Vacancy -- Non-Executive Directors (x2) - Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Vacancy details

Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Wales
£9,360 per annum plus travel and other reasonable expenses within reasonable limits. 
4
month

Function of body

The Welsh Ambulance Service has evolved, over the last two decades, to become The Welsh Ambulance Service has evolved, over the last two decades, to become one of the most clinically advanced Ambulance Service in the world. The Trust is embarking on an exciting evolution of its strategy.   Working with our stakeholders and partners, we will fundamentally change the ways in which the Trust delivers urgent and emergency care, enabling the population of Wales to access care in the right place, at the right time, wherever and whenever that may be.   This shift will see a reduction in conveyances to hospital, and an increase in care delivered at or closer to home by a range of specialist practitioners in a range of modalities.  

The Trust serves three million-plus people in Wales and provide high quality services to a diverse range of communities across an area of some 8000 square miles.

The Trust responds to 2000 emergency calls a day and, in addition to deploying the traditional emergency ambulance or rapid response vehicle, they are increasingly able to provide clinical advice over the phone or treatment on scene or at home. The Trust also has specialist teams capable of responding to more complex or major incidents.

The call handlers and clinical contact centre staff operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Trust is at the frontline of service delivery, making sure that patients get the right advice and help from the right people.

The Trust is at the forefront of innovation in unplanned clinical care and increasingly provide thousands of patients a year with advice, support and signposting to the right provision through its expanding “hear and treat” services, which include NHS Direct Wales and its successor - the 111 service. The Trust currently conveys almost half a million patients a year to and from a place of care through its Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service. 

The Trust is continually working to improve what it does and how it does it. To help realise this ambition, the Trust is looking to appoint Non-Executive Directors to the Trust Board, from as diverse a range of backgrounds as possible. The Trust is particularly keen to improve the gender balance on its Board and to attract members from different ethnic backgrounds to help us tailor our offering to our population. Especially valued is the contribution that Non-Executive Directors can make to the Trust by drawing from their own lived experiences.

 

The role of the Board is to focus on four key areas: 

Strategy:  Developing the strategy, vision, and purpose of the Trust.  Identifying priorities, establishing goals and objectives, finding resources, and allocating funds to support the decisions that need to be made around strategic planning. 

Embedding Ethical Behaviour:  The Board shapes the culture of the Trust in several ways, including by the way in which it engages with staff, the public and stakeholders, the way it manages its agenda, by the nature of the debate at the Board and the relative emphasis given to different performance criteria, by the visibility of its members in the organisation, and by where it chooses to invest time and resources.   Board members must live up to the highest ethical standards of integrity and probity.

Managing Risk:  The Board is responsible for managing risk and ensuring there is a robust system of internal controls is in place and that they are sighted on the mitigations in place for the principal risks to the delivery of the strategy.

Gaining Assurance on the Delivery of Strategy and Performance:  Holding to account, and being held to account, for the delivery of the strategy in accordance with the strategic and performance frameworks developed by the Board

Role description

As a Non-Executive Director you will:

  • Take an active part in discussions, providing your opinion, challenge, and support to the Board on key issues on which the Board is accountable. 
  • Provide advice and guidance on issues relevant to your own skills, expertise, and experience.
  • Bring past experience, knowledge and influence to the work of the Board to promote innovation, challenge the norms and ensure good governance.
  • Focus on results and outcomes and ensure the Executive Directors deliver their key objectives.
  • Support the Chair, Chief Executive and Executive Directors in the governance and stewardship of the Trust.
  • Ensure that the Trust manages risk effectively.
  • Analyse and critically review complex information and contribute to sound decision making Attend and contribute to the regular bi-monthly Board of Directors meetings and other Board Sub-Committee meetings as appropriate, as well as regular Board development sessions.
  • Be expected, in time, to fully understand the business through active involvement to enable you to support the effective performance of the organisation.
  • Work closely with other public, private and voluntary organisations and make sure that the views of our population allow us to shape, develop and improve services.

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
Can read simple material on everyday topics with understanding
Can write simple work-related correspondence
Can understand routine work-related conversations
Can hold some work-related conversations

Person specification

Essential

  • Ability to contribute to the strategic vision for the future of the Trust.
  • Ability to provide independent challenge and scrutiny whilst maintaining constructive relationships.
  • Ability to provide a knowledgeable, impartial, and balanced perspective on a range of sensitive and complex issues.
  • A understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • A commitment to adhering to the ethical standards detailed in the Seven Principles of Public Life (Nolan Principles).

 

Desirable

  • An understanding of health issues and priorities in relation to the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust and the wider health system in Wales.
  • Exposure to transformational organisational change and digital solutions in the public or private sector.
  • Experience in public or third sector engagement.
  • An understanding of risk management, and systems of internal control and assurance.
  • Experience of operating at senior or board level within a large and complex public or private sector organisation with a background in collaborative working.

Interview dates

24 January 2022
28 January 2022

Closing date

07/12/2021, 16:00

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 Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust and the role of Non-Executive Director, please contact

Tel: 07508-279533

Email: Trish.Mills@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.

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.