Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.
Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers' money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.
Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
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Job overview
We are seeking a proactive and driven Band 7 Service Manager to join the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) Theatre Services in a permanent capacity. This is a pivotal operational leadership role responsible for the seamless day-to-day management of our surgical theatres and the long-term optimisation of our perioperative pathways. The successful candidate will ensure strict compliance with maximizing theatre utilisation, and provide high-quality, consistent leadership to our multidisciplinary teams. You will play a central role in shaping the future of our services, ensuring both operational efficiency and excellent outcomes for every patient.
This is an exciting time to join RFH Theatres. We are currently evolving our clinical workflows and are looking for a forward-thinking leader to help us achieve our long-term vision. You will have demonstrable experience within the NHS and a proven track record of collaborating with consultants and clinical leads to drive sustainable service improvement. If you are an organised, adaptable leader ready to make a lasting impact on surgical care, we encourage you to apply.
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Operational Management & Efficiency
* Oversee the daily operational flow of the theatre suites, ensuring lists start on time and sessions are utilised to their maximum capacity.
* Regularly track and report on KPIs, supporting the services with their RTT, and minimizing on-the-day cancellations.
* Coordinate closely with the scheduling team to ensure that clinical staffing (anaesthetists/surgeons) aligns perfectly with the physical theatre space available.
Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement
* Act as the key point of contact for the Clinical Service Lead for Anaesthesia, ensuring that departmental needs are met and communication remains fluid between management and clinicians.
* Manage administrative staff and support teams, fostering a culture of accountability and high performance.
Rota Management & Workforce Coordination
* Coordinate & maintain the anaesthetic rota, ensuring all theatre lists are safely and appropriately staffed.
* Manage annual leave, study leave, and sickness absence within the anaesthetic team, proactively identifying gaps and liaising with agencies or internal banks to secure cover.
Service Improvement & Governance
* Implement long-term service improvements, using rota data to identify where "dark" theatre time can be reopened through better staffing models.
* Ensure all staffing levels meet safety standards and participate in departmental audits and risk management.
Working for our organisation
The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's biggest and most innovative trusts. Across three main hospitals, our dedicated army of staff care for over 1.6million patients, treat more than 200,000 in A&E, deliver over 8,000 babies and carry out more than 17million tests.
Our size, scale and influence offer you unrivalled career opportunities and a forward-thinking approach to working that works around your lifestyle. From flexible hours and generous benefits, to next level training, we make it easier to take your career to the top.
Therapy Services has a high profile within the Trust, being firmly committed to quality improvement, audit, service evaluation and improvement. We undertake yearly presentations of our achievements for the year; undertaking PDSA and QI projects to ensure we are delivering the most effective, safe and high quality service.
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Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached job description for more information about this role and working at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
* AT* - Apprenticeship Training. Where AT* is entered next to the job title indicates that this vacancy is for an apprenticeship role.
* By applying for this role, you accept if 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 aims at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers. Therefore we require you to complete your stat and Man e-learning modules prior to joining our organisation.
* If you are an EU/EEA citizen who does not have EU Settlement or Pre-Settled status, you will require a visa to work in the UK.
* You must be eligible to work in the United Kingdom or meet the criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. We welcome applications from candidates who require visa sponsorship, and these will be considered alongside all other applications. Before applying, please ensure that both you and the role meet the eligibility requirements under the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) points-based system to avoid disappointment. You can view this here
* 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
* 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.
* The Trust will request a DBS (CRB) if post involves regulated activities. The Trust is compliant with the Disclosure and Barring Service Codes of practice and the Rehabilitation of offenders act.
* By applying for this post you are agreeing to Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
* Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via or e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.
For further support on submitting an application please refer to the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit:
Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work flexible patterns. We are committed to equal opportunities.
Please note:
* Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date. Therefore please apply for this post as soon as you can, if you are interested and you meet the requirements of the Person Specification
* Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.
* Interview arrangements will be communicated via email so please check your email regularly following the closing date.
Please be advised that due to exceptionally high demand, all Royal Free accommodation is at full capacity and waiting lists are being held. Average waiting times are 12 months. Please do not rely on Trust accommodation when you commence your role and ensure you investigate alternative accommodation for your arrival.