Chief Officer for Public Health (Health Protect & Healthcare)

Job description

Job responsibilities

This is a highly complex role for a Consultant in Public Health / Consultant in Public Health Medicine working to protect and improve health and reduce health inequalities across three unitary authorities (Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes). The post holder will be based in Bedford Borough Council and will be responsible for ensuring that optimal health outcomes are achieved for Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes residents. This will involve working with and influencing the strategic objectives of the Local Authorities, the local Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Integrated Care System (ICS) partners, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The post holder will be responsible for the following strategic objectives:

Providing specialist public health leadership and advice to the local health system, building relationships with senior stakeholders and influencing strategic priorities in areas such as health inequalities, prevention, population health management, integrated care, individual funding requests, service prioritisation, programme budgeting, clinical commissioning and pathway redesign.

• Ensuring continuous improvement of local immunisation and screening programmes (section 7A services) by leading an effective partnership with the regional commissioner and local stakeholders, coupled with close monitoring of local performance data.

Strategic leadership, management and oversight of the local authority health protection function, including responsibility for leading the local authority response to health protection incidents, outbreaks and day-to-day operational delivery. They will be responsible, on behalf of the Director of Public Health, for discharging the local authorities duties under the Health and Social Care Act (2012) to protect the health of the population and ensure appropriate planning, resilience and response to public health emergencies. They will seek assurance that effective mechanisms are in place across agencies to prevent the spread of infectious disease in the community and provide public health advice on environmental hazards.

Leading a system-wide approach to public health emergency planning, working closely with NHS emergency planning structures and the Local Resilience Forums. This will involve working with two Local Resilience Forums (Milton Keynes Council is part of the Thames Valley LRF, the other two local authorities are part of the Bedfordshire LRF).

The post holder will be required to deputise for the Director of Public Health (DPH) as required, and will hold senior management responsibility within the Public Health Team. The post holder will establish strong working relationships with all three Councils, as well as with partners in the ICB, ICS partners and key national bodies including UKHSA and NHS England.

The post holder will be the local authorities specialist lead for healthcare public health and health protection. The post holder will advise the Director of Public Health on complex issues of healthcare public health and health protection; and will make evidence-based recommendations to the Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes Health and Wellbeing Boards and the BLMK ICB/ICS boards, on matters of healthcare public health, health protection and related health inequalities. The post holder will be expected to cope with multiple and changing demands and to meet tight deadlines.

In addition to professional expertise, the role requires a high level of intellectual rigour, negotiation skills, motivational ability and the flexibility to deal with complex public health issues as they arise. A high level of tact, diplomacy and political awareness is also required; along with the ability to understand organisational cultures, to enable effective working across organisational boundaries and to influence without direct authority.

Public health consultants work as system leaders at strategic or senior management level or at a senior level of expertise such as epidemiology or health protection. The combination of leadership and managerial skills together with high level of technical skills and knowledge gives them a unique skill set essential for improving the health and wellbeing of populations.

They must be qualified as a public health specialist and be on the GMC, GDC or UKPHR specialist register.

Consultants have the same professional status irrespective of local line management arrangements and have experience in various areas of public health practice.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• The National Health Service (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations 1996 (legislation.gov.uk)
• In line with legislation, inclusion in the GMC Full and Specialist Register with a license to practice/GDC Specialist List or inclusion in the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) for Public Health Specialists at the point of application.
• If included in the GMC Specialist Register/GDC Specialist List in a specialty other than public health medicine/dental public health, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health practice.
• Public health specialty registrar applicants who are not yet on the GMC Specialist Register, UKPHR register or GDC Specialist List in dental public health must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry to a register at the date of interview*
• If an applicant is UK trained in Public Health, they must ALSO be a holder of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), or be within six months of award of CCT by date of interview. If an applicant is non-UK trained, they will be required to show evidence of equivalence to the UK CCT [see shortlisting notes below for additional guidance].
• You must meet minimum CPD requirements (i.e. be up to date) in accordance with Faculty of Public Health requirements or other recognised body .
• MFPH by examination, by exemption or by assessment, or equivalent.
• Able to influence senior members including directors and CEOs.
• Able to both lead teams and to able to contribute effectively in teams led by junior colleagues.
• Commitment to work within a political system irrespective of personal political affiliations.
• Delivery of successful change management programmes across organisational boundaries.
• Experience of using complex information to explain public health issues to a range of audiences.
• Strategic thinker with proven leadership skills and operational nous
• Able to demonstrate and motivate organisations to contribute to improving the publics health and wellbeing through mainstream activities and within resources.
• Ability to lead and manage the response successfully in unplanned and unforeseen circumstances.
• Analytical skills able to utilize both qualitative (including health economics) and quantitative information .
• Ability to design, develop, interpret and implement strategies and policies.
• In depth understanding of the health and care system and the relationships with both local national government.
• In depth knowledge of methods of developing clinical quality assurance, quality improvement, evaluations and evidence based public health practice.
• Strong and demonstrable understanding of interfaces between health, social care and key partners (dealing with wider determinants of health).
• Understanding of the public sector duty and the inequality duty and their application to public health practice.

Desirable

• Masters in Public Health or equivalent.
• Media experience demonstrating delivery of effective health behaviour or health promotion messages.

Employer details

Employer name

Bedford Borough Council

Address

Borough Hall

Cauldwell Street

Bedford

Bedfordshire

MK42 9AP

Employer's website

https://www.bedford.gov.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)