Neighbourhood Development Officer in London

The Neighbourhood Development Officer will support Shrewsbury PCN to turn neighbourhood priorities into organised, practical delivery. The postholder will provide a consistent point of coordination across system partner organisations, the PCN and member practices, with particular responsibility for supporting the establishment and ongoing development of integrated neighbourhood team meetings, multidisciplinary team working, programme coordination, reporting, governance and continuous improvement. They will help ensure that both clinical MDT arrangements and the wider, non-clinical neighbourhood infrastructure are well organised, with the right people and information available, clear decisions and actions, and reliable follow-up.

Main duties of the job

• The postholder will take operational responsibility for defined neighbourhood workstreams, translating agreed priorities into deliverable plans and monitoring milestones, risks, dependencies and outcomes.
• Through integrated neighbourhood team meetings, they will work to bring partners together to address the practical conditions required for successful delivery, including partnership relationships, use of resources and finance, barriers and dependencies, data and intelligence, digital and IT issues, governance and workforce interfaces.
• They will produce timely and useful information for PCN governance, practices and system partners; strengthen relationships across general practice, community services, mental health, adult social care and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector; and use population health intelligence, service data and learning to identify gaps, health inequalities and opportunities for improvement.
• The postholder will manage their own workload, make day-to-day decisions, resolve routine delivery issues and act with autonomy within agreed objectives, policies and governance arrangements.
• They will maintain momentum across partner organisations, while clearly escalating barriers, risks and decisions that fall outside their delegated authority.
• Strategic direction, significant service changes, financial commitments and high-risk issues will remain with the Chief Executive Officer.

About us

Shrewsbury PCN is a large and well-established PCN, bringing together 11 GP practices and serving more than 105,000 people across Shrewsbury and the surrounding area. We are a supportive, collaborative and forward-thinking organisation with a strong reputation across our local health and care system. Our people are central to our success. We want colleagues to feel valued, empowered to make a difference and supported to develop, with access to training, professional development and opportunities to broaden their skills and experience.

Job responsibilities

• Support the establishment and ongoing development of integrated neighbourhood team meetings as the principal forum for coordinating the non-clinical aspects of neighbourhood delivery.
• Work with PCN and partner leads to agree the meeting purpose, membership, terms of reference, governance, decision-making arrangements, information requirements and links with clinical MDTs and other system forums.
• Coordinate agendas and forward plans that enable partners to address shared priorities, partnership relationships, finance and resources, barriers to delivery, performance and population health data, digital and IT issues, workforce interfaces, risks and dependencies.
• Facilitate constructive discussion across organisational boundaries, ensuring that issues are clearly defined, the appropriate leads are involved and practical actions, decisions and escalation routes are agreed.
• Maintain oversight of actions and barriers between meetings, working with responsible leads to progress solutions and escalating matters that require senior, clinical, financial or system-level intervention.
• Plan and coordinate the PCNs clinical multidisciplinary team arrangements, ensuring the right people, information and processes are in place.
• Work with clinical and operational colleagues to agree referral, triage, case discussion and follow-up processes and support their consistent application.
• Prepare agendas and relevant information; record decisions, actions and outcomes accurately on agreed systems.
• Identify opportunities to streamline neighbourhood processes and improve the experience of patients, practices and partner teams.

Programme and project coordination

• Take operational responsibility for defined neighbourhood projects or workstreams from planning through to implementation and review.
• Develop project plans, delivery milestones, action logs, standard operating procedures, and measures for activity, evaluation and quality improvement for Neighbourhood workstreams.
• Coordinate contributions across organisational boundaries, ensuring the right input is obtained from partners and that roles, responsibilities and contributions to delivery are clearly understood and agreed.
• Make day-to-day decisions within agreed scope and tolerances, adapting delivery plans when required and documenting the rationale.
• Escalate matters requiring strategic direction, additional resource, formal approval or a change to agreed scope.

Governance, reporting and assurance

• Support the Chief Executive Officer with reporting, governance and assurance requirements.
• Produce concise progress reports, briefing papers, dashboards and presentations for system partners, practices and the ICB as required.
• Maintain accurate records of decisions, risks, actions, dependencies and benefits, ensuring an appropriate audit trail.
• Ensure delivery complies with relevant PCN policies, confidentiality, data protection, safeguarding and information-governance requirements.

Data, intelligence and improvement

• Collect, validate, analyse and present qualitative and quantitative information from agreed sources to support service planning and evaluation.
• Use data to identify trends, gaps, health inequalities and unwarranted variation, working with clinical and analytical colleagues to interpret findings appropriately.
• Undertake or coordinate audits and service reviews, translating findings into practical improvement actions.
• Use recognised improvement approaches to test changes, capture learning and support sustainable implementation.

Partnership and engagement

• Build trusted working relationships with member practices, PCN teams, patients and communities, the ICB, local NHS providers, local authority services and VCSE organisations.
• Act as an accessible point of contact for assigned neighbourhood work, responding to queries and ensuring issues reach the right person.
• Chair or facilitate operational meetings and workshops when delegated, creating clear outcomes and maintaining momentum.
• Represent Shrewsbury PCN at relevant operational meetings within delegated authority, accurately communicating the PCNs agreed position.
• Support meaningful engagement with practices, patients and communities when developing or reviewing neighbourhood services.

Person Specification

Experience

• Essential: Managing defined projects or workstreams, including plans, milestones, risks, actions and reporting. Working with a wide range of stakeholders and resolving operational problems using judgement and initiative. Experience of maintaining accurate records, databases or trackers.
• Desirable: Experience of working in primary care or the wider NHS. Establishing or supporting cross organisational partnerships or similar complex governance arrangements.

Personal Qualities

• Essential: Proactive, dependable and comfortable taking responsibility while working collaboratively. Calm, adaptable and attentive to details. Confident and approachable, with the ability to build strong relationships, inspire trust and establish credibility with colleagues and partners across different organisations.

Other Requirements

• Essential: Right to work in the UK and willingness to undertake pre-employment checks, including DBS where required. Able to travel to meetings at locations around the network area, when required. Full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle.

Skills and Abilities

• Essential: Ability to work autonomously, make sound day to day decisions and recognise when escalation is required. Ability to analyse information and produce clear reports, briefings, action logs and presentations. Confident facilitator, able to build relationships, influence without authority and handle challenge constructively.

Qualifications

• Essential: Degree level education or equivalent experience in a relevant role.
• Desirable: Relevant qualification or training in project management or quality improvement. Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to project delivery, service improvement, or development of healthcare services.

Knowledge

• Essential: Understanding of confidentiality and of data protection requirements, including UK GDPR and information governance.
• Desirable: Awareness of population health management, health inequalities and data-led improvement practices. Understanding of Primary Care Networks, Integrated Neighbourhood teams and the wider health and care system.

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: Shrewsbury Primary Care Network
Address: Morgan Place, Anchorage Avenue, Shrewsbury Business Park, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 6FG, United Kingdom