Vacancy -- Independent Member - Trade Union

Vacancy details

Hywel Dda University Health Board
Board meetings held bi- monthly at various locations across the UHB. The UHB also has Board Seminar meetings and various committees, the meetings which meet either bi-monthly or quarterly.
Remuneration is not payable as this particular Board Member will be allowed time off from their current role with pay to attend meetings of the Health Board.
4
month

Function of body

Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB) is the planner and provider of all NHS healthcare services for people in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and its bordering counties, to a total population of around 384,000 across a quarter of the landmass of Wales.

It provides Acute, Primary, Community, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities services via General and Community Hospitals, Health Centres, GPs, Dentists, Pharmacists and Optometrists and other sites.

The Health Board has four main hospital sites at Bronglais in Aberystwyth, Glangwili in Carmarthen, Prince Philip in Llanelli and Withybush in Haverfordwest, with a further seven community hospitals.  The population is served by 54 general medical practices, 48 dental practices, 99 community pharmacies, 56 opticians and 11 health centres, together with numerous locations from which mental health, learning disabilities and related services are provided.  Highly specialised and tertiary services are commissioned by the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee.

The Health Board has in place governance and assurance arrangements which are continually being developed and strengthened. The Board is responsible for maintaining appropriate governance arrangements to ensure that it is operating effectively and delivering safe, high quality care, recognising the need to govern the organisation effectively and in doing so build public and stakeholder confidence.  All Board members share corporate responsibility for formulating strategy, ensuring accountability, monitoring performance and shaping culture, together with ensuring that the Board operates as effectively as possible. This is fundamental to the Board’s role in pursuing performance and ensuring that the interests of patients are central and creates a culture supporting open dialogue.

Hywel Dda University Health Board, to accord with the core values for the NHS in Wales, designed to support good governance and the achievement of high standards of care (as included in the NHS e-governance manual), places significant emphasis on:

  • Prioritising quality and safety;
  • Improvement being integrated with everyday working;
  • Focusing on prevention, health improvement and inequality;
  • Partnership working; and
  • Investing in staff

Role description

This is a great opportunity to use your skills and experience to make a difference to the lives of the people served by Hywel Dda University Health Board. 
 
Role and responsibilities Independent Members will among other things:

  • Play a full and active role in the governance of the Health Board, both clinical and corporate.  You will take an active part in discussions, providing your opinion and challenge and support to the Board on key issues;
  • Contribute to the work of the Board based upon your independence, your  past experience and knowledge, and your ability to stand back from the day-to-day operational management;   
  • Contribute and accept corporate decisions to ensure a joined up, robust and transparent decision making process by the Board;  
  • Be expected, in time, to fully understand the business through active involvement to enable the effective performance of the organisation; 
  • Work closely with other public, private and voluntary organisations and will make sure that the views of patients, carers and families are fully involved in helping to shape, develop and improve services;
  • Analyse and critically review complex information and contribute to sound decision making; and
  • Ability to contribute to the ‘governance and finance’ of the Health Board, ensuring it is open and honest in its work by contributing fully in the decision making process.

Welsh language skills

The Welsh Government acknowledges the importance of developing and growing bilingual capabilities in public appointments in Wales, and welcomes applications from candidates who demonstrate their capability to work in both English and Welsh.  The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the recruiting body of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.
Desirable

Person specification

Independent Members will demonstrate the following qualities:- 
 
Knowledge & Experience

  • An understanding of health issues and priorities in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area and  the ability to understand the role and work of the Board;  
  • The ability to contribute effectively at board level.  
  • Ability to hold the executives to account for performance whilst maintaining a constructive relationship; 
  • Ability to provide a knowledgeable, impartial and balanced perspective on a range of sensitive and complex issues; and 
  • A broad understanding of the information governance requirements required to comply with legislation e.g. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Personal Attributes & Skills

The Health Board has defined a set of shared core values and behaviours – what the organisation stands for.  You will need to be able to demonstrate the following: 

  • Good communication skills and the ability to engage with employees and employee representatives at all levels within the Health Board; and
  • Ability to work as part of a team and in partnership with other key organisations.
  • Ability to involve and work with stakeholders to help shape, develop and improve services; and an
  • Ability to analyse and critically review complex information

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 must be a member of a trade union and a current employee of Hywel Dda UHB.


You will have to demonstrate: 

  • A knowledge and understanding of trade union matters in the area served by Hywel Dda University Health Board; and an
  • Ability to apply your knowledge and understanding of trade union matters in a strategic board environment.


In addition to evidencing these criteria please answer the questions outlined on pages 3 and 4 of this candidate pack.


The Chair of Hywel Dda University Health Board is happy to discuss the role specific criteria with applicants on request (Please see page five of the Information pack for contact details).

Interview dates

18 December 2019
18 December 2019

Closing date

15/11/2019, 16:00

Additional information

Contacts:

For further information regarding the selection process, please contact: 

Public Appointments Team Email:  Publicappointments@gov.wales 

For further information regarding the role of the Independent Member Trade Union,   please contact Maria Battle, Chair of Hywel Dda University Health Board. Tel: 01437 834498 or 01267 239644 Email: Maria.Battle2@wales.nhs.uk

For further information about Hywel Dda University Health Board, you may wish to visit the Health Board’s internet web site:  http://www.hywelddalhb.wales.nhs.uk/ or contact the Health Board’s Board Secretary on 01437 834498 or 01267 239644 or via joanne.wilson4@wales.nhs.uk 

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Corporate Shared Service Centre Helpdesk on 029 2082 5454 or SharedServiceHelpdesk@wales.gsi.gov.uk  

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.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments

Commissioner for Public Appointments logo

This vacancy is closed to applications.