Head of Community Therapies

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Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 - the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as "good" or "outstanding" in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King's College London's GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

Job overview

Head of Community Therapies (8b post)

A fantastic new opportunity has arisen to join Lewisham Community therapy team as a head of community therapies at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced, motivated and passionate operational manager with a HCPC registration to gain experience in working in a busy and diverse directorate with an opportunity to develop partnership working across community pathways

The community therapy team currently consists of Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech and Language therapy teams with pathways across stroke, neurology, home first (including discharge to assess, supported discharge), bed based rehabilitation, community falls service , community , urgent care response therapy and Bromley stroke rehabilitation.

Please note: Interview date 6th March 2025

Main duties of the job

We are looking for a kind, compassionate and motivated clinical leader who can bring energy and focus to this exciting new head of community therapies

The focus of this role is to support the lead therapists in their respective services and to represent Community therapies within the Trust and externally to SEL Commissioners and relevant Forums. Support is available as required for this Trust wide role so this post will potentially suit a therapist or HCPC registered individual currently in an 8a post looking to develop their skills further. There is no caseload or set clinical requirement for the post, however the successful candidate will have up to date knowledge of current community therapy practice and have the skills to be able to provide clinical and operational leadership.

The successful applicant will need to demonstrate strong experience in managing and leading teams, interpreting service level data and using it to inform decision making, proactive service improvement, financial management and strong experience in working in partnership with internal and external stakeholders. This strategic and operational role will be responsible for managing the Team Leads, take overall responsibility for the operational performance and financial management of the service, and working with the Clinical Leads will drive service improvement and redesign as indicated.

Working for our organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
5. Making equalities mainstream

A strong emphasis is placed on development and learning opportunities. And we are holding our first AHP inspires event this year to showcase what is possible within the remit of being AHP's.

You will join a friendly, supportive and inclusive working culture motivated to deliver quality patient care in an environment of positive staff welfare and engagement. Reporting to the Head of Nursing, Lewisham Community Services, you will be a key player in promoting these positive values.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Role

To provide senior clinical and operational leadership for the adult community therapy services (Initially OT/PT/SLT) based in Lewisham Community Services as part of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

To be responsible for the strategic direction and service development of community therapy and integrated pathway initiatives across Lewisham and Greenwich Trust (LGT).

To provide professional and operational leadership to the community therapy services at Lewisham and Greenwich Trust (LGT).

To provide an interface and liaise with system partners including local authority services to address system wide community therapy provision.

The post holder will support the general manager for community services a

JOB SUMMARY

1 To be the head of community therapy for LGT, advising and advocating on community therapy issues, working closely with the head of community nursing. Representing Community Therapies within the Trust and to outside agencies, as required.

2 To take a lead role in the provision of the community therapy services at LGT, using evidence based guidelines, audit and evaluation.

3 To take a lead role in the operational supervision, teaching and appraisal of community service leads.

4 To act as a source of clinical expertise and highly advanced knowledge on community therapy for allied health professionals working in the community.

5 To initiate, facilitate, supervise and present evidence based projects, and audit within the community therapies department, division and to the Trust.

6 To be accountable for the community therapy services across LGT managing budget and resources effectively.

7 To develop strategic vision for community therapies across LGT

8 To promote good communication with other Trust departments, particularly with allied clinical services (ACS) and the heads of professions, to ensure optimal patient care across all pathways.

9 To deputise for the general manager (GM) in community (LMC) in their absence for relevant matters.

10 To work to agreed standards and within the resources available.

11 To demonstrate enhanced budgetary management, showing an innovative approach in achieving financial balance/IURP/income generation, whilst meeting demands of the service upholding quality.

12 To negotiate with external parties and stake holders utilising advanced communication skills supported by advanced practitioner clinical skills.

13 To be the expert resource regarding community therapies from a professional perspective in relation to students; apprenticeships; preceptorship.

14 To collaborate across the division, across the Trust and with partners and stakeholders to ensure optimal patient pathways and optimal use of resources, in conjunction with GM/DDPG/DDO as required.

15 To be the lead community therapist as part of the Lead AHP workforce for LGT.

16 To manage the community therapies service budget, and to be an authorised signatory up to the amount determined by the Trusts finance department.

Person specification

Qualifications & Training

Essential criteria

• Degree/Relevant qualification as registered AHP
• Evidence of continuous professional development including a recognised long course or Masters
• HCPC registration

Desirable criteria

• Management Training

Experience

Essential criteria

• Broad experience post qualification, with significant experience across patient pathways (Community, inpatient, outpatient,)
• Experience of team leadership and effecting change
• Working knowledge of current national and local health care issues.
• Experience of teaching/supervising under- and post- graduate staff.
• Experience of budget responsibility

Desirable criteria

• Significant Community specific role experience

Knowledge & Skills

Essential criteria

• Excellent communication skills across the organisation and with a wide range of staff with differing levels of responsibility and different professional backgrounds
• Experience of dealing with complex issues in a large organisation
• Ability to work pro-actively and co- operatively with senior management and clinical staff, including at times of stress.
• Knowledge and experience of standard setting, quality issues and clinical audit, and an understanding of clinical governance.
• Ability to undertake evaluation of the service.
• Knowledge of service activity measures and clinical outcome measures

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women's staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note, not all roles will meet the criteria for a skilled worker visa.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.

Documents to download

• Job Description & Person Spec (PDF, 419.5KB)
• Working at LGT (PDF, 4.2MB)