Head of 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

We are looking for an experienced Allied Health Professional to provide senior leadership to our adult Therapy teams (Nutrition and Dietetics; Occupational Therapy; Physiotherapy; Podiatry and orthotics; Adult Speech and Language Therapy). This post is part of the senior leadership team within the division of Allied Clinical Services, responsible for delivery of the relevant therapy services at University Hospital Lewisham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich and currently Lewisham Community Services. The post holder will work strategically and collaboratively across the divisions , within our SEL Networks and with other stakeholders across health and social care

This role reports into the Divisional Director for Professions and Governance/Lead AHP so deputising and taking a key role in promoting the AHP agenda will be required.

The successful candidate will need to be flexible and organised with the ability to prioritise a busy workload covering a broad remit. A strategic approach and willingness to consider, and lead on, new ways of working to improve patient care will be essential to making this role a success.

Please contact Lucy Carter (lucy.carter@nhs.net) for further information.

Main duties of the job

The Head of Therapies role is a key position within the Divisional Management Team, responsible to the Divisional Director of Professions and Governance with a prime focus on the day-to-day delivery of high standards of patient care across integrated care pathways and services, delivered across the Trust including the community.

The post holder supports the Divisional Director of Professions and Governance and other senior managers in the day to day delivery of the clinical business of the Service, and assumes delegated functions of corporate Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals ( NMAHP) development programmes, recruitment and retention, measuring and improving standards of care and the patient experience, in accordance with agreed objectives, targets, quality standards, controls and resource constraints.

This role is responsible for the Adult Therapy, Podiatry and Dietetic services within the Trust. It plays a key role in delivering the Trusts AHP strategy and providing professional leadership.

The post holder works strategically and collaboratively across the divisions , within our SEL Networks and with other stakeholders across health and social care.

Post holders will demonstrate a highly visible, authoritative and democratic leadership style, which is underpinned by the values of the Trust.

Post holders will deputise for the Divisional Director of Professions and Governance when required.

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

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key Result Areas & Performance:
• Work with the Divisional management team and service leads to provide professional and clinical leadership to the Division, ensuring that a framework is in place to ensure all AHP staff are appropriately managed and are clinically and professionally developed so that they are, therefore, efficient, effective, engaged and highly motivated.
• In partnership with the Chief Nurse/ DDPG and Heads of Service implement the Trust's corporate NMAHP priorities and strategy.
• Maintain a highly visible leadership profile, undertaking quality rounds and being proactive about engaging with service areas where required.
• Support Heads of service/profession to supervise clinical areas requiring special management measures or additional support to ensure that patient safety is maintained and improvement objectives are met.
• Provide Professional supervision to other senior therapy staff who may be located in a different division
• Work with other health care professionals in the service to ensure safe, effective and professional standards of patient flows, care management and delivery.
• Ensure that patient care is delivered with care and compassion to a high standard, to ensure a positive patient experience and achievement of clinical quality standards as measured through the collection and use of relevant clinical indicators and High Impact Intervention audits.
• Ensure a consistent approach is taken across pathways and services in the Service, so that all clinical staff comply with Trust-wide policies and procedures.
• Ensure all clinical services in the post holder's portfolio are managed within budget and achieving their key performance indicators.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the Division's business plan by contributing to the service and business strategy, including cross-service and external partnership working
• Responsible for the delivery of identified quality and service improvement projects or development programmes that contribute to the modernisation of patient services
• Delivery of the Trust's Equality and Diversity Strategy in terms of non-medical clinical staff recruitment, retention and development.
• On behalf of the Chief Nurse/ DDPG, to manage the delivery of all Therapy innovation and development within the division and where relevant, for the Trust.
• Identify and take forward the specific contribution Therapies can make to the development of the services in the Division, delivery of QIPP and achievement of the improving use of resources programme.
• Support the Divisional Director of Professions and Governance and Service Leads in the development and application of systems, control processes and risk management arrangements that ensure full compliance with internal and external governance procedures and to benchmark against best practice requirements.
• Undertaking trend analyses of selected complaints and adverse incidents, and especially as they relate to therapies
• Responsible for ensuring that all other aspects of risk and clinical governance are robustly and effectively managed.
• Responsible for the delivery of identified service improvement projects or development programmes that contribute to the modernisation of patient services, providing both professional and clinical advice as necessary
• Where appropriate, support the Divisional Director of Professions and Governance to (a) represent the Trust within the NHS and with partner organisations, (b) work closely with them to institute integrated working in the best interest of patient care, (c) ensure appropriate public and patient involvement in assessing service quality and improvements.
• Develop local systems for gaining patient feedback, responding to adverse outcomes.
• Ensure that patient feedback is acted on effectively, and ensure that learning from complaints and incidents is used to improve services
• Support the development and implementation of education and training programmes within the Trust, especially for AHP's.
• Participate in the Trust on call manager rota.

Person specification

Qualifications & Training

Essential criteria

• Registered healthcare professional from relevant group (Dietetics/Podiatry/Physiotherapy/Occupational Therapy/Speech and Language Therapy)
• Post graduate training in Clinical Specialty, or Business or NHS Management in progress or completed
• Formal education to first degree level or equivalent ability
• Master's degree or equivalent ability/evidence of skill

Experience

Essential criteria

• Substantial operational management in an acute NHS Trust, including senior level experience & management of specialist services
• Demonstrable staff management, including senior level experience
• Experience of Management of change
• Familiarity with basic IT applications

Knowledge & Skills

Essential criteria

• Has the drive and energy to make things happen; frequently goes "above and beyond" the call of duty
• Shares leadership with and is respected by clinical and non-clinical staff.
• Is action oriented and adaptable to changing circumstances
• Thinks and solves problems creatively and from a position of inquiry (versus advocacy)
• Creates opportunities to use for best effect of the service.
• Provides authentic and clear communication and direction even in times of uncertainty/ambiguity
• Engages effectively across boundaries, while operating in partnership with stakeholders
• Provides authentic and clear communication and direction even in times of uncertainty/ambiguity
• Has effective strategies for dealing with and managing own limitations
• Can interpret complex management data/information
• Attention to detail
• Able to manage work diary to respond flexibly to the needs of the service.

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.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

• Job Description & Person Spec (PDF, 859.7KB)
• Working at LGT (PDF, 4.2MB)