GP Clinical Lead - Frimley Park Hospital UTCNHS

Job summary

North Hampshire Urgent Care (NHUC) is seeking an accomplished General Practitioner (GP) to provide senior clinical leadership for its co-located Urgent Treatment Centre at Frimley Park Hospital. This is a high-impact appointment for a credible, visible leader who can combine current frontline clinical practice with strategic oversight, rigorous assurance and system partnership.

Responsible to the Medical Director and accountable to the Chief Executive, you will set the clinical direction for the UTC, provide clear, evidence-based assurance and constructive challenge to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and relevant governance forums, and translate strategic priorities into measurable improvements in patient care.

Hours: 15 hours per week for leadership and management, deployed flexibly in line with changing service and organisational priorities. Regular clinical sessions within the UTC are also required; the level and pattern will be agreed with the Medical Director before the contract is finalised.

Please note, we may close this vacancy early should we receive a high number of applications.

Interview date: 7th or 8th of October at our Head Office in Farnborough.

Main duties of the job

You will be an experienced GP who brings professional credibility, sound judgement and a calm, visible leadership presence. You will be equally comfortable working alongside frontline teams and contributing to executive discussions, governance forums and system partnerships. You will understand when to provide direction, when to seek wider input and how to create the conditions for others to deliver consistently safe, effective care.

What you will bring

Broad and current experience of UTC or comparable urgent care practice, with the clinical credibility to support senior decision-making and escalation across a range of patient groups and presentations.

At least two years experience in an urgent care environment such as an Emergency Department, Urgent Treatment Centre, Urgent Care Centre or walk-in service.

A strong record of visible clinical leadership within a multiprofessional team, including senior clinical decision-making, advice and escalation, and contribution to service strategy.

Experience of clinical audit, quality improvement, incident learning or service change, with evidence of sustained improvement.

The analytical capability to interpret clinical, activity, workforce and financial information and turn it into clear assurance, options and recommendations.

Excellent communication and influencing skills, including the ability to offer constructive challenge, manage disagreement and build trusted relationships across organisational boundaries.

Job description

Role Summary:

NHUC delivers the co-located Urgent Treatment Centre at Frimley Park Hospital, working alongside the Emergency Department and wider hospital, primary care and community services. The UTC provides timely assessment and treatment for patients with urgent illness, supports safe patient flow and ensures that people are directed to the most appropriate service for their needs.

The GP Clinical Lead is NHUC's senior clinical leader for Frimley Park Hospital UTC and is responsible to the Medical Director for clinical quality, patient safety, effectiveness, professional standards and development of the clinical model. Operating within delegated authority, the post holder will provide visible, credible leadership and ensure that material clinical risks are identified, controlled and escalated promptly.

As part of the UTC leadership team, the post holder will bring clinical judgement and constructive challenge to operational, workforce, financial and contractual decisions. They will lead a multiprofessional clinical workforce, setting consistent expectations for registration, competence and professional accountability.

The GP Clinical Lead will represent NHUC with senior clinical credibility and provide the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and relevant governance forums with clear, evidence-based assurance on service quality, performance, risk and improvement. They will build effective partnerships across organisational boundaries and convert strategic priorities and service requirements into measurable improvements in patient care.

The post holder will be based at Frimley Park Hospital UTC, with occasional attendance at other NHUC sites. During clinical sessions, they will provide care as an experienced GP in accordance with GMC standards, relevant clinical guidance and organisational policies, and act as a senior clinical role model.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Set and communicate the clinical direction, standards and annual improvement priorities for Frimley Park Hospital UTC, aligned with NHUC's strategy, the service specification and the needs of the local population. Provide visible and accessible leadership and create an inclusive culture in which staff understand their responsibilities and speak up.
• Provide senior clinical advice and escalation when working within the service, supporting safe assessment, treatment, discharge and referral. Ensure that clear and effective escalation arrangements are in place at all other times, including timely escalation to the Emergency Department or specialty services.
• Lead clinical delivery against the service specification, quality standards and agreed performance measures, with particular attention to patient safety, experience, access, flow and appropriate use of clinical resources.
• Develop, review and implement evidence-based clinical pathways, standard operating procedures and escalation arrangements at the interfaces with the Emergency Department, diagnostics, specialty teams, primary care and community services.
• Assure that all clinicians work within their professional registration, credentialed scope of practice and competence. Ensure appropriate induction, supervision, clinical support and escalation arrangements are in place across the multiprofessional team.
• Provide clinical leadership for governance, including incidents and near misses, complaints, patient feedback, safeguarding concerns and clinical risk. Ensure reviews are proportionate, learning is shared and agreed actions are completed and sustained.
• Set and oversee a programme of clinical audit and quality improvement that responds to service risks, performance data, patient outcomes and identified variation in practice.
• Work with relevant leads to maintain safe arrangements for prescribing and medicines management, diagnostics, infection prevention and control, record keeping and information governance.
• Use clinical, activity, workforce and financial information to evaluate service quality and contract delivery, anticipate emerging risks or unwarranted variation and provide concise assurance, options and recommendations to the SLT and relevant governance forums. Escalate material concerns promptly and track agreed actions to completion.
• Work with operational managers and professional leads to ensure that appropriate appraisal, supervision, objective-setting, development and performance arrangements are in place for UTC clinical staff.
• Contribute to workforce planning, recruitment, retention, induction, education and competency development so that the UTC has a safe, capable and sustainable clinical workforce.
• Build effective relationships with Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, commissioners, primary care, community services and other partners, representing NHUC with senior clinical credibility and resolving clinical interface issues constructively.
• Maintain a regular clinical presence within Frimley Park Hospital UTC so that the post holder remains connected to frontline practice, understands service pressures, provides senior clinical leadership and ensures that leadership decisions remain grounded in patient care.

Professional:

• Maintain current registration with the General Medical Council (GMC), a licence to practise and fitness to practise, with no restrictions that would prevent fulfilment of the role.
• Be included in the GMC GP Register and the NHS England Medical Performers List, with no restrictions incompatible with the role, and hold post-CCT or equivalent status.
• Practise in accordance with Good Medical Practice and other applicable GMC standards and guidance, exercising professional judgement, maintaining competence and seeking advice or escalating when appropriate.
• Participate in annual medical appraisal and GMC revalidation and maintain evidence of continuing professional development across clinical practice and leadership.
• Maintain appropriate professional indemnity arrangements for all clinical duties undertaken in the role.
• Complete statutory, mandatory and organisational training, including safeguarding, infection prevention and control, information governance and learning arising from incidents and complaints.
• Maintain current knowledge of urgent and emergency care practice, relevant guidance and the clinical interfaces that affect safe delivery at Frimley Park Hospital UTC.
• Demonstrate sound judgement, personal organisation and resilience, including the ability to prioritise competing demands, make timely decisions and seek advice or escalate when required.

About us

NHUC is a not-for-profit Community Benefit Society, working in partnership with the NHS. NHUC provides services through two divisions, Same Day Care (SDC) and TalkPlus.

SDC provides services through the Integrated Urgent Care (IUC) contract which covers the in Hours Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) and Out of Hours (OOH) provision for North Hampshire, North East Hampshire and Farnham & Surrey Heath places which are part of the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ICB and Surrey & Sussex ICB respectively. We also provide an Urgent Treatment Centre at the front door of Frimley Park Hospital whilst also holding some smaller contacts supporting Community Hospitals OOH and Flu response. Finally, SDC has a virtual care arm supporting patients at home.

TalkPlus provide NHS Talking Therapies, supporting people with common mental health problems in Northeast Hampshire and Farnham place. TalkPlus offers a range of treatments to people who are experiencing symptoms of stress, anxiety, low mood, depression, panic, phobias or OCD. TalkPlus has care pathways to provide timely treatment for perinatal and military veteran referrals.

NHUC is a Disability Confident registered organisation and are proud to support the Armed Forces community as a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant.

NHUC is not currently a licensed sponsorship employer. As such, we are only able to progress candidates who can demonstrate an existing right to work in the UK at the time of application.