Go back Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Director of Urgent Care
The closing date is 10 July 2025
We are keen to recruit an experienced senior operational manager into the post of Director of Urgent Care. The postholder will play a key role in our Urgent Care Management Team in leading change to deliver exceptional healthcare for service users, as well as supporting front line colleagues whilst working with a range of stakeholders.
The post holder will also have a key leadership role embracing wider systems integration inclusive of CNWL borough services as well as with localexternal partnerships supporting integrated care pathways.
This role requires a graduate level of practice and is a professional who has an exceptional level of experience in delivering change within complex organizations. Responsible for aspects of acute mental health policy and service delivery as agreed within the developing NHS Long Term Plan and service delivery environment.
We are interested in receiving applications from individuals with a passion for delivering high quality, safe and effective older adults mental health care. You will be enthusiastic, motivated, and dynamic and will have vast experience of working on change/ or improvement programmes within mental health services.
Main duties of the job
The post-holder will work closely with local multi-disciplinary leadership leads, other key stakeholders within the Division and the Trust in addition to high level external stakeholders who include Commissioners, Local Authority, Third Sector, Primary Care Networks, Acute Hospitals, Service Users and Carers, Healthwatch, CQC and other key partners. The post-holder will need to be highly influential in all of these areas.
The post holder will be passionate about driving local and Trust quality agenda, supporting and enhancing local and diverse workforce with a financial and performance framework.
The post holder requires high level analytical and judgement skills and will receive highly complex, and sensitive information relating to the care of patients, staff issues and political imperatives relating to the area of patient care.
The post holder will participate in any senior manager on call rota as designated appropriate by the Trust.
In addition, the post holder will play a key role in the urgent care pathway.
About us
We are passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care through effective partnership working whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient's own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people.
With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
Job responsibilities
The main duties for this role are split into two parts a) immediate operational requirements for daily clinical bed management (24/7) and b) critical strategic developments for the reshaped Urgent Care Service (including centralised bed management and implementation and operational management of new borough-facing First Response Services)
Operational management of the central functions in the urgent care pathway, and operational oversight for wider pathway activities/functions
This responsibility includes:
Acute patient flow pathway: lead and chair the weekly acute patient flow pathway with all borough directors and service managers, ensuring proactive management of the pathway as a whole, problem solving specific operational pressures, acting as a point of escalation/discussion for cross-borough issues and driving forward improvements needed in the pathway
Urgent Single Point of Access (SPA): operational management of the CNWL SPA, including line management of the SPA service manager. This means ensuring the effective delivery of the SPA function including direct over the phone crisis support and signposting; prompt triage to internal or external care provision & HBPoS capacity tracking and liaison with police.
Central Flow Hub (CFH): operational management of the Central Flow Hub which is responsible for the coordinating system wide bed requests and allocating beds appropriately within the bed base. The hub also supports with catchment screening and further information requests (streamlining and reducing borough burden) and management of the waiting lists and accurate data recording for patient flow. If absolutely necessary, the hub also supports with Out of Area beds. The postholder run the hub as a function that will provide support and challenge to DTAs/bed requests as the only source with real-time knowledge of bed state and associated issues across the Trust.
Liaison with Boroughs to resolve bed consumption and work within the agreed Bed Usage Index (BUI) the postholder will support boroughs where required to manage their bed allocation as agreed within the BUI. This includes oversight of additional initiatives (such as the new Community Access Service or adherence to use of the admission proforma) to enable effect pathway flow. The postholder should provide support and challenge to progress against recovery plans in boroughs where they are over their allocated usages (e.g. issues such as inappropriate LoS and/or with DToCs/discharge); ensuring fidelity to home treatment team standard operational policy and ensure use of HTT as alternative to admission/support to community based crisis offer
Manage and actively work to resolve Emergency Department Patient waits with a focus on avoidance of 12hr trolley breaches and investment in relationship management with the respective EDs where appropriate
Management of ECR (out of area placements) and to ensure patients are back within 72 hours. The postholder also has responsibility for the effective delivery against our targets to eliminate inappropriate adult out of area placements by 2020/21
Liaison with boroughs and oversight of s.136 pathway including high level support to capacity management of Health Based Places of Safety via the SPA and s.136 pathway delivery in line with the Compact
Direct escalation in line with the agreed escalation protocols to the Division, Senior Nurse on Call and the Chief Operating Officer as required.
Contract management of The Cove Crisis Havens (run by VCSE) and any further contracts for crisis alternatives as they develop
Budget management for the development and operational delivery of the above points
Critical strategic developments for the urgent and acute care pathway
Alongside the immediate operational management of the above priorities, the Head of Urgent Care will be central to shaping and driving delivery of the Long Term Plan requirements, regional requirements (such as implementation of the Compact) and STP/local CNWL improvements. This includes (but not limited to):
Elimination of inappropriate Out of Area Placements (OAPs)
Delivery of 24/7 face to face assessment and home treatment team offer
Ensuring a therapeutic offer on admission, including an average length of stay of 32 days (or fewer)
Increase in the number of alternatives to A&E and admission for people in crisis, including enhancing partnership working with VCSE
The strategic developments set out will require the postholder to be an active participant and representative for CNWL mental health urgent care at trustwide, North West London STP, NHS England regional and national governance meeting. The postholder will also be responsible for the continued identification of possible ways to support improved urgent and acute care management and the implementation of national requirements from the NHS Long Term Plan
Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
* Relevant health or social care post graduate professional qualification
* Masters Level or equivalent experience
* Appropriate management and professional qualification or equivalent experience
Experience
* Extensive experience of operational service management at a senior level in mental health services
* Experience of leading and delivering urgent and acute provision of clinical services
* Experience working in a challenging delivery context
* Able to influence and engage at all levels within the Trust and across the health system
* Experience of managing service budgets, contributing to strategic and operational business plans linked to a financial strategy
* Understanding and experience of risk management and assurance processes.
* Track record of delivering significant rapid and long term service improvements and redesign
* Experience of preparing for and managing emergency planning situations.
* Experience of leading and managing complex organisational change procedures
* Experience of workforce planning and conducting HR procedures.
* Previous experience leading central bed allocation services and/or delivery of 24/7 gatekeeping and ward management processes
Knowledge
* Understanding of priorities in the NHS and the complex transformation agenda
* Strong knowledge around clinical governance
* Strong knowledge around emergency planning processes and requirements.
* Strong understanding about risk processes and assurance
* Strong knowledge of performance and quality improvement processes.
Skills
* Ability to make daily judgements and decisions around urgent care service delivery and competing demands
* Ability to provide support and constructive challenge to frontline staff and teams working under pressure with patients in high levels of distress and/or at high risk
* Ability to deal with a high volume workload and manage this appropriately
* Highly effective communication, presentational and relationship skills.
* Ability to develop and maintain relationships with internal colleagues and external stakeholders
* Ability to make sound operational management decisions.
* Demonstrates appropriate leadership behaviour in a variety of settings.
* Ability to motivate others, negotiate and persuade, and to engage staff and stakeholders in vision and strategy
* Time management and delegation skills
* Ability to write comprehensive and professional reports
* Excellent planning and organising skills and ability to deal with conflicting demands
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.
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
£96,340 to £109,849 a yearper annum inc HCAS
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