Head of Clinical Services

GPS Healthcare is seeking an experienced and motivated senior clinician to join our organisation as Head of Clinical Services, playing a central role in shaping and delivering the clinical strategy across our Primary Care Network. As a member of the Executive Management Team (EMT), you will work collaboratively with clinical, operational and corporate leaders to drive safe and effective services for our patients, while ensuring we meet our contractual and regulatory responsibilities. This role is ideal for a registered healthcare professional with existing leadership and management responsibility who is looking to further develop their senior leadership career. You will retain ongoing clinical practice, ensuring continued clinical credibility while influencing service design, workforce development and quality improvement across the organisation. You will directly line manage our pharmacy and nursing teams, and provide senior leadership to other key Allied Health professionals, fostering a strong multi-disciplinary culture that supports learning, collaboration and continuous improvement. Based on site within our practices, this is a highly visible leadership role within a busy primary care environment, offering the opportunity to directly influence patient care, staff development and service transformation.

Main duties of the job:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for all clinical services (excluding GPs), ensuring safe, effective and high-quality care across the network.
• Play a full and active role on the Executive Management Team, contributing to organisational strategy, business planning and delivery of contractual requirements.
• Provide senior leadership and line management to key senior clinicians across Allied Health and other clinical services, supporting professional development, job planning and performance.
• Lead on strategic workforce planning and development for clinical services, ensuring skills, capacity and future service needs are aligned with organisational objectives.
• Maintain clinical credibility through ongoing patient-facing work and, where appropriate, prescribing activity in line with professional registration and scope of practice.
• Provide oversight of clinical governance, patient safety and regulatory compliance, including medicines management, safeguarding, audits and quality improvement activity.

If you would like to arrange an informal conversation with one of our Partners to discuss the role, please email: humanresources.gps@nhs.net

About us:

GPS Healthcare is a high-performing, single-practice Primary Care Network (PCN) operating across six sites in central and south Solihull. We provide care to nearly 40,000 patients and work collaboratively with partner PCNs, University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB), Solihull Council, Community Services, and the Integrated Care Board (ICB). Our team is committed to providing outstanding patient care within a supportive, forward-thinking environment. Solihull offers excellent transport links, a semi-rural setting, proximity to Birmingham Airport and the NEC, and access to scenic Warwickshire countryside contributing to a high quality of life for both staff and residents.

We offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits including:

• Competitive salary aligned with experience and qualifications.
• Membership of the NHS Pension Scheme.
• Car Lease Scheme.
• A paid day off for your birthday.
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• A friendly, supportive and professional working culture where development is encouraged.

Join us at GPS Healthcare and be part of a team committed to improving patient experience, organisational safety and high-quality care.

Job responsibilities:

• Responsible for implementing the GPS Healthcare vision and strategy, with a focus on clinical services and direction in the business, including contractual requirement delivery.
• Responsible for strategic workforce planning / development for all clinical services teams.
• Responsible for the job planning, support and professional development of direct line reports.
• Responsible for compliance and regulation of all clinical areas including prescribing at GPS Healthcare.
• Accountable for the governance of medicines management, including regular engagement with the ICB Medicines Management Team, oversight of prescribing policies and audits.
• Responsible for representing GPS at a Locality and BSol ICB level regarding matters related to the delivery of clinical services as appropriate.
• Responsible for influencing the ICB and INTs in strategy and improvements to local policy and infrastructure that enable excellence in patient care.

Leadership & Management:

• Contribute to the leadership and development of clinical services.
• Strategic leadership, governance, and quality assurance for the delivery of high quality, cost effective and safe clinical services.
• Lead and develop the clinical services team in line with the objectives of the organisation.
• Complete 1-1 appraisal meetings in line with the Appraisal Policy for all staff that you have direct line management of.
• Support the development of allied health professionals in primary care.
• Proactively lead on the development of a multi-disciplinary culture.
• Support the development and delivery of evidence-based care pathways, protocols, policies and clinical guidelines.
• Provide senior clinical oversight of prescribing safety and medicines optimisation across our services.
• Lead the Clinical Safety Team at GPS Healthcare, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and high-quality services for patients, while meeting all regulatory requirements.
• Play a key role in CQC readiness, including oversight of evidence and assurance processes, coordination of preparation activity, and active involvement during inspections, supporting clinical teams to demonstrate compliance with CQC standards.
• Work with external stakeholders and key partners, to ensure that there are highly functioning relationships as part of an integrated care system.
• Undertake and/or support critical incident reviews and respond to complaints where relevant.
• Oversee and support audits that provide evidence of service delivery, and insights for service development.

Other Responsibilities:

• Maintain clinical registration and comply with appropriate professional codes.
• Maintain and develop professional competence and expertise, keep up to date with medical/therapeutic evidence and opinion, and local and national service, legislation and policy developments.
• Participate in individual performance reviews, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development.
• Be the lead for the GPS Healthcare governance panel.
• Chair and coordinate the GPS Healthcare Clinical Panel, ensuring effective governance oversight of clinical policies, pathways and standards of practice.
• Proactively seek and develop partnerships with external organisations to support and enhance clinical delivery.
• Lead the development, review and approval of clinical policies and procedures, ensuring they are evidence-based, aligned with national guidance and local commissioning requirements, and implemented consistently across services.
• Lead on Care Home services in line with PCN DES requirements.
• Ensure actions arising from the Clinical Panel are monitored and progressed, providing assurance to the Senior Leadership Team on clinical risk and quality improvement.

Person Specification:

• Registered healthcare professional with a relevant UK regulatory body (e.g. GMC, NMC, HCPC, GPhC).
• Holds an Independent Prescribing qualification appropriate to professional background and scope of practice.
• Relevant postgraduate qualification or equivalent senior clinical experience.
• Evidence of ongoing professional development.

Knowledge/Skills:

• Strong understanding of clinical governance, patient safety and regulatory compliance (CQC).
• Demonstrable people management and leadership capability.
• Ability to influence service development across multi-disciplinary teams.
• Understanding of population health and health inequalities.
• Confident use of digital systems for reporting, planning and performance monitoring.
• Commitment to service innovation and continuous improvement.
• An interest in innovation and transformation.

Experience:

• Proven senior leadership responsibility for clinical service delivery within healthcare settings.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop multi-disciplinary clinical teams.
• Strong track record in clinical governance, quality assurance and service improvement.
• Evidence of using performance, quality and activity data to inform operational and strategic decision-making.
• Background in primary care, community services or integrated care environments.
• Involvement in system-level working with ICBs, neighbourhood teams or commissioning bodies.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.