Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

We are a responsive and innovative Foundation Trust that places our values of Caring, Safe and Excellent at the heart of everything we do. We take great pride in our staff and believe that investing in you is key to us achieving our vision of outstanding care delivered by outstanding people.

We work with a wide range of partner organisations to deliver care and support to people in their own homes and from a number of hospitals and community bases. We focus on delivering care as close to home as possible.

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join our organisation as an Interim Service Manager for the Thames Valley Forensic Service in the Specialised Services Directorate.

As well as contributing to the service as part of the Senior Operational Team, the Service Manager will input to directorate strategy & operational delivery to ensure that we deliver our quality, people, finance, performance and service development objectives. Ours is a matrix style organisation structure requiring collaborative working with other leaders from across the directorate and broader Trust, including clinical and non-clinical professional leads.

This post relates to the medium secure service and will involve a secondment opportunity lasting approximately 18 months.

Main duties of the job

 The Service Manager will report to an established multi-disciplinary Forensic senior team, at a time of unprecedented opportunity for innovation and change in a challenging context. They will have a role in delivering safety, quality and effectiveness in the forensic services provided by Oxford Health and in the development of the future model of inpatient care and forensic care pathways. The post holder will need exceptional interpersonal skills and be confident in engaging with, and reflecting the views of a range of stakeholders, across organisations, including service users, carers and colleagues. We value the NHS Leadership Framework qualities of:

Inspiring a shared, common purpose

Leading with care at the heart of everything we do

Evaluating and using information effectively

Connecting our services and system

Sharing our vision

Engaging teams

Holding to account for delivery and standards

Nurturing talent & capability

Influencing stakeholders

The successful candidate will be a reliable and motivated individual with an excellent knowledge of forensic pathways. You must be a reliable and trustworthy team player who is willing to lead through change and commit to high standards of care for our patients, and positive experience in terms of our workforce. 

Working for our organisation

The Thames Valley Forensic Service was established in 2004 and primarily serves Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire, in a mix of urban and rural areas. We provide holistic, patient-centred, recovery-focused services in a pathway of care that includes medium and low secure inpatient and forensic community services, for men and women. Our vision is to safely enable the recovery of our service users by providing excellent, collaborative treatment in caring environments, whilst managing risk through the least restrictive means.

Benefits of working for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust include:

  • Excellent opportunities for career progression
  • 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, with an increase to 33 days with continuous service
  • NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
  • Staff accommodation
  • Competitive pension scheme
  • Lease car scheme
  • Cycle to work scheme
  • New starters have a 6 month probationary period. This, together with the induction process aims to create a positive supportive working environment allowing new employees to learn key elements of their role over a reasonable timescale.

    • Detailed job description and main responsibilities

    The Service Manager is responsible – as the convener, host and facilitator of the relevant service multi disciplinary leadership teams – for the overall leadership, management, quality, staff, finances and performance of the nominated service(s). Typically, this team will include medical, nursing, AHP and psychologists.
    The Service Manager will also be responsible for making a contribution to overall Directorate strategy/policy to ensure that the Directorate delivers its quality, people, finance and performance objectives (in regard to the service they manage).
    As part of a matrix style organisation structure the Service Manager is also responsible for working collaboratively with horizontal leads/manager from across the Directorate and the broader Trust. This will include medical, nursing, therapies, social work, psychology, learning disabilities, finance, HR, IM&T, estates, emergency planning etc.
    As a leader in the organisation the post holder is expected to role model exemplary personal and leadership qualities at all times. This will include occasionally deputising for the Head of Service.

    Person specification

    Qualification

    Essential criteria

  • Educated to Masters degree level or equivilant professional experience

    • Desirable criteria

  • Participation in a relevant NHS senior management development programme

    • Experience

    Essential criteria

  • Substantial experience managing health and social care staff

    • Skills

    Essential criteria

  • Demonstration of well developed and effective leadership skills

    • Benefits of working for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust include:

  • Excellent opportunities for career progression
  • 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, with an increase to 33 days with continuous service
  • NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
  • Staff accommodation
  • Competitive pension scheme
  • Lease car scheme
  • Cycle to work scheme
  • New starters have a 6 month probationary period. This, together with the induction process aims to create a positive supportive working environment allowing new employees to learn key elements of their role over a reasonable timescale.
  • Candidates not currently employed by the Trust who attend an interview for non-qualified Band 1-5 posts are required to undertake numeracy and literacy assessments.
  • Appointment to this post is subject to the trust receiving satisfactory references covering 3 years of employment or study. Please ask your referees to respond promptly to reference requests.
  • Employees are expected to undertake mandatory and statutory training related to their role.
  • We positively encourage applications from all areas of the community, regardless of gender, race, faith, disability, age or sexual orientation and we encourage applications from users of mental health services. This is part of our commitment to equality and reflecting the diversity of our population.
  • Oxford Health is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

    • Employer certification / accreditation badges