Executive Medical Director
We are looking for an exceptional clinical leader with significant senior medical leadership experience within a complex healthcare environment. You will bring a strong track record of leading improvement, driving quality and safety, working across organisational boundaries, and building trusted relationships with clinicians, partners, patients and staff.
You will be able to operate effectively at Board and system level, providing expert medical advice while balancing strategic leadership with delivery. You will demonstrate a strong commitment to compassionate leadership, clinical engagement, innovation, partnership working and the delivery of high-quality, sustainable healthcare services.
The Executive Medical Director (EMD) is a statutory Executive Officer of the Health Board and a full member of the Board, sharing collective accountability for organisational strategy, performance, quality, safety, workforce, financial sustainability and improvement.
The Executive Medical Director will play a leading role in shaping and delivering the Health Board’s Organised for Success programme, the Clinical Services Plan Transforming for the Future, and the Organisational Strategy A Healthier Swansea Bay, ensuring clinical leadership is fully aligned to organisational redesign, service transformation and system priorities.
The post-holder will provide visible, values-led medical leadership within a challenged and improving organisation, operating at pace to stabilise, recover and transform services for the population of Swansea Bay.
Acting as the principal source of medical and clinical advice to the Board and Chief Executive, the EMD will work as a core member of a cohesive executive team to deliver the Health Board’s Organisational Strategy, recovery priorities and system responsibilities across NHS Wales, while maintaining clear professional leadership and regulatory accountability for the medical workforce.
The role includes specific responsibilities for doctors and dentists employed by the UHB who are regulated by the General Medical Council (GMC) and the General Dental Council (GDC).
Key responsibilities will be to:
- Lead the orientation of clinical practice such that clinical leadership and professional approach is aligned to UHB strategy, delivers the strategic objectives; and promotes and advocates for the organisational values.
- Working with the Director of Public Health, ensure that the Health Board makes a significant contribution to health improvement and the reduction of health inequities and inequalities.
- Act as the principal source of medical advice to the Board and act as a professional lead for all doctors and clinical networks within the healthcare community employed by the Health Board.
- Communicate proactively with the Chief Medical Officer on risks to public health, significant clinical and public health incidents and issues that relate to medical or public health professions.
- Work closely with primary care and local authorities to push forward the integrated care agenda and Community by Design – the national programme designed to strengthen delivery of care close to home and aware from acute care settings.
- Lead the clinical research, development and innovation agenda and activities across the UHB ensuring there is a strategy in place that aligns with organisational priorities that drives increased access to clinical trials and learning for patients and increased opportunities for multi-disciplinary participation alongside securing the benefits for quality, safety and outcomes for patients. Accountable to Welsh Government and WHCR and Executive Member of Joint Clinical Research Facility Board.
- Act as Executive Lead for the establishment and delivery of a regional collaborative approach to research and development as one of the priorities of the Swansea Bay and Hywel Dda Regional Joint Committee.
- Lead on Quality Improvement and Innovation ensuring that clinical innovation is promoted and embedded into clinical care in order to delivery high quality, anticipatory, sustainable health
- Provide senior executive leadership for organisational recovery and improvement, including patient safety, quality, access, workforce stability and productivity, operating with pace, grip and transparency.
- Lead, in conjunction with Executive colleagues, on the development of Value based healthcare and lead on developing and implementing a programme of work to address clinical variation as part of the value, sustainability and financial recovery programme.
- The Medical Director will be the nominated Responsible Officer for all doctors within the LHB as required by the General Medical Council.
- The Medical Director will be responsible for overseeing the primary care contractor relationship with the health board.
- Jointly lead on the clinical governance agenda, in conjunction with the Nurse Director and Director of Allied Health Professionals and Health Sciences, for the overall discharge of clinical governance in the Health Board. Specific governance responsibilities to be agreed with the Chief Executive to include lead role for National audits and NCEPOD.
- Lead in conjunction with the Executive Director of Nursing and Patient Experience on the Quality and Safety agenda across the health board to ensure provision of high quality and safe services to our population.
- Undertake the role of Caldicott Guardian, ensuring that systems and processes for safeguarding the quality of clinical care are in place and working effectively.
- Lead, with the support of the Executive Director of Planning, Partnerships and Performance, on the development and implementation of the Clinical Services Plan to deliver sustainable services for our current and future population.
- Enable and support clinical system leadership across the health board, ensuring appropriate development plans are in place and succession planning is undertaken.
- Provide medical leadership for clinical performance and conduct, medical education, research and development, and senior doctor appraisal and validation across the health community.
- Take national responsibility for agreed aspects of health strategy and policy through an Honorary Associate Medical Director, NHS Wales appointment.
- Work collaboratively with Welsh Medical Directors, Executive Directors of Therapies and Health Science and CMO on the development of pan-Wales approaches to service quality and
- Take the medical leadership role for UHB in regional and system work to review service sustainability and re-design where necessary aligned with organisational, regional and system strategies and plans.
- Ensure systems are in place to identify the potential benefits of new technologies and their potential to transform service delivery in health and social care alongside supporting adoption and evaluation.
- Lead clinical engagement with the UHB response to the climate emergency and clinical steps to decarbonise care delivery.
- Create an environment in which excellence, research and development, public protection and patient safety can flourish to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
- Provide appropriate clinical leadership and direction to improvement and transformation programmes – particularly the continued implementation of the Perinatal Improvement Plan and Mental Health Transformation Plan.
- Lead on the development and implementation of clinical engagement arrangements at every level of the health board with the support of Executive colleagues.
- Responsible for Postgraduate and undergraduate medical education, and relationship with the Deanery.
Person Specification
- Qualified Medical professional.
- Unblemished registration with GMC.
- Evidence of continued professional development.
- Post graduate medical qualifications.
- Further evidence of management training and a commitment to ongoing professional development.
- Must be or have been a practising GP or worked at Medical Consultant level.
- Clinical Governance.
- Medical Management
- Significant organisational change experience / managing difficult and complex change.
- A track record of achievement in:
- Effective performance management;
- Introducing robust systems and processes; and
- Facilitation of groups.
- Undertaking sensitive negotiations.
- Successful initiation and facilitation of strategic partnership working and alliances.
- A good understanding of the health and social care management environment in Wales and of roles and responsibilities within it.
- A good understanding of national targets.
- A good understanding of performance management methodology.
- Developing an organisational culture that promotes clinical engagement in decision making and leading continuous change and improvement in services, encouraging the use of new clinical and service technologies.
- The safety and standards agenda.
- An understanding of the principles of Public Health Medicine that are relevant to, and underpin the work of the LHB.
- Innovative, with strong service focussed approach, exceptional communication, interpersonal, negotiating and influencing skills.
- Ability to think and act strategically and to articulate a clear sense of direction and vision to a wide audience.
- Ability to build effective relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
- Demonstrable leadership and ambassadorial skills with an ability to demonstrate a flexible leadership style.
- Commitment and passion for citizen focused service with the ability to embed such an ethos at all levels of the organisation.
- High level of;
- Negotiating skills;
- Interpersonal skills; and Communication skills.
- Ability to contribute to policy development.
- Decisive leader, capable and committed to translating policy and analysis into practical actions.
- Strong prioritisation skills with the ability to manage competing demands.
- High degree of analytic skills.
- High degree of report writing skills.
- Team player with experience of managing teams.
- Ability to deal with the media.
