing your difference will make the difference.