Physician Associate Project Lead

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 30 April 2025

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Job summary

The Project Lead will undertake a programme of work over a one-year period to develop a workforce strategy for the employment and practice standards of PAs. This will involve engaging with a broad range of stakeholders to develop and promote a PA competency framework for PAs working in Mental Health supporting their clinical practice.

The successful candidate should have completed the Physician Associate Postgraduate Diploma/Masters from an accredited UK university.

Main duties of the job

Overview of the Post

Physicians Associates (PAs) are medically trained, generalist healthcare professionals who work alongside doctors and other members of the multidisciplinary team to provide medical care. Although their role is not always clearly defined and there is limited awareness within clinical services, they can play a valuable role supporting the mental health multidisciplinary team in healthcare delivery.

The Project Lead will undertake a programme of work over a one-year period to develop a workforce strategy for the employment and practice standards of PAs. This will involve engaging with a broad range of stakeholders to develop and promote a PA competency framework for PAs working in Mental Health supporting their clinical practice.

About us

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

  • We're Kind
  • We're Fair
  • We Listen
  • We Care

Date posted

17 April 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£42,939 to £50,697 a year pa inc

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

277-7010258-CORP

Job locations

Pinewood House

Pinewood Place

Dartford, Kent,

DA2 7WG


Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

1. To build a recruitment campaign and aim to introduce PA roles in Oxleas.

2. To engage with the Directorate managers to identify teams that could benefit from having a PA in the skill mix plus consultants who could provide supervision.

3. Develop the skills of the team consultants to carry out their PA supervision role.

4. Work with senior managers and clinicians within the Trust to consider the PA workforce as a solution to workforce shortages and be innovative in ways of encouraging more reluctant colleagues to engage with PA expansion.

5. Work collaboratively with senior managers and clinicians within the Trust to enable change in relation to PA practice.

6. Map and understand the barriers to developing PA roles and work alongside stakeholders to overcome these.

7. Articulate a communication plan to improve understanding of the PA role within the Trust.

8. Develop a recruitment and workforce plan to grow the PA workforce, from training through to career progression.

9. Develop a competency framework for PA practice and support their assessment against this framework as part of a Training Needs Analysis to achieve practice assurance across the PA workforce.

10. Develop a CPD programme for PAs that ensures equal and fair access to development opportunities, in line with the regulatory body requirements, to support the revalidation of PAs.

11. Work in partnership with colleagues to promote and support an environment of learning.

12. Ensure the local practice of PAs supports requirements from national policy and local drivers.

13. Establish a proactive regional Physician Associate community or engage in existing ones to develop mechanisms for sharing best practice and clinical networking.

14. Provide reports and updates to relevant committees and meetings.

15. Responsibility for the project budget and ensuring the outcomes are delivered within the resources available.

16. Design an induction programme for new PA recruits.

17. To establish a project board consisting of the Medical Director, Director of Medical Education, Consultant Psychiatrists, Head of Medical Staffing, Trainee representatives and other interested professional heads.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

1. To build a recruitment campaign and aim to introduce PA roles in Oxleas.

2. To engage with the Directorate managers to identify teams that could benefit from having a PA in the skill mix plus consultants who could provide supervision.

3. Develop the skills of the team consultants to carry out their PA supervision role.

4. Work with senior managers and clinicians within the Trust to consider the PA workforce as a solution to workforce shortages and be innovative in ways of encouraging more reluctant colleagues to engage with PA expansion.

5. Work collaboratively with senior managers and clinicians within the Trust to enable change in relation to PA practice.

6. Map and understand the barriers to developing PA roles and work alongside stakeholders to overcome these.

7. Articulate a communication plan to improve understanding of the PA role within the Trust.

8. Develop a recruitment and workforce plan to grow the PA workforce, from training through to career progression.

9. Develop a competency framework for PA practice and support their assessment against this framework as part of a Training Needs Analysis to achieve practice assurance across the PA workforce.

10. Develop a CPD programme for PAs that ensures equal and fair access to development opportunities, in line with the regulatory body requirements, to support the revalidation of PAs.

11. Work in partnership with colleagues to promote and support an environment of learning.

12. Ensure the local practice of PAs supports requirements from national policy and local drivers.

13. Establish a proactive regional Physician Associate community or engage in existing ones to develop mechanisms for sharing best practice and clinical networking.

14. Provide reports and updates to relevant committees and meetings.

15. Responsibility for the project budget and ensuring the outcomes are delivered within the resources available.

16. Design an induction programme for new PA recruits.

17. To establish a project board consisting of the Medical Director, Director of Medical Education, Consultant Psychiatrists, Head of Medical Staffing, Trainee representatives and other interested professional heads.

Person Specification

Training & Qualifications

Essential

  • Degree in Physician Associate studies or equivalent
  • Project management qualification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

  • Clinical experience as a physician associate
  • Knowledge of the challenges associated with Physician Associates and their training.
  • Understanding of national PA agenda, policies framework and CPD framework requirements
  • Experience in developing teaching programmes.
  • Experience in reporting writing and delivering presentations.
  • Previous experience in workforce development, initiating and implementing change.

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to understand differing service needs and use diplomacy when collaborating with stakeholders with conflicting interests.
  • Negotiation and conflict management skills
  • Ability to prioritise own workload and meet deadlines without supervision
  • Excellent written and verbal communication, organisation and planning, IT skills
Person Specification

Training & Qualifications

Essential

  • Degree in Physician Associate studies or equivalent
  • Project management qualification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

  • Clinical experience as a physician associate
  • Knowledge of the challenges associated with Physician Associates and their training.
  • Understanding of national PA agenda, policies framework and CPD framework requirements
  • Experience in developing teaching programmes.
  • Experience in reporting writing and delivering presentations.
  • Previous experience in workforce development, initiating and implementing change.

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to understand differing service needs and use diplomacy when collaborating with stakeholders with conflicting interests.
  • Negotiation and conflict management skills
  • Ability to prioritise own workload and meet deadlines without supervision
  • Excellent written and verbal communication, organisation and planning, IT skills

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Additional information

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Pinewood House

Pinewood Place

Dartford, Kent,

DA2 7WG


Employer's website

http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Pinewood House

Pinewood Place

Dartford, Kent,

DA2 7WG


Employer's website

http://oxleas.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

For questions about the job, contact:

Head of Medical Staffing

Lilian Prokopic

l.prokopic@nhs.net

Date posted

17 April 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£42,939 to £50,697 a year pa inc

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

277-7010258-CORP

Job locations

Pinewood House

Pinewood Place

Dartford, Kent,

DA2 7WG


Supporting documents

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