Vacancy -- Chair - Powys Teaching Health Board

Powys Teaching Health Board
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. 

The Board
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 and Responsibilities
The Chair will be accountable to the Minister for Health and Social Services for the performance of the Board and its effective governance, upholding the values of the NHS, and promoting the confidence of the public and partners throughout the Health Board area.    
 
The Chair of Powys Teaching Health Board will:- 
• Lead the Board in the Development of a Strategic Vision for the Health  Board’s services of the future, realising and building on the inherent potential and skills within the organisation to develop an innovative and exemplar service with the aim of improving well-being and outcomes for the population; 
• Provide effective and visible leadership across the breadth of the Board’s responsibilities, internally through the Board and externally through  connections with a wide range of stakeholders and partners at community, local authority, Health Board and national levels; 
• Ensure the Board delivers effectively together the strategic and operational aims of the Health Board through delivery of strategic aims, policy and ensuring good governance; 
• Be responsible for maintaining the highest quality of public health standards and practices, and improving quality and safety of healthcare; 
• Be accountable for the performance of the Board at community, local authority, Board and national levels through the agreement of a three year Integrated Medium Term Plan (IMTP) and an annual delivery plan and the annual evaluation of achievements against the plan in public by the Minister for Health and Social Services; 
• Hold the Chief Executive to account across the breadth of their responsibilities; 
• Work effectively with partners, in particular with primary care contractors and other NHS bodies, Universities, Local Authorities, the Third Sector and Social Partners, to ensure the planning and delivery of safe, effective, person centred services aiming to improve population outcomes; 
• Provide the assurance and governance for the proper stewardship of public money and other resources for which the Board is accountable; 
• Provide the assurance for ensuring that the Board is governed effectively within the framework and standards set for the NHS in Wales, with a particular emphasis on ensuring openness and transparency;
• Undertake an external ambassador role, delivering in the public spotlight and instilling public confidence;
• Act as a Corporate Trustee of PTHB Charity.

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.

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 Criteria
Knowledge and Experience
• Ability to instil vision and lead the development of defined strategies in the pursuit of achieving long and short-term goals; 
• Ability to facilitate the understanding of complex issues while demonstrating respect for the views of others; 
• Ability to ensure a board works together effectively through their active involvement in a robust and transparent decision making process; 
• Ability to motivate and develop the board to define roles and responsibilities to ensure ownership and accountability; 
• A clear commitment to understanding and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion; and
• Ability to show an appreciation of bilingualism and culture, and a commitment to promoting and mainstreaming of the Welsh language.

Personal Attributes
• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills and ability to act as an effective advocate and ambassador;  
• Sound judgement, sensitivity and political awareness; 
• Capacity to be independent and resilient.

Desirable 
• The ability to speak Welsh

Welsh Language 
Welsh Language Skills are desirable, however, all candidates will be expected to show commitment towards the language and culture, and demonstrate leadership to strengthen and promote bilingual service provision within the NHS in Wales.  The level of the skill that is considered desirable is as follows:
Desirable
Understanding = 2 - Can understand basic conversations about everyday topics 
Reading = 2 - Can read simple material on everyday topics with understanding 
Speaking = 3 - Can converse in some work-related conversations 
Writing = 1 - Can write basic messages on everyday topics 

24/06/2022, 16:00

For further information regarding the role of the Powys Teaching Health Board and the role of Chair please contact:

The Diary Secretary to the Director General Health and Social Services/NHS Wales Chief Executive, Welsh Government

Email: DStoDGforHealthandSocialServicesChiefExecutiveNHSWales@gov.wales 

James Quance, Interim Board Secretary, Powys Teaching Health Board

Email: james.quance2@wales.nhs.uk 

Welsh Government are working with Gatenbysanderson Ltd to support this recruitment campaign.  If you would like a confidential discussion to ensure you maximise your application please contact Melanie Shearer at melanie.shearer@gatenbysanderson.com (07785 616548) or Carmel Bell at carmel.bell@gatenbysanderson.com (07917 826639). 

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 

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