Lead General Practitioner - HMP Bedford

NHS; Bedford; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in Bedford is seeking a Lead General Practitioner to provide clinical leadership at HMP Bedford. The role involves collaboration with a diverse healthcare team to deliver high-quality primary care to vulnerable populations. Candidates should possess evidence of being on the GMC General Practitioner Register and have strong clinical and communication skills. This position offers training and development opportunities in a supportive environment focused on trauma-informed care.

Qualifications

• Experience in leading clinical teams in secure environments is desirable.
• Ability to communicate effectively in written and verbal formats.
• Commitment to continuous professional development.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical leadership and support to healthcare team.
• Deliver trauma-informed high-quality primary care.
• Engage in ongoing clinical governance and quality improvement efforts.

Skills

Excellent clinical and communication skills

Ability to prioritize effectively

Teaching, mentoring or supervision of clinical colleagues

Knowledge of trauma-informed care

Education

Evidence of being on the GMC General Practitioner Register

RCGP Part 1 Substance Misuse Certificate

Job description

Lead General Practitioner - HMP Bedford

The closing date is 04 January 2026

The HMP Bedford Lead General Practitioner role offers the opportunity to provide clinical leadership within HMP Bedford, working with a dynamic, diverse and friendly team of General Practitioners, an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Non-Medical Prescribers, nurses, pharmacy, allied health professional and administrative colleagues, Clinical Leads and Head of Service. The Lead GP will work with and report to the HMP Bedford Head of Healthcare and they will be supported by and accountable to the NHFT Lead GP and Clinical Director for Secured Services.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be on the GMC General Practitioner Register and on an NHS Performers' List. Previous experience working within secured environments is not essential as full induction and training will be provided. More critical to the role are:

• character qualities of integrity and discernment with a growth mindset and a willingness to embrace NHFT values and leadership behaviours
• excellent clinical and communication skills and a desire to share these skills with GPs in training, ANPs and NMPs, through teaching and training
• a passion for delivering trauma-informed high-quality primary care as part of an integrated team to improve the health and patient experience of men housed at HMP Bedford

About us

NHFT is an integrated primary care and mental health Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in both hospital settings and out in the community. Because we put the person at the centre of all we do, we focus on delivering care that is as easy to access as possible. This means many of our services can be provided at home, work or in schools. We also provide health services to various prisons and detention centres in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

NHFT promotes a culture of learning to improve the care and safety of our patients and staff, which focuses on people who enable our Trust to be "outstanding" by supporting opportunity, innovation, development and growth.

Job responsibilities

For full details please read the attached job description or alternatively contact the team for more information

Person Specification

Knowledge and Experience

• Evidence of being on the GMC General Practitioner Register and on an NHS Performers' List
• Clinical experience including work with vulnerable populations and patients with substance misuse problems. RCGP Part 1 Substance Misuse Certificate essential
• Experience of multi-professional teamwork and an understanding of what makes teams function effectively
• Familiarity with tools for effective clinical governance and quality improvement
• Ability to be intellectually flexible and to look beyond existing structures and ways of working, boundaries, organizations, and systems to build effective partnerships and innovation in general practice and advanced clinical practice service delivery

Behaviours and Values

• Willing to ensure the development, maintenance, and dissemination of the highest professional standards of practice through active participation in internal and external CPD, training and development programmes.
• Willing to comply with professional codes of practice and maintain up to date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies, and issues in relation to primary care, substance misuse and mental health services within secure settings, through engagement in health and justice clinical networks and communities of practice and with operational colleagues.
• Reliable and accessible to colleagues within HMP Bedford and the Secured Services Directorate
• Willing to embrace a trauma-informed approach, modelling empathy, a willingness to listen to the views of others, an open communication style, and receptivity to feedback.
• Able to lead with compassion and humility, to demonstrate integrity, and to motivate, inspire and empower both individual colleagues and teams, fostering a culture in which hope, kindness, resilience, and excellence thrive
• Able to work as part of a team and within a leadership structure.

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to prioritize effectively, to work in a flexible way, and to respond to change to support the needs of patients within an evolving staffing structure at HMP Bedford
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and teamwork skills that align with the trauma-informed values of Secured Services
• The ability to lead others and work within a leadership structure with discernment and integrity to ensure that professional and business decisions can be made that reflect the values of NHFT.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues including those working for subcontracted services and across other disciplines
• Experience of teaching, mentoring or supervision of clinical colleagues. Tier 2 or Tier 3 Educator status is desirable but not essential as Tier 2 training can be facilitated as part of CPD
• Ability to assimilate data to support effective clinical governance and quality improvement of general practice and senior clinical service provision
• Ability to communicate information in a range of formats including one-to-one meetings, formal and informal meetings, written reports and electronic communication including small databases
• Ability to provide trauma-informed clinical care, including when faced with challenging behaviour and the constraints of secured settings

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.

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust