Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Appointment of the Director of Information Management and Technology (IM & T), Operational Planning and Performance

Candidate Brief

January 2013

Contents

Letter from the Director of Operational Services

The Advert

The Organisation

Our Strategic Vision: Care at its Best

Delivering the Trust’s Vision

Our Values

Information Management, Technology, Operational Planning and Performance at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

The Role

Principal responsibilities

The Candidate

Our Values & Behaviours

Further details about the Role

Recruitment Process & How to Apply

Recruitment Process & Timetable

How to Apply

Letter from the Director of Operational Services

Appointment of Director of Information Management and Technology (IM & T), Operational Planning and Performance

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for your interest in this role at the Countess of Chester. This is an exciting time for this Trust as we develop our vision and strategy following the arrival of our new Chief Executive, Tony Chambers, and our new Chair, Sir Duncan Nichol. Technology will be a significant part of our future, which is why we are now advertising this important role.

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust consists of a 600 bed Trust, which provides its services on the Countess of Chester Health Park, and a 66 bed Intermediate Care Service at Ellesmere Port Hospital. The Trust has almost 4,000 staff and provides a range of services to more than 450,000 patients per year.

This is a really interesting time for the trust. After years of growth, the NHS is now facing its biggest ever financial challenge. Against this backdrop, and together with our staff and external partners, we must maintain our high standards of care for patients; and embrace improvements to services. To achieve this we must take account of the changing nature of our work, the demographics of our patients, and new opportunities to provide more integrated services to them. We must innovate and work collaboratively with local partners. Technology will be an important part of how we improve our services, in particular our Patient Administration Systems.

The Countess has an outstanding record of success and there is much to be proud of. We are one of only five trusts which have been awarded the prestigious CHKS 40 Top Hospitals Award - our twelfth year in succession - which is recognition for the hard work and dedication of our workforce.

As Director of IM & T, Operational Planning and Performanceyou will have responsibility for providing the strategic direction for the function, as well as having the opportunity to contribute more widely to the trust’s strategy and direction.

If you would like to explore this opportunity further, please feel free to call me to arrange an informal & confidential discussion, by contacting Claire Jones 01244 365291.

Yours faithfully,

Tim Lynch,

Director of Operational Services

The Advert

Director of IM & T, Operational Planning and Performance

Salary Band 9 (£77,079 - £97,478)

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust requires an outstanding individual who will have day to day responsibility for IM&T services, and will provide the relevant business intelligence to enable accurate and robust operational planning. The post holder will in addition be responsible for enabling successful transformational change through technology systems, processes and cultural change.

If you feel that you have the passion, desire and professional experience to lead the Countess of Chester’s future success, then we would like to hear from you.

To arrange a confidential discussion regarding this position, with the Tim Lynch, Director of Operations, then please contact Claire Jones on 01244 365291. For further information, including a candidate brief and details on how to apply, please visit the “Working with Us” section of the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust website:

Closing date: Sunday 27th January 2013.

Interviews are scheduled for Thursday 7th February 2013.

Reference: 210-V04468

The Organisation

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust consists of a 600 bedded District General Hospital, which provides its services on the Countess of Chester Health Park, and a 66 bedded Intermediate Care Service at Ellesmere Port Hospital. The Trust has almost 4,000 staff and provides a range of medical services to more than 445,000 patients per year from an area covering Western Cheshire, Ellesmere Port, Neston and North Wales.

The Board of Directors has ultimate responsibility for the leadership and direction of the Trust. The Foundation Trust's performance and compliance is regulated by Monitor, the NHS Foundation Trust Regulator. Compliance with national service standards is also reviewed and rated by the Care Quality Commission.

Within the Foundation Trust, the Board is accountable to its membership through the Foundation Trust's Council of Governors. The Council of Governors is comprised of appointed Governors, elected Staff Governors and elected Public Governors. Governors have an important role to play as it is through them the population served by the Foundation Trust is directly involved in influencing the strategic direction of the Trust which has around 12000 members.

The Executive Directors are:

Chief Executive: Tony Chambers

Medical Director: Ian Harvey

Acting Director of Nursing & Quality: Lesley Freeman

Director of Nursing and Quality Designate: Alison Kelly

Director of Operational Services: Tim Lynch

Director of Finance: Debbie O'Neill

Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development: Susan Young

The Non- Executive Directors are:

Chair: Sir Duncan Nichol

Alastair Findlay (Deputy) Audit Chair and Senior Independent Director

Andrew Higgins

Laura Carstensen

Rachel Hopwood

Sir James Sharples

Our Strategic Vision: Care at its Best

Quite simply we want to deliverthe best possible care to our patients - currently 96% of ourpatients rate our services asgood or excellent and wouldrecommend us to a friend orrelative, but we aim to do more in the next few years;

Providing the best possible patient experience

We believe that providing the best clinical outcomes and highest quality care in a safe, friendly environment where a patient's dignity is fully respected will provide our patients the best possible experience even in the often difficult circumstances many face. That's why we intend to continuously make improvements in the patient experience and reduce the incidence of harm.

Efficiency in delivering services

We aim to deliver streamlined, accessible services to patients, where it is most convenient to them, with the lowest waiting times, by maximising our operational efficiency and productivity and redesigning service provision.

Listening to our customers

Patients are not our only customers - their relatives, friends, visitors, the General Practitioners who refer them and the bodies that commission our services are important too. By listening to our customers and using their feedback and by working in partnership with our commissioners we will continuously improve the services we provide.

Pushing Boundaries

Always moving forward and changing things for the better, expanding the scope and range of services - life-changing innovation, from the application of the very best clinical practice, through process transformation and use of the latest technology.

People at their best

Meeting our ambitions for customers rests on our staff - engaging, empowering and recognising our people will make sure they can give their best and continuously drive improvement in the delivery of services.

Delivering the Trust’s Vision

Delivering the best possible care to our patients means we need to continuously improve and over the next three years we aim to make significant improvements across the Trust in a range of areas, in spite of the tough challenges we face.

Our Countess Way programme combines the improvement of quality, service development, pathway and process improvement, cultural change and cost reduction in a ‘holistic’ programme to transform the way we deliver services. Through the programme we aim to deliver significant improvements in the quality and safety of patient care, in the patient experience and in achieving maximum value for money in the use of our resources.

Our Values

At the heart of delivering thisvision are our values. These are theprinciples that determine the waywe behave and what we believe in. They help bring us together as a family, giving us a commonculture.

Information Management, Technology, Operational Planning and Performance at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

The new post holder will have the opportunity to re-shape the current IM & T function to take it to a more strategic level, ensuring that technology and business intelligence is part of our operational planning and continuous improvement processes. As well as delivering day-to-day IT services, the new post holder will oversee the procurement of new systems to support patient care. As part of our new strategy to develop as stronger approach to more integrated care with our local partners in the health economy, the post holder will ensure that our decision-making in this area is informed by robust business intelligence. He/she will help us to make the most cost effective use of technological solutions to enable the best possible service to patients on our community. This will involve working closely with colleagues in our new Project Management Office (PMO) in supporting transformational change in this area.

The current function is organised as follows:

Planning & Development

Systems development and support
Trust-wide clinical systems user training
IM&T projects and programme planning including NPfIT
Web development and document management
Risk management and business continuity planning

Information Services

Information Management
Performance management systems
Clinical reporting
Clinical Coding
Information Governance, Caldicott & Data Protection
Health Records Department

Infrastructure

Infrastructure development and support
Computer and network operations
Telecomms (including the Switchboard)
Technical Support including the Service Desk
IT security and disaster recovery

Responsibility for ensuring that half a million patient case note files, that complement the electronic patient records, are kept up to date and readily available to clinicians when they see patients.

Other work and projects currently in progress include:-

Text message and Email alerts to remind participating patients of pending appointments;
Touchscreen solution to provide patients with a self-service check-in facility;
Bar-coded wristbands to assist patient identification;
RFID capability to help track and locate valuable equipment;
Re-launch of the Trust website with much improved content and navigation.

The Role

The Director of IM&T, Operational Planning & Performance will have day to day responsibility for IM&T services, and will provide the relevant business intelligence to enable accurate and robust operational planning. The post holder will in addition be responsible for enabling successful transformational change through technology systems, processes and cultural change. .

Principal responsibilities

To provide leadership and management to the IM&T and business intelligence functions.
Lead and ensure continuous improvements in the delivery of day to day Information systems and IT-enabled Service Development across the Trust.
Work alongside the Divisions and the newly formed Programme Management Office (PMO), in and delivering projects and programmes to support continuous improvement and transformational change where technology is developing a key enabler
Deliver on agreed Cost Reduction Strategies and plans
Work with clinical leaders, informatics professionals and procurement to oversee the procurement and implementation of any new information systems, maximizing benefits and functionality to support excellent patient care
To lead the system alignment of finance data, patient activity data and cost improvement savings for the purposes of managing productivity of the Trust’s services.
Ensure that intelligence driven decision-making is integral to the on-going service design and quality improvement agendas
Provide the secretariat service for the new Operational Delivery Group.
Review current thinking and processes around joint and partnership working and IM&T support strategies. Develop and deliver on improvement plans
Support the formulation and implementation of integrated care services
Reviewing current Trust IM&T services, develop and deliver strategies and plans to ensure such services are fit for the future
Ensure pro-active implementation of effective people management practices and procedures and development opportunities
Specifically to develop the teams, using appropriate master class training, in subjects such as business process re-engineering and Lean improvement.
Have direct managerial responsibility for the IM and T team, and indirect management responsibility for those members of the Service Development Team (formerly the Transformation Team) who are deployed in support of projects within the post holder’s remit.
Direct responsibility for the IM&T budget.

The Candidate

Candidates who are considering this role should be able to demonstrate the criteria, skills and experience as outlined in the Person Specification below:

PERSON SPECIFICATION / Essential / Desirable / Method of Assessment
QUALIFICATIONS

Educated to degree level in informatics related subject or equivalent
Master’s Degree or equivalent
Evidence of continuing personal and professional development
Prince2 or equivalent project management qualification

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X / X / Application
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

Experience in leadership role within a Foundation Trust or complex acute healthcare environment.
Extensive experience of working with Senior Managers and Executives.
Experience of working collaboratively and partnerships with other organisations.
Experience of successfully leadingand managing a diverse team.
Demonstrable experience of leading and effectively managing change inlarge complex environments.
Experience of delivering change inservice delivery /culture shift.
Able to contribute to Trust’s cost reduction strategy
Proven performance management of services and delivery of targets within agreed timescales, including awareness of Lean methodology.
Demonstrate thorough knowledge of the NHS and the modernisation agenda, particularly in relation to service delivery.
Experience of delivering to tight deadlines.

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X / Application/ Presentation/ Interview
LEADERSHIP & PERSONAL SKILLS / ATTRIBUTES

Well-developed & credible leadership and motivational skills
Excellent interpersonal skills
Patient focused
Excellent planning and organisational skills
Political awareness
Judgment and analytical skills
Ability to influence, persuade and negotiate at all levels
Ability to prioritise own and others’ workloads effectively to meet tight deadlines whilst managing conflicting priorities
Enthusiastic and self-motivated
Ability to work independently as well as part of a team
Capacity to build and develop teams and maintain constructive working relationships at all levels
Ability to prioritise own and others workload and a flexible approach to changing priorities
Ability to communicate effectively at all levels
Self-motivated

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Our Values & Behaviours

VALUES / BEHAVIOURS
We put patients at the heart of everything we do /

I recognise that there is a patient behind everything we do.
I will strive to provide a quality service at every stage of the patient journey.
I will deliver the service and care I would expect to receive myself.
I will listen carefully to what patients tell me, I will act on it and I will keep the patient informed.

We have a ‘can do’ attitude /

I will look for solutions to issues rather than accepting that nothing can be done.
I will strive to do my best at all times and assist others in, and outside my service area.
I will offer to participate where my skills and experience will be of value.
I will take responsibility for making things happen.

We take pride in the service we provide /

I will promote our service positively to others and stand up for the service if it is unfairly criticised.
I will take personal responsibility for my role in the service.
I will do my job to the best of my ability.
I will take pride in my surroundings and appearance.

We strive for improvement /

I will keep an open mind to new ideas, make the most of opportunities and accept when change is necessary.
I will continually look for ways to improve how we work.

I will use feedback to identify improvement opportunities.

I will use effective communication to keep everyone informed.

We are welcoming, friendly and caring /

I will treat all patients, visitors and staff with respect and dignity.
I will make a good and lasting impression.
I will be approachable.
I will acknowledge you when you arrive and make time to understand your needs.

We respect each other /

I will respect your opinion even if it is different to my own.
I will treat everyone as an equal.
I will respect the role of everyone and their contribution to the Trust.
I will take responsibility for my timekeeping and absences, understanding the impact it has on the service and others.

Further details about the Role

Remuneration

The salary for this post will be at an 8D. In addition to the salary, candidates will be eligible for membership of the NHS Pension Scheme, 27 days annual leave provision and relocation expenses are available, if applicable.

On Call

The post holder will be expected to participate in the on-call arrangements for Senior Managers.

Notice Period

The minimum notice period is 3 months.

Recruitment Process & How to Apply

Recruitment Process & Timetable

Confidentialdiscussions can be undertaken with Tim Lynch, Director of Operational Services. Please contact Claire Jones 01244 365291 if you require further information or would like to arrange a confidential discussion.

Stage of the Recruitment Process / Date
Advert published on NHS Jobs / Tuesday 15thJanuary 2013
Advert closing date / Sunday 27th January 2013
Shortlist Meeting / w/c 28th January 2013
Interview Process / Thursday 7thFebruary 2013

A short listing exercise will be undertaken and shortlisted candidates will be invited to participate in a selection process, which will comprise of the following: