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Job Title: *******

Salary Band

Very Senior Manager (VSM) / Consultant Contract

Accountable To

Chief Executive Officer 

Job Summary

This role is a key member of the Trust Board of Directors and executive management team.  As a member of the unitary board, the individual is accountable for the safe and sustainable running of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and for the delivery of the organisational vision to provide outstanding care for every patient.

The individual is professionally accountable for all of the doctors and dentists within the organisation and has a range of corporate responsibilities especially over quality of care and clinical strategy development and implementation. The postholder will have a licence to practice with the GMC.

As a provider organisation in north and mid Hampshire, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) is committed to working as a member of the ICS, therefore all senior leaders will work closely with senior leaders from across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The Chief Medical Officer will, in particular, work with local GPs and clinical leaders from across our patch.

As well as building good local networks, this individual will be curious and tapped into national developments and best practice. They will drive forward the GIRFT programme within the organisation supporting speciality teams to seek out opportunities to improve care.

This job description may be subject to change according to the varying needs of HHFT. Director portfolios at HHFT are subject to change as and when required by organisational change. Portfolio changes across directors are made after discussion between the post holders and the Chief Executive.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide visible and inspiring professional leadership for medical colleagues.
• Responsibility for the education and training of medical colleagues.
• Act as the Responsible Officer for Medical Revalidation and competence within the Trust.
• Provide professional advice to the Board and Chief Executive on medical staffing issues.
• Lead on a Research and Development Strategy.
• Work closely with the Chief Nurse to ensure that outstanding care is delivered for each patient.
• Garner and nurture continuous support from clinical colleagues to support the clinical strategy.

Corporate Responsibilities 

• Role model the Trust Values and, with the rest of the Board, lead the ongoing development of a positive, compassionate culture within the Trust
• As a member of the unitary board and the executive team, have shared responsibility for the organisational performance in terms of quality, workforce, finance and implementation of national priorities.
• The Chief Medical Officer has particular responsibility with the Chief Nurse for the first strategic objective to provide Outstanding care for every patient. This includes ensuring that clinical governance processes are robust, that the organisation is meeting the requirements of the Care Quality Commission, National Confidential Enquiry reports or other external quality regulators.
• Promote an organisational culture of openness and transparency - learning from complaints, incidents and best practice, and with a clear focus on ongoing continuous quality improvement.
• Advise the Board on any matters of concern or risk particularly pertaining to clinical quality of care to ensure that the Board is well informed and that there is an appropriately resourced improvement plan in place.
• Advise the Board on the impact of national policy on the Trust especially in regard to clinical innovation or changes in clinical standards or best practice.
• Take the strategic responsibility for clinical policy development, particularly relating to national or regional initiatives, directives from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), or the Care Quality Commission. The Chief Medical Officer must ensure with Director colleagues that service developments are in line with these directives and with the relevant National Service Framework (NSF), for specific conditions and patient groups.
• Be a core and active member of the Quality and Performance Committee, the Finance and Investment Committee, the Risk Committee and the Workforce Committee.
• Ensure all strategic plans, changes and outcomes have clinical support and, where possible and applicable, have been developed through continuous engagement with staff, patients and the public. Ensure all schemes have been assessed in detail for any risks to quality or the highest standards of patient care.
• Champion Research and Development at the Trust, and lead on the Trust Research and Development strategy.
• Meet the requirements of the Fit and Proper Persons Regime under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (regulated activities) Regulations 2014.

Leadership of Medical Staff 

• The Chief Medical Officer will provide visible and inspiring professional leadership for medical professionals within the Trust, setting an example of openness, energy and compassion in their communication style and decision making.
• The Chief Medical Officer will ensure that Divisional Medical Directors, Associate Medical Directors, Clinical Directors and Consultants are inspired and engaged in the Trust priorities. The Chief Medical Officer is the conduit between the Trust Board, outside influences and the medical workforce.
• The Chief Medical Officer will ensure that the voices of the medical workforce are heard and that they are able to influence Trust plans, priorities and the strategic direction.
• Provide professional leadership and guidance to Divisional Medical Directors and Associate Medical Directors to assist in securing the Trust’s objectives.
• The Chief Medical Officer has responsibility for medical education working with the Director of Medical Education and ensuring training for medical and physician associate colleagues is delivered in accordance with the Learning and Development Agreement, complies with Royal College and NHS guidance and is of very high quality.
• To lead and advise on consultant job planning and rostering, ensuring that job plans are aligned to service strategies, enabling the provision of high-quality care and financial sustainability.
• The Chief Medical Officer has a duty to the Board to ensure that there is a strategy and a plan for the medical workforce. This activity should embrace the principles of integrated and managed clinical networks, spanning primary, intermediate, secondary and tertiary care, and should include mechanisms for succession planning for key medical leadership roles as well as support for development of medics from medical students through to future Chief Medical Officers.
• The Chief Medical Officer will be appointed by the Board to fulfil the role of Responsible Officer (RO). As RO the Chief Medical Officer will lead on strengthened medical appraisal and ensure systems and processes are in place to fulfil the requirements of the GMC according to the legislation. The RO will make recommendations to the GMC on revalidation according to the RO regulations.
• Responsible for the National Clinical Impact Awards (NCIA) Process and a core member of the NCIA  panel, ensuring that it is run in line with national guidance and is a fair and inclusive process.
• A core member of appointment panels for all new consultant appointments ensuring that new consultants are appointed in line with the Trust Values and strategic objectives.
• Attend the Trust Local Consultation Negotiating Committee ensuring that the Trust consultant body is supported and engaged in Trust objectives for the benefit of patients.
• Ensure that the Trust has suitable arrangements in place for mentoring, coaching and providing pastoral care for medical colleagues, including for newly appointed consultants.
• Lead on resolving issues relating to the poor performance of medical colleagues and the implementation of any necessary disciplinary procedures including Maintaining High Professional Standards and Doctors in Difficulty processes.
• Champion productivity improvements in the medical and dental workforce.
• Provide leadership to develop and implement medical workforce modernisation, supporting and encouraging innovation in clinical practice and the way services are delivered.
• The Chief Medical Officer will provide leadership and support to the Trust’s Physician Associates.

Communication

Internally the post holder will develop and maintain key working relationships across all HHFT departments, clinical and corporate. It will be vital for the Chief Medical Officer to create excellent productive relationships with a number of very senior leaders within the Trust, including other members of the Board and the executive team, the Divisional Medical Directors and Divisional Operational Directors, Associate Directors for facilities, estates, procurement, IT, communications, finance and workforce development.

Externally they will be required to develop and maintain key working relationships across all integrated care partnership (ICP) organisations, ensuring positive, creative and productive relationships are in place.

The ICP organisations are listed below:

• Hampshire & Isle of Wight ICB
• Solent NHS Trust
• Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust (SHFT)
• Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust (PHU)
• The Isle of Wight NHS Trust (IOW)
• University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS)
• South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS)
• Wessex Local Medical Committee (LMC)
• Hampshire County Council (HCC)
• Primary Care Localities across Basingstoke, Andover, Winchester and Eastleigh
• Borough/Council Unitary Authorities
• Primary Care provider organisations (Mid Hants Healthcare, North Hampshire Alliance, North Hampshire Urgent Care)

On a wider level the postholder will be required to build positive relationships with other local and national organisations including:

• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board
• NHS England
• Care Quality Commission
• General Medical Council
• Royal Colleges
• Universities of Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth and any other Universities
• Other local acute providers including outside the Hampshire and Isle of Wight system including Frimley Health NHS FT, Royal Berkshire NHS FT

The post holder will be required to:

• Build strong relationships with senior leaders throughout our system, through effective communication and developing an understanding of the issues affecting the individual organisations.
• Understand the sensitivities of working with long-established and knowledgeable stakeholders, using a range of influencing techniques;
• Build relationships locally, regionally and nationally, including participation in networks. 

Budgets and Financial Constraints 

The post holder will be accountable for the planning and management of the budget relating to HHFT Chief Medical Officer addressing any risks and escalating issues as per the defined escalation process as and when required.

Staff Management

The post holder has an extremely competent team to support in the delivery of the responsibilities outlined here. These include: 

• Associate Medical Directors for Governance, Professional Standards, Workforce and Strategy
• An administrative support team to manage consultant appointments, job planning and revalidation
• A primary care liaison team to support continuous engagement with primary care partners
• Director of Medical Education
• Director of Research and Development
• Divisional Medical Directors, Clinical Directors and Clinical Leads
• Chief Clinical Information Officer who is also the Caldicott Guardian
• Lead Clinical Scientist and Lead Physician Associate

The Chief Medical Officer is responsible for supporting and encouraging these individuals to be the best they can be.

Trust Values

Our values help us in what we do and how we do it. It is important that you understand and use these values throughout your employment with the Trust to define and develop our culture.

The post holder will be:

• Compassionate, caring about our patients.
• Accountable and responsible, always looking to improve.
• Respectful for all and show integrity in everything. 
• Encouraging and challenging each other to always do our best.
• Inclusive.