Job summary
- Main area
- Surgery
- Grade
- Band 5
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (Maternity cover - post will start 25th January 2027 and will end 23rd January 2028 or earlier should post holder return early from maternity leave)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 438-PB4908
- Employer
- Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Preston Hospital
- Town
- Preston
- Salary
- £32,073 - £39,043 per annum, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 30/10/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Divisional Support Manager
Band 5
Job overview
The Divisional Support Manager provides operational and management support to the Plastics Speciality, working closely with the Service Manager, Specialty Business Manager/Senior Divisional Support Manager, Clinical Directors, Clinical Leads and Matrons. The role helps the Division and speciality, achieve its operational objectives while maintaining effective patient flow across urgent and emergency/unplanned care, outpatient, day-case and elective pathways.
A significant part of the role involves using and reviewing data to evaluate systems and processes, support service improvement and ensure the delivery of a caring, high-quality service. This includes contributing to the achievement of local and national patient-access standards and activity targets.
Main duties of the job
The main duties can be summarised as:
- Operational and performance management: Support the delivery of service targets, monitor capacity and demand, identify capacity pressures and help arrange additional activity where necessary. This includes national operational standards relating to UEC, RTT, Cancer and Diagnostics.
- Leadership and communication: Develop effective relationships with clinicians, nursing teams, managers and other colleagues; support the management of inpatient, outpatient and waiting-list pathways; keep managers informed; and deputise for the Service Manager when appropriate.
- Service improvement: Work with Divisional and corporate colleagues to improve systems, processes and patient pathways, using activity and audit data to identify opportunities for improvement.
- People management: Provide line-management support to administrative teams, manage performance issues, hold regular team meetings, support staff rotas, appraisals, return-to-work processes and recruitment.
- Governance and risk: Promote effective risk management, support risk assessments and Health and Safety requirements, and assist Clinical Leads, Matrons and management colleagues with investigating complaints and concerns.
- Partnership working: Build productive relationships across the organisation and participate in wider initiatives designed to improve services and patient care.
Working for our organisation
We have 10,000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients. Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to 1.5 million people across Lancashire & Cumbria.
Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns.
You’ll have access to varied development opportunities, learn new skills, meet fab people & do things you’d never have done. You’ll learn about working in a hospital, interacting with people from all different roles to build skills & enhance your career path.
You’ll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder is expected to help ensure that day-to-day services run efficiently while maintaining patient safety, quality and access standards. This involves attending weekly performance meetings, identifying capacity challenges and escalating concerns that could affect the delivery of effective patient care.
The Divisional Support manager will analyse and present operational information, ensure clinical activity is recorded accurately, collect data for audits and use this information to identify areas where patient pathways can be improved. They are also expected to balance changing priorities and support the implementation of service policies, projects and strategies while making efficient use of resources.
The role also carries significant staff-management responsibilities. The post holder should support administrative teams, address performance concerns appropriately, encourage staff involvement and suggestions, ensure team meetings take place, and help team leaders maintain adequate reception and scheduling cover.
Strong multidisciplinary working is central to the position. Key relationships include Operational Managers, PTL and Rota Coordinators, patient-access teams, theatre-management teams, Consultants, Medical Secretaries, Clinical Governance, MDT colleagues and corporate teams.
The role also requires the post holder to demonstrate the Trust's values of being caring and compassionate, recognising individuality, seeking to involve, building team spirit and taking personal responsibility.
Person specification
Qualifications & Education
Essential criteria
- Educated to degree level in relevant subject or demonstrable equivalent experience in business administration
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant previous administrative experience
- Proven experience of report writing and analysing data
- Experience of working in a dynamic environment with changing priorities and challenging deadlines
- Experience of supervising and supporting colleagues
Desirable criteria
- Previous experience in a healthcare setting
- Knowledge of requirements in relation to patient waits
- Experience of presenting reports and data
Skills abd Abilities
Essential criteria
- Excellent time management skills with the ability to prioritise and manage workloads
- Excellent interpersonal and people skills with a requirement for negotiation, diplomacy and tact
- Ability to present relevant information in a concise format
- Computer literate and competent in all Microsoft office applications
- Self-motivated with the ability to work independently
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Amanda Williams
- Job title
- Senior Performance Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
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