Surgery and Cancer - Operational Support Manager

Whittington NHS Trust; London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Whittington NHS Trust is seeking an Operational Support Manager to oversee administrative functions within the Urology Department, ensuring top-notch patient care. The role encompasses managing surgical service delivery, supervising staff, and improving operational efficiency, offering a stepping stone for those aspiring to progress in operational management.

Qualifications

• Degree level or equivalent experience required.
• Experience and understanding of working practices in surgery.
• Evidence of continuous professional development is essential.

Responsibilities

• Manage administrative functions to support surgical services.
• Ensure compliance with Trust regulations.
• Supervise team and monitor outpatient and inpatient pathways.

Skills

Good communication skills

Good IT skills

Ability to prioritize workload

Experience in handling complaints

Ability to analyze complex data

Education

Degree level education or equivalent experience

Evidence of continuous professional development

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

Covid-19 Vaccination

Getting vaccinated, and getting a booster, remains the best defence against COVID-19.
We encourage and support staff to get COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose as and when they are eligible.

Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers - North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of Whittington Health NHS Trust.

For our current apprenticeship vacancies, please go to https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship and use Keyword 'Whittington'

By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.

Job overview

We are looking for someone with operational experience, who can balance the demands of a very busy workload and is dedicated to delivering excellent patient experience. You will need to have good communication skills and be able to demonstrate that you can lead and motivate a team.

The post will be of interest to those who wish to pursue a career in operational management and would like to gain more experience in a busy service with a wide variety of challenges. The ICSU offers a broad range of experience across a range of settings and the opportunity to build and develop skills required to move forward to a more senior role.

Main duties of the job

An opportunity has arisen as an Operational Support Manager within the Urology Department of Surgery & Cancer, to manage the administrative functions to support the provision of excellent patient care. This role will support the delivery of surgical services at Whittington Health NHS Trust.

The post holder duties will entail but are not limited to:

• Support the achievement of key KPI's for the service, including the management of 18 week, cancer and diagnostic delivery across the sub-specialities.
• The OSMs are responsible for day to day operational management of site specific outpatients, inpatients, and ward administration including management of administrative staff.
• The post holder is key to delivery of patient experience through responding to patient queries and complaints in person, via PALS or the complaints team and investigating DATIX incidents.
• Theatre list management support and theatre utilisation.
• Management of outpatient clinic utilisation.
• Schedule planning and rota management.
• Information gathering and presentation.
• Patient tracking.
• Supervision of staff team.

Working for our organisation

Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The main purpose of this role is to support the Surgery & Cancer ISCU in all aspects of
efficient operational management of all surgical specialities across the Division.
The key dimensions to the post are as follows:
Operational management support
Theatre list management support and theatre utilisation
Management of outpatient clinic utilisation
Schedule planning and rota management
Information gathering and presentation
Patient tracking
Supervision of staff team
The post holder will:
Be an ambassador of change and help develop and support a patient focused culture of excellence.
To provide direct day-to-day operational support to the Surgical Service Manager and General Manager.
The post holder will be the first point of contact for the directorate management teams
regarding medical staffing and RTT pathway management.
To support the Specialty Teams in addressing urgent situations as and when they arise and know how to prioritise their workload. This will involve supported complex planning and the post holder will need to ensure plans are adjusted in line with service objectives.
To manage administrative function of the assigned surgical specialties.
To provide good communication between the Senior Management Team,
Administrative Team, and Clinical Team across the Integrated Care Service Unit
(ICSU).
To ensure compliance with Trust regulations, including prior authorisations.
To provide direct supervision and management support to administrative staff within
assigned surgical specialties.
To support effective management of the outpatient / inpatient pathways and validation
within the assigned surgical specialties of RTT / DM01 targets, working closely with
General Manager (GM)
Service Managers (SM),
Patient Access Manager,
Patient Pathway Coordinators (PPC),
Waiting List Coordinators (WLC),
Admissions Manager, and Clinical workforce.
Attending the weekly RTT Tracking Meeting to report on performance and highlighting risks.
To deal with queries and complaints from patients. To respond to PALS/DATIX and assist the SM & GM in responding to formal complaints by investigating background and collating information.
To deputise, within the scope of this job role, for SM and GM in times of absence.
MAIN DUTIES
Communication & Relationship Skills
To ensure a good working relationship with the Clinical Lead.
Provide teams with information about performance and system and ensure that such information is clearly understood to develop ownership and commitment to service delivery.
Represent the GM and SM with delegated authority at relevant management forums.

To develop systems and processes to effectively capture and share agreed National and Local data.
To communicate effectively and work closely with the Audit Department, Clinical Coding, and Information Services.
To implement, monitor and audit service provision to ensure operational criteria and quality standards are met.
Responsibility for Patient Care
• Ensuring that patients within surgical specialities do not breach their 18 week target.
To ensure that surgical patients are on course to meet their 18 week target by liaising with the trust referral booking and management service.
To flag up and aid in rescheduling patients in areas where this is not the case.

To negotiate with relevant consultant, theatre and administration staff to ensure that patients can be rescheduled.
Policy & Service Development
Fully understand all aspects of improvement and modernisation targets and how they relate to work and activities of Patient Pathway Coordinators and MDT Coordinators
(excluding cancer pathways), understanding current performance and any variations
and acting on that information to improve services for patients.
To support the Senior Management Team with service developments, service change and Quality and Service Improvement agenda. Actively promoting and lead on service modernisation for staff within assigned service areas.
Work with Senior Management to implement local changes to policy and improve patient pathways throughout the service.
Support services through the production of effective systems and procedures which enable the reporting of activity information by operational staff, linking, where necessary with other departments to co-ordinate arrangements and continuous improvement.
Financial & Physical Resources
Support the Speciality Team in actively seeking service modernisation to reduce cost of service without compromising quality and where appropriate income generation opportunities.
Be mindful of the Trust on-going financial improvement plans and work accordingly with the teams.
To undertake stationery orders for the department and to ensure that the department maintains an appropriate level of stock at all times.
To ensure PO numbers and invoices are submitted to the PECOS system for approval in line with Trust timelines and policy.
To authorise timesheets submissions for temporary bank and locum workers.
Workforce
To aid in recruitment, training, induction and appraisal of staff and all issues of performance management are undertaken including monitoring and management of attendance at work and on statutory and mandatory training courses.
Responsible for direct supervision of relevant staff ensuring that effective systems are in place.
Engage staff at all levels and build strong relationships to foster a culture of
engagement and ownership by staff in Departments.
Assume support in complex matters of workforce management, roster planning and professional conduct and capability matters.
Ensure infrastructure is in place to support staff working to their levels of competency and capability.
Responsible for ensuring that the aligned workforce is managed in line with the Organisational policies and procedures and that it achieves the operational criteria to a high standard within the identified resource. This will require the analysis and resolution of complex problems on a short, medium and long-term basis to ensure that the workforce contributes effectively to divisional and organisational success criteria.
Responsibility for Information Resources
To work closely with colleagues in the Information and Performance teams to provide information to the Divisional Management Team and other staff.
To present information in a clear and comprehensible format.
General
The post holder is expected to take reasonable care of their own Health and Safety, and that of any other persons who may be affected by their acts of omission.
The post holder will be expected to adopt a flexible attitude towards the above duties, and additional tasks in keeping with the post may be added to the job description after discussion with the post-holder.
This job description is not intended to be exhaustive and it is likely that duties may be altered from time to time in the light of changing circumstances, in discussion with the post holder.
This role profile is intended to provide a broad outline of the main responsibilities only. The post holder will need to be flexible in developing the role with initial and on-going discussions with the Service Manager and General Manager.
Job Environment Pro-forma
Physical Effort
Prolonged concentration and a requirement for sitting or standing
in a restricted position for a large proportion of time due to utilising
a PC.
Mental Effort
To work on multiple and unpredictable tasks with frequent
interruptions which can change planned activities and also a
requirement to concentrate for long periods of time.
Emotional Effort
Limited patient contact. Required to deal with staff issues and
patient complaints.
Working Conditions Open plan office environment. Regular PC usage / VDU.
Exposure to unpleasant working conditions or environment is rare.
Revalidation and Registration

It is the responsibility of all staff registered with a professional body to:
Act within the Professional Bodies Code of Practice Maintain their own work profile to ensure revalidation standards are met, and assist
junior registered staff in achieving revalidation.
Contribute and participate in the development of colleagues professional practice across the trust through leading ward and/or department projects, and supporting training.
Ensure optimum use is made of working time.
Equal Opportunities
Our latest policy known as "Promoting Equality, Diversity and Human Rights" outlines the Trust's commitment to ensuring that no job applicant or employee receives less than favourable treatment on grounds of sex, marital and civil partnership status, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, colour, creed, religion or belief, physical
disability, mental health, learning difficulty, age or sexual orientation and is not placed at a disadvantage by conditions or requirements that cannot be shown to be justifiable.

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to Degree level or Equivalent experience.
• Experience and understanding of working practices in surgery
• Evidence of continuous professional development

Desirable criteria

• Formal project management qualification or equivalent training and experience

Skills & Abilities

Essential criteria

• Good communication skills
• Good IT skills - with a working knowledge of Microsoft Office
• Experience of handling complaints
• PTL management
• Able to prioritise own workload, delegate appropriately and manage time effectively
• Acts collaboratively with stakeholders
• Flexible to change management and problem solving
• Ability to work to deadlines
• Ability to analyse and validate complex data
• Evidence of complaints handling
• Experience of rota managment

Desirable criteria

• Evidence of strategic planning
• Experience of working and negotiating with junior and senior colleagues

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• Ability to work under pressure
• Proven assertiveness / negotiation skills
• Ability to communicate effectively - in both oral and written

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS

To comply with the Trust's Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:

• Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.

• Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.

• Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
• Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
• Participate in required training and supervision.
• Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct

Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Your application form -

1. Provide only business email address for your referees - we are unable to request references from yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail accounts.
2. Make sure you to include all evidence of where you meet the essential requirement on the jobs description as this forms the base of our shortlisting criteria.

Our processes -

1. Closing dates are given as a guide; we are within our right to close adverts early so please ensure you submit your application as soon as possible to avoid delay.
2. If you do not hear from us up to 3 weeks after the closing date of the job unfortunately this means you have not been successfully shortlisted for interview. If your require feedback on your application please contact the appointing manager detailed in the body of the advert.
3. Please check your emails regularly as all correspondence from us will be via trac.systems - occasionally these emails will go into your Junk folder.
4. Employment at Whittington Health is offered subject to successful completion of a 6 month probationary period for all staff with the exception of GMC Registered Doctors.

Other important information -

• Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Before submitting your application and to avoid disappointment please check that you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.
• Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work flexible patterns. We are committed to equal opportunities.
• In submitting an application form, you authorise Whittington Health NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process should you be appointed to the post.

If you are offered a role with one of the NLPSS partner trusts, as part of pre-employment checks your identity and right to work documentation will be verified remotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a "selfie" using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating. For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk

Please note that during the recruitment process your Identity Documentation (i.e. passport, driving licence, visa, etc.) will be scanned using a device which recognises UV, Infrared and Machine Readable Zone security features of the documents provided

The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

We would welcome applications from individuals who are from underrepresented groups in the organisation

For further support on submitting an application please refer to the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit: https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Application numbers

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.
Documents to download

• Surgery and Cancer - Operational Support Manager (PDF, 904.2KB)
• OH FROM - Functional Requirement Form (PDF, 245.2KB)
• Whittington Probationary Policy (PDF, 298.0KB)