Job summary
- Main area
- Paediatrics
- Grade
- Consultant / Salaried GP / SAS
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 6 sessions per week (2 Programmed Activities/Sessions Leadership and 4 Clinical)
- Job ref
- 150-SK2934-PC
- Employer
- Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Chailey Clinical Services
- Town
- Chailey
- Salary
- £63,696 - £150,569 Basic salary pa pro rata, + £4,000 Add. Responsibility Payment
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 25/10/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 13/11/2026
Employer heading
Medical Head of Service - Chailey Clinical Services
Consultant / Salaried GP / SAS
Job overview
Main duties of the job
This 6 PA / session post comprises:
- 2 PAs / sessions - Medical Head of Service
- 4 PAs / sessions - clinical care and caseload responsibility
You will provide operational direction and leadership to Chailey clinical service delivering improvement programmes, developing the medical workforce and ensuring robust clinical governance, job planning and an open learning culture.The successful applicant will work closely with other medical Heads of Service across the division.Applications will be welcomed from doctors with a background in General Practice or Paediatrics. A clinical interest in paediatrics, rehabilitation and/or neurodisability is highly desirable, as well as leadership experience.Informal discussion or visit prior to application is welcomed.
Working for our organisation
We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.
Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.
Why work for us?
• Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeing
• Varied environments: community hospitals, patients’ homes, and bases across Sussex
• Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retirement
• Excellent training, development, and research opportunities
• Accredited Living Wage Employer, we ensure fair pay for all our staff
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton
• Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks
• Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust
Our values—Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence—guide everything we do.
We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.
This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
a) The Chailey services Medical Head of Service will demonstrate strong professional clinical leadership and provide medical advice across the services within their portfolio. Acting in support of the Planned Care Divisional Medical Director, the post holder will be a key member of the Divisional leadership team and work as a triumvirate with the Clinical, Health Care Science and Operational Head of Service.
b) The post holder will support the Divisional Medical Director to continually improve equitable patient care, experience, access and outcomes for their service and assist with the implementation of national and Trust initiatives working closely with the Operational, Healthcare Science and Clinical Head of Service.
c) The postholder will play a key role in developing the service to meet the population's needs at locality and regional level and will have a service development portfolio and clinical leadership role. They will ensure services provide safe, effective, personalised and evidence-based clinical interventions and holistic care.
d) The post holder will demonstrate highly visible clinical and professional leadership behaviours, which are underpinned by the values of the Trust, and be a role model for leadership, training, coaching, and facilitating staff development at all levels. The post holder will be expected to provide a medical perspective to Divisional planning and decision-making, interpreting national guidance in relation to all aspects of clinical care delivered by the Trust and advise on implementation within the modernisation and changing environment of all service areas.
e) The post holder will be required to be/become skilled in improvement methodology and practice, role modelling leadership for improvement behaviours, supporting the building of Quality Improvement capability and capacity in the Division and using information to initiate and deliver improvement programmes which result in improved outcomes for patients, efficiency and productivity.
f) Working with the Operational Head of Service, the post holder will support medical recruitment and retention, measuring and improving standards of care and patient experience in accordance with agreed objectives, targets, quality standards, controls and resource constraints.
g) The postholder will, working with the Operational Head of Service and other clinical Heads of Service, be responsible for clinical governance including the identification, reporting, management and mitigation of risk and patient safety.
Entry on the GMC Specialist Register for Paediatrics (or expected within 6 months of the interview date or Entry on the GMC GP Register and inclusion on the NHS England GP Performers List (England) or Meet the minimum contractual entry requirements for the Specialty grade or
Meet the minimum contractual entry requirements and Generic Capabilities Framework for the Specialist Grade.
Person specification
Qualifications and Professional Registration
Essential criteria
- Recognised Basic Medical Degree
- Full GMC Registration and Licence to Practice
- Entry on the GMC Specialist Register for Paediatrics (or expected within 6 months of the interview date)
- OR Entry on the GMC GP Register and inclusion on the NHS England GP Performers List (England)
- OR Specialty Doctor - completed at least four years’ full-time postgraduate training (or its equivalent gained on a part-time or flexible basis) at least two of which will be in a specialty training programme in a relevant specialty or as a fixed term specialty trainee in a relevant specialty; or shall have equivalent experience and competencies
- OR Specialist Doctor - completed a minimum of 12 years’ medical work (either continuous period or in aggregate) since obtaining a primary medical qualification of which a minimum of six years should have been in a relevant specialty in the Specialty Doctor and/or closed SAS grades. Equivalent years’ experience in a relevant specialty from other medical grades including from overseas will also be accepted. Meet the Specialist Grade generic capabilities framework.
Desirable criteria
- Qualification in Business/Medical Management
Experience
Essential criteria
- Proven record in a Medical leadership role, including contributing to operational management of services.
- Experience of working in Community Paediatric Services at GP, SAS or Consultant Grade
- Experience in management of health services
Skills and Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Word-processing and keyboard skills and ability to use Microsoft Office packages including Word, Powerpoint and Excel
- Strong patient focus.
Skills and Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of NHS Human Resource Policies and Procedures.
- Knowledge of clinical and operational governance, patient safety and complaint handling and its application to services.
- Knowledge of multidisciplinary team working and an understanding of differing professional roles boundaries.
- Knowledge of clinical operational processes, including budget management, target setting, and action planning and performance management.
- Knowledge of NHS targets and regulatory requirements.
- Ability to monitor and maintain standards of care across a range of clinical services.
- Ability to identify, assess and manage Clinical and Operational Risks.
- Able to translate complex information and make it meaningful to staff at all levels and across all professions both verbally and in writing.
- Ability to occasionally manage distressing and emotional circumstances with staff, patients and their carers.
- Ability to deal with competing demands, priorities and deadlines whilst managing operational imperatives and frequent interruptions.
- Ability to engage stakeholders through discussion, presentation and direct liaison.
- Well-developed Presentation skills
- A natural curiosity backed by excellent critical analytical skills.
- Ability to lead quality improvement and promote research.
- Able to effectively challenge poor conduct and behaviours.
- Skilled in writing clear and coherent operational business cases, reports, and service plans.
- Demonstrate understanding of the unique qualities and needs of a team and ability to provide a caring, safe environment to enable everyone to do their jobs effectively.
- Use and interpret varied information and data to generate new ideas and make effective plans for improvement or change.
- Excellent time management, prioritisation and organisational skills and ability to manage and deliver to agreed deadlines
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of monitoring, analysing and assessing clinical operational performance across multiple services.
- Experience of managing performance across multiple services, including the drafting, implementation and monitoring of remedial action plans.
- Experience in contributing to service level business plans, local standard operating procedures, and policies.
- Experience of managing budgets.
- Significant experience of staff management, including recruitment and retention of staff, performance management and managing sickness absence and misconduct.
- Experience of managing staff including job planning, medical appraisal and personal development planning.
- Experience of partnership working with a range of statutory and non-statutory service providers.
- Experience of assessing risks across clinical services and developing risk management plans.
- Experience of managing multi-disciplinary teams.
Other
Essential criteria
- Able to travel to meet the requirements of the job
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Selma Stafford
- Job title
- Divisional Medical Director - Planned Care
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07786 769739
- Additional information
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