Vacancy -- Appointment of a Vice Chair to Powys Teaching Health Board
Vacancy details
Function of body
Powys is one of the most rural counties in the UK. Whilst the county is approximately 25% of the landmass of Wales, it has only 5% of the population. The population in Powys is older compared to the rest of Wales and the proportion of older people is growing. The working age adult population is smaller compared to Wales and it is predicted that the number of young people and working age adults will decrease, whilst the number of older people will increase. It is predicted that there will be an 8% decline in the Powys population by 2039.
Powys Teaching Health Board is both a commissioner and a direct provider of healthcare and different to other health boards in Wales in relation to the proportion of services that are provided to the population by other health care providers. The health board’s budget is circa £300m. 50% is spent on secondary and specialist care, 20% is spent on primary care and 30% is spent on directly provided services. The directly provided services are delivered through a network of community services and community hospitals which includes mental health, learning disabilities, maternity and children’s services. Care is also provided in Powys through primary care contractors such as General Practices, Dental Practices, Pharmacists and Optometrists, as well as the Third Sector. There is also provision of an increasing range of consultant, nurse and therapy led outpatient sessions, day theatre and diagnostics in community facilities, bringing care closer into Powys itself and closer to people’s own communities and homes.
In relation to commissioning, there are some unique characteristics that set the Powys context. Being an entirely rural County with no major urban conurbations and no acute general hospitals, people in Powys have to travel outside the county for many services, including secondary and specialist healthcare, higher education, employment and leisure.
The purpose of NHS Boards is to govern effectively and in doing so to build public and stakeholder confidence that their health and healthcare is in safe hands. This fundamental accountability to the public and stakeholders is delivered by building confidence:
• In the quality and safety of health services.
• That resources are invested in a way that delivers optimal health outcomes.
• In the accessibility and responsiveness of health services.
• That the public can appropriately shape health services to meet their needs.
• That public money is spent in a way that is efficient and provides value for money.
The three key roles through which the Board demonstrates leadership within the organisation are:
• Formulating strategy.
• Ensuring accountability by holding the organisation to account for the delivery of the strategy and through seeking assurance that systems of control are robust and reliable.
• Shaping a positive culture for the Board and the organisation.
Role description
This role provides a great opportunity for the successful applicant to use their skills and experience to make a difference to the lives of people and communities served by Powys Teaching Health Board. The Vice-Chair will be a member of the Board and will deputise for the Chair in the latter’s absence.
Role and responsibilities
The Vice-Chair will:
• Be required to play a full and active role in the clinical and corporate governance of the Health Board and will be expected to bring to the Board an independent judgement on issues of performance, key appointments, looking ahead and accountability;
• Contribute to the work of the Board based on the basis of their independence, their past experience and knowledge, and their ability to stand back from the day to day operational management of the organisation;
• Contribute to and accept corporate decisions to ensure a joined up, robust and transparent decision-making process on the part of the Board;
• Be expected, in time, to understand fully the business of the Health Board through active involvement in key committees to enable the effective performance of the Board;
• Work closely with other public, private and voluntary organisations and ensure that the views of patients, carers and families are considered fully in helping to shape, develop and improve services.
In addition to their corporate role across the breadth of the Health Board’s responsibilities, the Vice-Chair will have a specific brief to oversee the Health Board’s primary care, community care and mental health services ensuring a balanced care model to meet the needs of the Powys population. The Vice-Chair will:
• Provide strong, effective and visible leadership, across primary care, community care, and mental health services; internally through the Board and its committees, and externally through their connections with a wide range of stakeholders and partners within the wider community or Powys and nationally;
• Fulfil the role of “Lead Member for Children and Young People’s Services”, as a requirement in the Children Act 2004;
• Chair the Board’s Experience, Quality and Safety Committee which oversees all aspects of quality, safety and experience, and compliance with mental health legislation and associated codes of practice;
• Oversee the Health Board’s performance in the planning delivery and evaluation of primary care, community care and mental health services ensuring a balanced care model to meet the needs of the Powys population.
• Work effectively with community partners, particularly within their sphere of responsibility and more widely supporting the Chair to ensure that the organisational culture and working practices are based upon a spirit of open, meaningful and sustainable partnerships. The Vice-Chair will have excellent communication skills and will, through effective scrutiny, assure the Board that the organisational structures give equal weight to primary care, community care and mental health services along with other services and provide opportunities for contractor services to fully engage in the design of services;
• Support the Health Board’s performance management processes, to ensure integrated performance management and improvement;
• Help build and sustain a direct relationship with primary care contractor professionals, ensuring their full engagement in the work of the Health Board;
• Undertake an external ambassador role, when representing the Chair, delivering in the public spotlight and instilling public confidence.
• Act as a Corporate Trustee of PTHB Charity
Welsh language skills
Person specification
To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills and experience to meet all the essential criteria for appointment.
Essential Role Specific Criteria
You will be able to demonstrate:
Knowledge & Experience
• A knowledge and understanding of the challenges and opportunities for the area served by Powys Teaching Health Board.
• Ability to work with the executives to ensure the Board leads the organisation effectively. Where necessary, demonstrating skills that will hold the executives to account for performance whilst maintaining a constructive relationship
• Experience of leading and developing a successful private, public or third sector organisation, with the ability to look ahead and provide strategic leadership.
• Experience of working within communities and multi-disciplinary teams.
Personal Attributes & Skills
• An ability to lead and inspire staff, to look ahead and identify key issues for the organisation.
• Strong interpersonal skills with personal impact and credibility to be an effective advocate and ambassador with strong influencing and negotiating skills;
• Ability to discharge the Vice-Chair role in the context of the broader statutory and corporate responsibilities of the Board and the roles of the Chair and Chief Executive.
Candidates must also demonstrate:
• A clear understanding and commitment to equality issues and challenging discriminatory practices.
• A clear understanding and commitment to Nolan’s ‘Seven Principles of Public Life’.
Interview dates
Closing date
Additional information
For further information regarding the selection process, please contact:
Public Appointments Team
Public Bodies Unit
Email: publicappointments@gov.wales
For further information regarding the role of the Powys Teaching Health Board and the role of Vice-Chair please contact the Chair of Powys Teaching Health Board Prof Vivienne Harpwood on:
Tel: 01874 712643
Email: vivienne.harpwood@wales.nhs.uk
If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact publicappointments@gov.wales.
For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments
How to apply
To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system. You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form. To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates. This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4. Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit. The second document is a full, up to date CV. The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.
In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities. We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years.
It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence. You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go. You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.
If you’d like to apply for this opportunity in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.
If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Team on PublicAppointments@gov.wales.
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This vacancy is closed to applications.