Assistant General Manager, Band 6 (12 month fixed term)

The Assistant General Manager will work alongside the General Manager and other Assistant General Manager within the service line, to support the day-to-day operational management of Anaesthetic services to include Anaesthetics, Critical Care, Pain and Pre-Operative Assessment. Roles and responsibilities will include the line management of administration and clerical staff; providing cohesive and compassionate leadership in order to support the effective and efficient organisation and delivery of services for the benefit of our patients and service users. The post holder will work under the direction of, and with support from, the General Manager, alongside other managers, clinical leads and teams. There is opportunity to support operational and strategic planning of services and to lead on specific service improvements and projects., Currently the two Assistant General Managers within the anaesthetic service take key responsibility for either Anaesthetics and Pain Management or Pre-Operative Assessment and Critical Care. This post will focus upon Pre-operative Assessment and Critical Care, whilst maintaining some fluidity and oversight across the entire service. This arrangement may be subject to change depending upon focus and the sharing of workloads., Take responsibility for supporting the day-to-day operational management of defined clinical areas and departments, under the direction of, and with support from, the General Manager for Anaesthetic services. Provide management and leadership of the administration and clerical staff within the Anaesthetic, Critical Care, Pain and Pre-Operative Assessment services, as agreed and jointly shared with the other AGM for anaesthetics. Work collaboratively and cohesively with management, admin and clinical teams, within own and other specialties in order to deliver an effective and responsive service. Work in close partnership with relevant stakeholders to drive improvement, embed change and standardise processes, based on local requirements and best practice. Work alongside the General Manager and service leads to define, develop and continuously embed service line business planning and delivery within resource. Provide leadership and support in a complex and rapidly changing environment, ensuring that governance and escalation processes and systems are adhered to.

• Currently the two Assistant General Managers within the anaesthetic service take key responsibility for either Anaesthetics and Pain Management or Pre-Operative Assessment and Critical Care. This post will focus upon Pre-operative Assessment and Critical Care, whilst maintaining some fluidity and oversight across the entire service. This arrangement may be subject to change depending upon focus and workloads., Key roles and responsibilities
• Assist the General Manager in the day-to-day operational management of services, managing escalated issues and supporting service developments.
• Work cohesively and collaboratively with members of the Pre-Operative Assessment, Critical Care, Anaesthetic and Pain Management teams to ensure that the service is managed efficiently and effectively for the benefit of service users and staff
• Take an active role in waiting list management and referral processes for the pre-operative assessment and also for the pain service if required. Support actions to improve the local and national recovery of patient waiting times.
• Take an active lead in clinic utilisation within out-patient services, supporting and working with the specialty services to follow effective referral processes.
• Support the Critical Care team with patient flow and management of demand, liaising with the site team, duty managers and other operational leads within escalation processes when required.
• Develop business proposals and assist the General Manager in the implementation of business plans, operational strategies and delivery of Trust objectives.
• Manage and lead the administrative and clerical staff within the service, to include direct line management;
Oversee appraisals and mandatory training, ensuring compliance with Trust targets Identify any training needs and assist with implementing and delivering training / workshops as required Monitor performance and sickness absence and take appropriate action when necessary Lead the administration / clerical teams through any planned changes and support them to deliver a high-quality service
• Participate in a wide range of meetings and represent the General Manager as requested.
• Contribute to the redesign, development and implementation of new processes within the speciality to improve patient pathways, access and quality of care.
• Assist with the investigation of incidents and complaints relating to defined clinical areas and departments. Take appropriate action, formulating action plans to support any required improve.
• Analyse complex and conflicting data from multiple sources.
• Demonstrate own activities / tasks to new or less experienced members of staff.
• Take a leading role within the recruitment and retention of administration and clerical staff within service.
• Maintain own e-learning and mandatory training.
• Work without direct supervision, liaising and communicating with various disciplines as appropriate.
• Participate in the Surgical Duty Manager rota, managing escalations and supporting patient flow through the acute Hospitals.
The post holder will be required to undertake any other appropriate duties according to the needs of the service. This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of activities, but rather an outline of the main areas of responsibility. Any reasonable changes will be discussed and agreed with the post holder before variations to the job description are made. Communications and Working Relationships
• General Managers, Deputy and Assistant General Managers.
• Members of clinical staff ie; nurses, consultants, trainee doctors, Allied Health Professionals.
• Secretarial and administration staff.
• Patients, relatives and carers.
• Procurement and Creditors.
• Payroll and finance staff.
• Conference providers and training leads.
• Systems management teams.
• Operational General Managers for clinical and support areas (including admin & clerical, health records, booking services, procurement, information, contracting).
• General Practitioners, PCT Service Development team
• Medical staffing, Information Analysts, Finance and Human Resources.
• Booking offices, admission teams, medical secretaries.
• Complaints, PALS, Risk & Clinical Governance Teams.
Most challenging part of the job;
• Requirement to work within a busy environment with frequent interruptions.
• Assisting the management of, and reacting to, an unpredictable workload with constantly changing priorities, whilst being involved in longer term strategic planning, change and development.
• Management of demands from clinical teams to provide adequate management and administration support within limited resources.
• Working flexibly across sites and providing visibility to team members.
• Sometimes managing issues of staff conflict, disagreements and underperformance
• Being an intermediary between the Trusts need to deliver its financial and service plans, and the clinicians need to put patient priorities and the quality of care first.
• Complexity of issues within and between departments, across sites and the health community.
• Assisting the management of a large diverse group of personnel, breaking down the barriers to communication and developing new ways of working.
• To develop innovative, practical and responsive services which ensure processes are modernised and developed in line with national priorities and the needs of local people.
Physical, mental and emotional effort and working conditions
• The post holder is required to work cohesively with colleagues and to use their own initiative to analyse, make decisions and implement, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their contribution to the anaesthetic service to ensure the best outcome for excellent service delivery.
• Expected to sit predominantly at a desk but have frequent interruptions, with the need to move around the department and to other departments when required.
• Use of VDU on a daily basis
• High levels of concentration are required in an environment with frequent interruptions either by telephone or face to face contacts
• A requirement to plan own work, between hospital sites, and to balance changing and sometimes conflicting priorities.
• A requirement for light physical effort for short periods such as lifting and handling stationery, files and office equipment
• Dealing with sensitive and confidential information, that may sometimes be distressing.
• Personal duty of care in relation to safe usage of equipment
• Responsibility for financial transactions in a position of trust and responsibility.
  
  Educated to GCSE Grade C or above (or equivalent) in English and Maths
• Educated to degree level or relevant qualifications and experience that clearly demonstrates suitability for the post.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of the full range of administrative systems, software programmes to include all Microsoft applications (word, excel, access, email)
Desirable
• Management / Leadership qualifications or training
Experience Essential
• Experience of developing services by using initiative and thinking creatively to generate ideas and possible solutions to improve service delivery
• Experience of working without direct supervision and as part of a team, pro-actively and effectively managing own workload to meet conflicting priorities and deadlines.
• Experience of working with a wide range of clinical and non-clinical staff with an ability to secure their engagement in change and service improvement.
• Supervisory experience with the ability to train and line manage administration staff whilst coordinating and delegating work effectively
Knowledge, skills and abilities Essential
• Excellent organisational skills for prioritisation of own workload, following methodical and structured processes and meeting deadlines as required
• Ability to overcome barriers to communication and work with a positive persona; promoting effective, inclusive teamwork and compassionate leadership
• Ability to write reports, analyse data and produce comprehensive documentation
• Excellent communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills for communicating with all staff and service users internal and external to the organisation.
• Capability to work flexibly within a team and independently using own initiative, autonomy and without close supervision.
Desirable
• Knowledge of service improvement tools and techniques including, process mapping, capacity & demand analysis, patient flow, and PDSA methodology.
• Knowledge of electronic patient information and referral systems and processes
  
  Gloucestershire Hospitals is one of the largest hospital trusts in England serving a population of almost 620,000 people.
Our people are at the heart of what we do. Our workforce is almost 9,000 strong and our caring and dedicated staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care across a range of clinical areas. We also have exceptional teams of professional services staff underpinning our vision every step of the way. We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us to achieve our vision of providing Best Care for Everyone and our success depends on the commitment and dedication of our staff. We are committed to diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity for everyone, valuing and celebrating differences and encouraging a workplace and culture where all can thrive. We endeavour to ensure each and every person working in our organisation feel respected and valued. Respecting and valuing differences will help to ensure that our policies and services reflect the needs and experiences of the people and community we serve.