Job summary
We've built a strong clinical practice. Now we want to build an organisation that's just as strong.
Keats Group Practice is looking for an exceptional Practice & Business Manager to help shape our next chapter. We are an established NHS training practice in Hampstead caring for around 13,000 patients, with more than 35 colleagues and a broad clinical skill mix.
We are proud of a clinical culture built around continuity, compassion, excellent care, curiosity and shared learning. We also know that a strong clinical practice needs an equally strong organisation around it: clear leadership, good systems, accountability and the capacity to keep improving.
This is not a caretaker role. We want someone who can run today's practice well while helping us build tomorrow's - a leader who gets stuck into a problem when needed, but also asks why it keeps happening and how the system could be better.
Main duties of the job
This is a senior operational and business leadership role working closely with our three GP Partners and wider management team. The postholder will lead and coordinate the non-clinical organisation of the practice, with responsibility across people and HR, workforce planning, operational performance, finance and income, governance and CQC readiness, projects, communication and organisational development.
A central part of the role will be strengthening ownership and accountability across the management team, building reliable systems and ensuring agreed work is followed through. The postholder will use information and judgement to identify risks and priorities, involve the right people and bring clear recommendations to the Partnership when decisions are needed.
The role combines day-to-day operational leadership with strategic input: solving immediate problems when necessary while also improving the systems behind them.
About us
Keats is a substantial North London GP practice led by three GP Partners and supported by a wide multidisciplinary clinical team, separate reception and administration teams, and an established management structure. The successful candidate will work alongside an Operations Manager, Finance Lead and Management Support Assistant.
We want our patients to feel known and supported, our staff to feel valued and empowered, and our leaders to have the capacity to lead and innovate. Our new manager will have regular access to the Partners through weekly management meetings and a meaningful role in quarterly strategy discussions.
We are part of North Camden Primary Care Network, five local practices serving around 55,000 patients, with a supportive peer network of Practice and Business Managers. We offer £65,000-£70,000 depending on experience, 37.5 hours across four or five days, six weeks' annual leave plus public holidays and NHS Pension access. Informal visits are warmly welcomed.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The postholder is a senior leader within Keats Group Practice. The postholder will work with the GP Partners and wider management team to ensure that the practice is well-led, operationally effective, financially sustainable and able to continue delivering excellent patient care.
The role combines hands-on operational leadership with strategic input. The postholder will be expected to take ownership of agreed areas, create clear systems and accountability, bring together the right people, and provide the Partnership with timely information, recommendations and constructive challenge.
The postholder will be supported by an established management structure including an Operations Manager, Finance Lead and Management Support Assistant, as well as clinical, reception and administrative team leads. The aim is not for one person to carry every function personally, but to lead and coordinate the organisation effectively.
Key responsibilities
1. Leadership and organisational management
Work closely with the three GP Partners and management team to translate strategic priorities into clear plans, responsibilities and delivery.
Participate in weekly management meetings and contribute meaningfully to quarterly strategy meetings.
Build clear ownership and accountability across the management structure and ensure agreed actions are followed through.
Provide concise, timely advice to the Partnership on operational, workforce, financial, governance and strategic matters.
Exercise sound judgement about which matters require Partner involvement and which can be resolved within the management team.
Deputise for the Partners at appropriate internal and external meetings when agreed.
2. People, HR and workforce
Provide senior leadership for workforce planning and people management across the practice.
Ensure HR processes are fair, timely, consistent and compliant with employment legislation and practice policy.
Oversee recruitment, induction, appraisal, development, attendance management, performance management and, where required, disciplinary or capability processes.
Support managers and team leads to handle people issues confidently and appropriately, reducing unnecessary upward escalation.
Review staffing structures and workforce capacity against service need, affordability and future plans.
Promote a culture in which staff feel valued and supported while understanding their responsibilities and being accountable for their work.
3. Operations and systems
Maintain oversight of the day-to-day non-clinical operation of the practice, working closely with the Operations Manager and other leads.
Identify recurring operational problems and develop reliable systems rather than repeatedly relying on individual workarounds.
Support effective clinical and administrative workforce planning, including oversight of rota systems and resilience arrangements.
Lead or sponsor process improvement work, making thoughtful use of technology, data and automation where these can improve reliability, efficiency or staff experience.
Ensure important operational risks are identified, recorded, owned and addressed.
4. Finance, income and business performance
Work with the Finance Lead and Partners to strengthen oversight of practice finances, income streams, expenditure and financial risk.
Support budgeting, forecasting and financial planning and provide the Partnership with clear information to support decision-making.
Maintain oversight of NHS contractual income, Quality and Outcomes Framework activity, enhanced services and other relevant income streams, ensuring opportunities are understood and performance is monitored.
Identify opportunities to improve income, reduce avoidable costs and use resources more effectively, while protecting quality and patient care.
Contribute to business cases and evaluation of potential new services or growth opportunities.
5. Governance, compliance and CQC readiness
Ensure that governance and regulatory compliance are embedded into routine practice working rather than approached reactively.
Coordinate the practice's ongoing CQC readiness, ensuring actions are delegated to appropriate leads, tracked and completed.
Maintain oversight of key policies, risk assessments, business continuity arrangements, health and safety responsibilities and contractual requirements.
Support effective systems for learning, audit, significant events and continuous improvement where these fall within the role's remit.
6. Projects, change and development
Lead and coordinate significant practice projects from planning through implementation and review.
Develop clear project plans, milestones, responsibilities and reporting arrangements.
Support the practice to evaluate new ways of working, including digital tools, service redesign and opportunities for sustainable growth.
Prepare or coordinate business cases, reports and proposals when required.
Ensure change is communicated well and that the people affected are involved appropriately.
7. Communication and relationships
Develop effective internal communication between the Partnership, management team, staff and wider practice. - Support clearer external communication with patients about practice services and processes.
Build constructive relationships with the Primary Care Network, Integrated Care Board, Federation, suppliers and other external stakeholders.
Work with fellow Practice and Business Managers across North Camden Primary Care Network, sharing learning and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
Chair or support effective meetings with clear agendas, decisions, actions and ownership.
8. Partnership and strategic development
Support the Partners to make practice leadership more sustainable by reducing avoidable operational dependency on Partner time.
Contribute to strategic planning around workforce, succession, financial sustainability, service development, patient-list growth and organisational resilience.
Bring external perspective, ideas and constructive challenge to strategic discussions.
Help create the organisational capacity that allows clinical leaders and Partners to focus on clinical care, education, leadership and future development.
General responsibilities
The postholder will be expected to work flexibly within the scope and seniority of the role and to undertake other reasonable duties as required. Responsibilities may evolve as the management structure develops. The postholder must maintain confidentiality, uphold information-governance requirements and work in accordance with practice policies and relevant NHS and statutory obligations.
Terms
This is a full-time senior salaried role of 37.5 hours per week, with the opportunity to agree a working pattern across four or five days. Salary is £65,000 to £70,000 per annum depending on skills and experience. The role offers six weeks' annual leave plus statutory public holidays, pro rata where appropriate, and access to the NHS Pension Scheme subject to scheme eligibility. Relevant continuing professional development will be supported by agreement with the Partners.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Good standard of education with excellent literacy and numeracy skills.
Desirable
- Degree-level qualification in business, management, healthcare or a related field.
- Leadership and/or management qualification.
- Primary care or healthcare management qualification.
Experience
Essential
- Substantial experience of leading people and operations in a complex organisation.
- Experience of managing multidisciplinary teams and supporting other managers or team leads.
- Experience of HR and people management, including attendance, performance, development and difficult employee-relations issues.
- Experience of financial management, budgeting, forecasting or using financial information to support decisions.
- Experience of leading and implementing significant projects or organisational change.
- Experience of workforce planning and developing reliable operational systems.
- Demonstrable understanding of NHS primary care/general practice sufficient to become effective quickly in the role.
- Comfort with performance, finance, workforce and governance alongside people leadership
- A constructive challenger who is prepared to ask why we are still doing it this way
- Excellent leadership, communication and interpersonal skills, with credibility across staff groups and senior stakeholders.
- Able to combine strategic thinking with hands-on operational problem-solving.
- Strong ownership and follow-through; able to prioritise, delegate and hold others accountable appropriately.
- Able to lead with empathy while setting clear expectations and handling difficult conversations confidently.
- Sound judgement about risk, escalation and when to make decisions independently.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to use data and financial information.
- Able to develop, implement and embed effective policies, processes and systems.
Desirable
- Previous senior management experience in an NHS GP practice.
- Experience working with a Primary Care Network, GP Federation or Integrated Care Board.
- Experience of CQC preparation, regulatory compliance or governance in a healthcare setting.
- Experience of NHS contractual income, Quality and Outcomes Framework or enhanced services
- Experience of EMIS or other primary-care clinical systems.
- Experience of digital transformation, automation or business-intelligence tools.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
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.
Employer details
Employer name
Keats Group Practice
Address
1b Downshire Hill
Hampstead
London
NW3 1NR
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.keatsgrouppractice.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)
