Associate Director of Intermediate Care

The Associate Director of Intermediate Care is a senior appointment to lead and deliver Intermediate Care for West Cheshire Patients. The role encompasses both the delivery of admission avoidance through the expansion of our already successful Hospital at Home, Virtual ward and home rehabilitation teams and system level discharge co-ordination.

The post will form part of the senior management team of the Countess of Chester Hospital and Cheshire & Wirral Partnership Community Collaborative. You will be part of shaping how we will transform and deliver person centred community care in the future keeping patients as close to home as possible.

As a highly experienced, credible, senior professional/clinician you will also work in partnership with Place system health and care leaders to improve the co-ordination of care, to reduce the number of days away from home for our patients.

A hugely rewarding role with scope to work collaboratively to make a real difference to our patients. The post-holder will use their knowledge and authority to manage effective use of community, rehabilitation and discharge pathways across the system and support system wide change in practice and culture.

You will already be a senior leader ideally with experience of working with multiple stakeholders across numerous different provider organisations. This is an ideal role for someone wishing to develop in their career and use their leadership skills.

Main duties of the job

To be responsible for the operational management and planning of services, ensuring that the key quality, service performance, and financial objectives are met. Responsible for the delivery of services with maximum efficiency, promoting service improvement and best clinical pathways and responsibility for ensuring that regulatory targets and compliance against quality, risk and governance standards are met. Leading the development, motivation, and inspiration of teams within the Therapies and Integrated Community Care Division (TICC), the Associate Director of Intermediate Care has responsibility for the adherence to the Trust's values and behaviours.

To provide professional leadership and clinical accountability for staff working across Intermediate Care, in partnership with Cheshire and Wirral Partnership Foundation Trust.

To work with system partners to put in place clinical pathways that provide care and rehabilitation for patients in the most appropriate settings whilst reducing inappropriate or unavoidable demand on acute services.

About us

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:

• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds.

• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.

• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.

The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.

The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.

Job responsibilities

Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are the 6 Cs Communication, Competence, Courage, Care, Compassion and Commitment.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

Good luck with your application.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Degree in a therapy/nursing profession or business equivalent

• Management and/or Professional qualification at postgraduate level or equivalent relevant experience

• Professional specialist knowledge covering more than one relevant discipline

Experience

Essential

• Extensive experience in a management role within the NHS

• Demonstrate extensive resource management experience within an operational environment, including clinical service provision, finance, HR, change management & service improvements

• Demonstrate successful management of change within a large complex organisation

• Proven performance management of services and delivery of targets within agreed timescales

Desirable

• Multi-agency working at strategic level