Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Director of Elective Care

NHS AfC: Band 9

Main area

Deputy Chief Operating Officer

Grade

NHS AfC: Band 9

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time - 37.5 hours per week

Job ref

343-8123136-OA-VSM

Site

Epsom & St Helier

Town

Carshalton

Salary

£118,919 - £135,920 Per annum pro rata Inc HCAS

Salary period

Yearly

Closing

26/07/2026 23:59

Interview date

12/08/2026

At Epsom and St Helier Hospitals, above all we value respect. We put respect at the heart of all we do, by living up to our shared behaviours of kindness, professionalism, positivity and teamwork. This enables us to provide great patient care and make ESTH a great place to work. When you sign up to work with us, you sign up to this and we welcome applicants who share our values.

Job overview

The Deputy Chief Operating Officer & Director of Elective Care deputises for the Chief Operating Officer (COO) across the operations portfolio and provides leadership of Trust operations on a daily basis working closely with their fellow DCOO, Divisional triumvirate teams, corporate teams and executives. They will lead on delivery of the Trust’s core performance and quality standards related to all performance standards with a particular focus on Planned Care.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is responsible for supporting Divisions with the delivery of key performance and quality standards, specifically including RTT, DM01 Performance and Cancer Standards. They will also support services in Planned Care to deliver non elective demand. The post holder, in collaboration with DDOs, will lead improvement in these areas through engaging with clinical teams and implementing service changes and improvement underpinned by clear trajectories and national delivery requirements.

The postholder provides leadership and direction for the directorate leadership teams, ensuring that the division delivers the trust’s strategy. They ensure that effective management and delivery underpin the leadership of the directorates; and that the Divisional Medical Directors and Divisional Directors of Nursing/AHPs are supported to ensure that leadership decisions are translated into transformation and effective delivery of services.

The Deputy Chief Operating Officer & Director of Elective Care is expected to lead on designated trust wide developments which cut across the organisation, integrating and streamlining services.

Working for our organisation

St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey. Our sites include St George’s Hospital, one of 11 major trauma centres in the UK and the largest healthcare provider and major teaching hospital in the area; St Helier Hospital, home to the South West Thames Renal and Transplantation Unit and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children; and Epsom Hospital, home to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC).

After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.

At gesh we are committed to supporting flexible working arrangements. Applicants are encouraged to discuss any flexibility they may need during the recruitment process.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Service Delivery, Performance and Development

To lead the implementation of the trust’s strategy, including improving and redesigning services in line with the strategic direction and framework agreed by the SLT.

Support the transformation of organisational culture and service delivery at the trust in line with the trust’s overall organisational development strategy.

Ensure delivery of elective waiting times standards across planned care and diagnostics including meeting non-elective recovery trajectories.

Ensure robust capacity planning takes place to meet demand for planned care and diagnostic services

Deliver an expansion in the use of clinic utilisation and undertake regular patient validation providing assurance that patients are being treated in time order.

To ensure optimal patient flow through timely admission and discharge arrangements, effective diagnostic and outpatient services.

To manage external Service Level Agreements, contracts and contractors, taking the lead on ensuring the contracts are performing within the defined parameters and taking corrective action where appropriate.

To be accountable for the effective non-elective performance of divisions, demonstrating achievements against national and local targets and standards and the trust’s annual plan. To support the development of operational objectives within the division which support the achievement of divisional targets / indicators and are consistent with the Trust’s objectives.

To represent the divisions at a corporate level and with external local, regional and national agencies including acute/community providers, patients, the CQC, ICB, NHS England and all other appropriate organisations on issues relating to service delivery and strategic direction and planning.

The post holder will actively support the trust’s annual strategic and business planning processes, ensuring that divisional leadership teams develop credible annual plans and business cases based on evidence and market analysis, in line with Trust strategy, ensuring impacts on other services are fully identified and costed and presented for approval in a timely manner.

The post holder will ensure processes are in place for continual review of services to achieve an optimal fit between clinical service delivery and innovative best practice, including formal audits, surveys and investigations.

Actively support the implementation of the Trust’s transformation strategy including leadership of improvement projects. Effective measures and metrics will be developed to ensure optimal patient centred care.

The Deputy Chief Operating Officer & Director of Elective Care will provide leadership to ensure that the systems and processes are in place to support directorate leadership teams to deliver against agreed divisional plans.

Ensure capital utilisation is maximised to optimise productivity and improve patient care including effective infection control systems.

The Deputy Chief Operating Officer & Director of Elective Care will role model and facilitate effective working relationships between divisions, Workforce, Finance, Commissioning, Information, Estates, Service Improvement, Quality and Procurement

The Deputy Chief Operating Officer & Director of Elective Care will embrace the trust’s work with local partners and will be expected to support the clinical and management teams to implement innovative and novel ways of working ensuring that we continue to work as a whole system.

Financial and Capital Management

To be accountable for the delivery of services, within budget (income & expenditure) for an agreed level of activity at an expected level of service and clinical quality.

Adopt the principles of best practice for corporate governance.

To produce, deliver and facilitate the delivery of financial recovery plans when required.

Ensure robust financial management systems and processes are in place to optimally utilise budgets and resources and ensure the divisions achieve their service and financial targets. This includes leadership to facilitate the development and implementation of cost improvement programmes and revenue generation opportunities by directorate leadership teams.

To ensure the development of effective and viable annual strategic and business plans for the division by directorate leadership teams, ensuring that plans are integrated with the overall trust strategy.

Will ensure that relevant staff are trained with the necessary completed competencies to understand Trust/ Divisional information systems.

People Management

To lead, manage, motivate and develop staff so as to develop and maintain the highest level of staff morale. Develop and maintain effective staff development systems engendering a culture of openness, value and respect.

To role model the Trust’s values and above all respect.

To ensure that all managers and employees comply with Trust policies and procedures, HR best practice and employment law.

The post holder will work with the Director of People to embed good practice for recruitment, selection and retention of Trust staff.

To meet regularly with and undertake appraisals for all direct reports, ensuring performance is congruent with Trust expectation. To ensure appraisals are aligned to Trust strategy and values. To take corrective action where performance does not meet the defined standard.

Will continually review competencies and skills to ensure divisional structures and skill mix reflect the demands of divisional activity and where necessary implement skill mix changes.

The post holder will develop good working relations with Staff Side representatives and attend Partnership Forum meetings when invited to ensure relationships between Unions and managers are open and honest.

To actively implement and support a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment in all forms and to lead by example in this area.

Risk and Clinical Governance

With the Chief Operating Officer, ensure that the Divisions implement and further develop existing clinical governance and risk management structures and processes. This will cover responsibility for all clinical and non-clinical services including medical devices and Service Level Agreements for clinical services.

Will ensure that working arrangements are in place to enable the divisions to give high quality responses to complaints; maintain the national standards for complaint response time.

To ensure that incidents are reported and that trends are identified and acted upon appropriately. To work to ensure organisational learning from incidents and from excellence.

Collaborates with key stakeholders to develop processes taking into account patients’ views.

Communication

To work in collaboration with the DDOs to contribute to effective communication trust wide and externally.

To sustain effective working relationships with Executive Directors, Divisional General Managers, Clinical Directors, Divisional Heads of Nursing, Clinical

Leads, consultant medical staff and other post holders ensuring the operational requirements of the trust are effectively managed and coordinated.

Diplomatic in dealings with patients, carers and staff.

To ensure systems and processes are in place to deliver accurate timely statutory information requirements including the trust data protection policy and Freedom of Information Acts.

Person specification

Skills

Essential criteria

Significant senior operational leadership experience in an acute hospital setting.

Experience

Essential criteria

Budget management including a number of departmental budgets, budgets of several million pounds, delivery of cost savings programmes / income generation

Your recruitment team

The NHS South West London Recruitment Hub is your dedicated recruitment team, here to support you at every stage of the process. If you have a query, please contact us:

E: krft.askrecruitment@nhs.net

Your application

Please ensure your supporting statement clearly reflects the job description and person specification, as shortlisting will be based on these criteria.

Please refer to the latest UKVI guidance and ensure you have the appropriate right to work before applying for this role.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

We kindly ask that you avoid using AI tools to draft your application. We value authentic, individual responses that reflect your own experience and communication style.

References

Please provide a minimum of 3 years’ employment and/or education history, including professional email addresses (not personal accounts such as Hotmail or Gmail). If you cannot provide these, please inform the interview panel to avoid delays in pre-employment checks.

Closing date

To help us manage recruitment efficiently, some vacancies may close early once we have received a sufficient number of applications.

Shortlisting

If you are successfully shortlisted, you will be contacted by email or SMS from the South West London Recruitment Hub. Please check your registered TRAC email regularly.

Application feedback

If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has not been successful on this occasion.

Safeguarding and DBS Checks

We are committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. For roles with direct access to these groups, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be required. All staff are expected to understand and uphold their safeguarding responsibilities as part of their role.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.