About This Role
Managing the day-to-day operations of a surgery is the core of this role, which includes ensuring compliance with Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulations and maintaining high standards of patient care. The Practice Manager leads the administrative team, supports clinical staff, and represents the practice to external agencies, stakeholders, and patients. This position requires strategic leadership to drive service improvements while ensuring the practice meets its financial and operational objectives.
Responsibilities
- Manage the practice’s staff to ensure teams work effectively
- Ensure all teams have an appropriate mix of skills and experience and are equipped with the required resources
- Maintain staff to ensure the workforce is effectively covered during absence and delegate activities and workload as appropriate
- Support with recruitment and retention of staff, including interviewing candidates and reviewing job descriptions and person specifications
- Monitor staff performance, keep accurate records, and provide support and encouragement
- Give clear feedback on performance on an ad-hoc basis, and through appraisals and formal processes
- Plan for staff absence, such as annual leave, maternity/paternity leave, etc.
- Ensure all practice staff use resources efficiently
- Oversee how changes affect staff and the practice in general, including maintaining stability and morale to ensure optimum staff performance
- Make available and promote appropriate staff training and development opportunities, including developing a culture of learning and continuing education
- Ensure that staff have opportunities and are encouraged to learn from experiences, such as significant events
- Manage income and expenditure systems (invoicing, banking, petty cash, etc.)
- Manage and maintain the practice’s physical and financial resources to maximum effect, including planning and monitoring income and cash flow to maximise budgets and to ensure funds are available as needed
- Monitor expenditure and identify where outgoings deviate from financial planning, taking action to mitigate shortfalls where appropriate
- Make sure financial risks are identified and mitigated, taking action where needed
- Maintain up-to-date financial plans and records
- Ensure that financial plans, records and reports are available to the partnership as required
- Keep financial records up to date and accurate; these include accounts, banking data, payroll, superannuation, PAYE, insurance, etc.
- Submit up-to-date records and returns to the relevant agencies on time, including HMRC, CCG board, accountants, etc.
- Take on the role of CQC registered manager
- Prepare for and participate in CQC inspections
- Plan and manage QOF activities and workload, delegating duties and monitoring progress, and taking corrective action as required
- Identify and take appropriate action when problems with resources might arise
- Ensure the practice’s IT resources, including hardware, software and data, are managed and maintained in a way that safeguards patient information and benefits patient care
- Make sure staff make the most effective use of the technology needed to perform their job
- Ensure data and information are handled correctly, processed in an agreed format, actioned in a timely manner, stored and transmitted in a way that maintains confidentiality
- Ensure the practice complies with legislation and information management standards, such as data protection, Freedom of Information, GMC guidance, etc.
- Implement procedures and systems that protect patient confidentiality at all times, including ensuring staff are aware of systems and how they work
- Monitor the availability of appointments, both in advance and on a day-to-day basis, to make sure patient access is adequate, taking action to implement cover when required
- Review access on a regular basis, through surveys and audits, taking action where improvements are required
- Make sure staffing is adequate to meet demand, including clinical and non-clinical staff
- Ensure services and developed are delivered in line with national and local guidance, commissioning priorities, equality legislation and patient rights
- Ensure risks are identified, tackled, minimised and mitigated, in line with legislation and good practice, including keeping track of legal requirements and changes to them, including how they impact the practice and implications of non-compliance
- Ensure the practice’s health and safety policy is up to date, and that all staff comply
- Lead on and deliver health and safety training and education
- Make sure all types of insurance are up to date
- Monitor work areas and practices to make sure they are safe and hazard-free, in line with health and safety procedures and legislation
- Identify areas of development for the practice and partnership, including presenting recommendations and ideas, and writing business plans
- Ensure all methods of communication in the practice are effective and work to the benefit of patients, as well as the practice and partnership
- Communicate effectively and work proactively with people, including colleagues, staff members, patients, carers, families, clients, stakeholders and external agencies
- Communicate and encourage others to communicate in writing, by email, verbally, face-to-face, through convening meetings, noticeboards, information leaflets, via social media and through other methods as appropriate
- Communicate sensitively, and in an appropriate manner, with patients, carers, families and members of the public when required, including anticipating and overcoming barriers to communication, seeking support from other staff members where necessary
- Ensure the patient complaints system is effective, and that all complaints are dealt with in accordance with the practice’s complaints procedure and statutory requirements, including making sure the complaints process is promoted effectively so that patients know how to raise a complaint
Requirements
- Excellent literacy and numeracy skills
- Experience working and managing a team within primary care is essential
- Experience of working with the general public
- Experience of managing accounting procedures
- Experience of managing multidisciplinary teams
- Excellent leadership skills
- Ability to motivate teams, enhance morale and maintain a positive working environment
- Strong IT skills
Nice to have:
- Educated to degree level in healthcare or business management
- Experience using EMIS
Benefits
- 27 days annual leave (pro-rata) plus 8 bank holidays (pro-rata)
- NHS Pension Scheme
Important Details
- Schedule: Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 6:30pm
- Contract: Permanent
About the Company
Westwood Road Surgery is located in Reading.