Deputy Chief Medical Officer

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable  over   staying comfortable; Listening   over  always knowing best; and Succeeding together  over  achieving alone. 

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King’s College London’s GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

We are looking for an inspirational medical leader with a passion to deliver high quality patient care to join the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) team. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) will be required to deputise as required across the full range of CMO responsibilities. 

This QEH-based post holder will lead on the development and improvement in quality of the Trust’s job planning process, with the development of a consistency panel and team job planning professional standards, relating to timeliness of attendance and review for emergency department and inpatients, and referral pathways between specialties and to tertiary centres medical recruitment, workforce development and our medical leadership programme.

Applications for the post should be submitted by CV to on or before midnight pm on 17th July 2024.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be expected to have significant clinical leadership experience, ideally at Deputy or Divisional Medical Director level.

The DCMO portfolio will be reviewed annually and is subject to change to meet the needs of the CMO office.

The DCMO will work alongside the CMO and will work closely with other executive colleagues/their deputies, and Divisional triumvirates. The post holder will support creating a site-based clinical community with shared understanding of issues and commitment to collaborative problem solving.

The DCMO will act as the senior clinical lead for each site, working collaboratively with divisions and external partners to ensure exceptional quality care is delivered.

Working for our organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development Widening access (anchor institution) and employability Improving the experience of staff with disability Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job plan (illustrative)

 We will work with you to shape the ideal job plan upon successful appointment and review it with you after three months, and then annually.

We will also provide the essential resources to support you in your duties, including administrative support.

  Role specific duties

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer will take the lead with delegated authority from the CMO for agreed aspects of the CMO portfolio Trust wide (see section 2).

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer will be responsible for appraisal and job-planning final sign-off for medical staff on their base-site.

The DCMO will hold responsibility for the leadership and management of professional issues associated with the medical workforce and the services provided by doctors on their base site. This includes all relevant operational, developmental and strategic matters, including liaison with primary care representatives of the area (Bexley and the Royal Borough of Greenwich for the QEH postholder).

The post will directly contribute to the strategic leadership and direction of the Trust. The DCMO is expected to work as part of a cohesive team and, when necessary, take lead responsibility for corporate issues outside their immediate sphere of responsibility.

 You will: 

·Communicate complex and sensitive information concerning standards and governance practice (including in highly charged situations). ·Provide advice and guidance to medical managers on matters relating to Maintaining High Professional Standards in the Modern NHS. ·Provide advice to the Trust’s CMO on matters of policy and staffing. ·Support where appropriate investigations including analysis of clinical and other incidents, review research and national guidelines to improve practice and provide judgment where medical practice may differ to deliver a learning culture. ·Advise the Chief Medical Officer and medical colleagues on clinical and professional standards and priorities. ·Deputise for the Chief Medical Officer where required and take a lead role in developing links between the CMO’s office and the wider organization. ·Secure effective engagement with clinicians at all levels and encourage cross professional collaboration to deliver service improvement. ·Develop collaborative working relationships across the organisation, and with the wider medical workforce. ·Champion LGT and its services. ·As a senior post holder, you will be required to be an inspirational leader and great line manager. ·Ensure that excellence in communication and engagement of staff, service users and stakeholders is at the centre of everything you do. Critical to this is effective communications with patients and colleagues. ·Establish excellent working relationships with clinicians and other colleagues across the organisation as required to enable transformation and delivery on all areas of performance. ·Demonstrate a can-do approach to problem solving and delivery of services. ·Ensure that robust governance is embedded in your area of responsibility. ·At all times demonstrate behaviours that are consistent with your role as a senior colleague in the organisation.

Person specification

Essential criteria

Full GMC registration Post graduate qualification in relevant specialty. Evidence of continuing professional development. Evidence of leadership development. Minimum 3 years’ experience in senior medical leadership roles.

Desirable criteria

FMLM fellowship or other Medical Leadership Qualification Responsible Officer Training Case Manager Training Medical director/ Deputy Medical Director experience

Skills And Experience

Essential criteria

Highly developed leadership and influencing skills. Demonstrable evidence of preparing and leading change management and proven record of successful delivery. Detailed knowledge and understanding of current medical policies e.g., appraisal and revalidation and job planning. Have demonstrated strong and inspirational clinical leadership.

Desirable criteria

Training in / understanding of quality improvement methodology. Extensive experience of leading and directing change in clinical practice with evidence of successful outcomes.

Clinicl Governance

Essential criteria

Clinical governanceGood understanding and demonstrable experience of working within clinical governance frameworks

Personal/professional attributes

Essential criteria

Possess excellent communications skills with the ability to be clear and persuasive in speech and writing. Ability to handle difficult and sensitive situations. Well-organised and able to work to deadlines Determination to always achieve high standards and constantly strive to deliver improvements in patient care. Be resilient, optimistic, and have emotional intelligence

Other requirements

Essential criteria

Seek to tackle health care inequality and diversity challenges in the NHS. Ability to work in partnership with stakeholders and demonstrates a breath of leadership styles and approaches that fit with the values of LGT.

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women’s staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce. 

Please note, not all roles will meet the criteria for a skilled worker visa. 

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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