Job summary
- Main area
- Offender Healthcare
- Grade
- Band 8b
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 277-7691553-BRIS
- Employer
- Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- HMP Bristol
- Town
- Bristol
- Salary
- £64,455 - £74,896 p.a.
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 19/01/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Head of Healthcare
Band 8b
Job overview
We are currently recruiting for a Head of Healthcare at HMP Bristol. This is an exciting opportunity to blend your clinical knowledge, leadership skills and commitment to delivering high standards of care in an extremely rewarding environment.
You will be responsible for the leadership and operational management of the healthcare service at HMP Bristol. You will work closely with the Regional Manager, peer Heads of Healthcare, HMP Bristol Healthcare teams, sub-contractors, and HMPPS colleagues, and you will regularly link with key stakeholders including commissioners, prison governors and the Independent Monitoring Board.
Our healthcare team have a real impact on promoting health and well-being to those in prison and we pride ourselves on using skills and strategies that instil hope for patient’s future resettlement back into the community. We directly deliver Mental Health, Physical Health, Pharmacy and Clinical Substance Misuse in an integrated healthcare delivery model to provide effective and responsive care to improve wellbeing and support better outcomes in the future.
Important Sponsorship Information for this post: We are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post
Main duties of the job
Within this role, you will oversee and manage a multi-disciplinary team that includes but is not limited to; primary care, substance misuse services, mental health, psychology, psychiatry, administration & GP services.
You will support the leadership team within HMP Bristol to provide safe, effective, high quality care; leading and encouraging effective partnership and multidisciplinary working to provide responsive and patient-centred care.
You will ensure that effective clinical governance is in place, including organising and chairing local Quality Management and HMPPS Local Delivery and Quality Boards meetings, and participating in regional management meetings, contract monitoring activity and financial reviews. You will be responsible for liaising with data analyst and quality management colleagues to ensure that all relevant reporting requirements are fulfilled.
You will be required to lead and empower others and demonstrate the ability to plan and implement an innovative practice over a 24/7 healthcare service.
Working for our organisation
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We’re Kind
- We’re Fair
- We Listen
- We Care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
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Provide direction and co-ordination in conjunction with Heads of Departments and relevant managers in shaping and implementing the future provision, quality and performance of services provided.
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The post holder will exercise a high degree of personal and professional autonomy and can plan and reach complex and critical judgments and have decision making skills to satisfy the expectations of the role.
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To foster and maintain effective relationships with stakeholders including HMPPS senior management team, Governors, staff, NHSE commissioners and sub-contractors.
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Deputise for the Regional Manager as required.
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To strategically develop, deliver, clinically audit and evaluate the Integrated Healthcare Service for the prison. This will include acute & primary care, long term conditions management, enhanced assessment and diagnostic intervention services and health promotion activities and be in line with the NHS Plan, public health indicators and National Service Frameworks.
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ:
All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.
You will need to provide:
Proof of right to work documentation
Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID
Proof of address documentation
Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.
Address History:
5 years address history will be needed.
Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.
Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.
In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be sought from:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants
If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en).
Person specification
Education
Essential criteria
- Evidence of Leadership/Management Qualification
- Degree or equivalent experience
Experience
Essential criteria
- Previous middle management experience in a MDT delivering Healthcare
- Experience of working in a prison setting
- Experience of service implementation, development and change management
- Experience of managing staff across a 24 hours, 7 day period
- Facilitating the involvement of service users and carers in service implementation, planning and monitoring
Skills
Essential criteria
- Clinical/Operational skills in crisis/risk resolution strategies
- Effective negotiator
- Ability to resolve conflict and build teams
- Service implementation, change management, process design and control skills
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
- Roanne Wootten
- Job title
- Regional Manager (BSGW)
- Email address
- [email protected]
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