Clinical Application Specialist

Job summary

We are pleased to be able to offer an exciting opportunity to join the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) Programme Team at Northampton General Hospital. In partnership with our chosen supplier, we have embarked on our digital excellence journey to implement a nationally-leading EPR system that will transform the quality of care for our patients and staff by having instantly accessible information using the latest mobile technology, reducing paper usage and utilising clinical decision support tools.

As Clinical Applications Specialist, you will lead on the efficient delivery ofthe configuration, build and testing as part of the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) programme, focusing on the delivery to internal service level agreements. You will also be responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of projects within the programme including implementations and changes. As part of a dynamic and agile team that is committed to our Vision 'Dedicated to Excellence'.

Main duties of the job

As the Clinical Applications Specialist you will report into the Clinical Applications EPR Team Leader and support the Clinical Applications Team in the day to day operation of your team of staff.

You will have excellent problem solving, communication and organisational skills, along with experience of supporting a team within a digital healthcare environment. Have awareness of how computer systems support patient care will be essential as will experience of working in a system management role.

You will lead on the delivery of an efficient, responsive, effective and customer focused service through the supervision of an applications support service team.

You will lead on designated areas of responsibility to support the Clinical Applications Team Leader to ensure system downtime is minimised and associated risks are mitigated.

You will negotiate with third party suppliers and system users as necessary for incident and problem management, priorities, acceptance testing.

You will lead on designated areas of responsibility towards the planning of improvements to ensure systems are reliable and resilient, and that robust arrangements for maintenance are in place and regularly reviewed.

About us

Northampton General Hospital is one of the largest employers in the area and we are on an exciting journey. All of our divisions are committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have also entered into a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire.

Our Excellence Values

Compassion Accountability Respect Integrity Courage

We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone's full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities.

We are a Defence positive trust, supporting our reservists, veterans, spouses and partners.

The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals.

We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative.

We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key deliverables:

Leadership of designated team to provide efficient, integrated and customer service, supporting team to ensure that services provided across the group are and continue to be effective, meet the clinical and business needs of the Group, and represent best value for money. You will lead on designated areas, contributing to ensure the delivery of a high service ensuring the team exceed agreed service level agreements, prioritising workload and ensuring priorities are met for systems access, development and user issues. Under direction of the Clinical Applications Team Leader, take the lead for the planning of improvements to ensure systems are reliable and resilient, and that robust arrangements for maintenance are in place and regularly assessed. Take the lead on configuration and build optimisation for new and existing clinical applications. Collaborate with digital teams and clinical users in relation to the implementation and strategic development of electronic patient records and diagnostic systems within the Trust. Ensure the Clinical Safety Management system is followed, and all clinical risks are assessed in conjunction with the Clinical Safety Officer. Ensure that all changes to the system are reviewed and signed off as safe prior to implementation. Communicate with external organisations over service issues third party suppliers, other NHS organisations, to ensure any outstanding issues are resolved to the satisfaction of the Trust. Collaborate with colleagues to the effective integration of the Clinical Applications with other systems with the aim of maximising the efficiency of the clinical workflow overall, and longer-term business planning. Lead on the identification and management of risk and issues throughout the Product lifecycle. Champion and role model the Groups values and behaviours and support others in doing so to deliver the Group Vision and Mission successfully. You will lead on the development and on-going refinement of business continuity and disaster recovery plans in relation to designated systems supported by the team.

Clinical Applications improvement and support

Awareness of hospital workflow and systems to ensure effective support of Clinical Applications to maximise clinical and operational benefits from these systems. Advise clinical and admin users on the most effective, safe and efficient use of the Clinical Applications available. To understand the current business processes identified for each BAU change and be the main facilitator working with colleagues to develop and agree future business processes to meet both operational and project requirements. This will include aligning processes to the agreed benefits of the project or change request. To map as is and to be processes in order to facilitate effective optimisation with existing systems and processes To support the implementation of business change components and to ensure that amended/new processes and ICT systems reflect the operational needs of the patients, staff and Practices. Provide technical and professional advice regarding Clinical Systems. Understand thoroughly the current clinical information systems and the processes involved in their use across the Trust and adapt this knowledge to learning replacement and new systems introduced. Ensure the Clinical Safety Management system is followed and all clinical risks are assessed in conjunction with the Clinical Safety Officer. Using initiative to plan work to ensure the change process is implemented in a timely manner, the post holder will resolve conflicting timescales and priorities independently and exercise judgement and discretion to resolve issues autonomously. Maintain existing skills and develop further levels of expertise. Lead the day-to-day system management and user support of these electronic patient systems post implementation and for managing those colleagues undertaking system administration and support duties. This will often require investigation of complex systems and technology, fault finding and resolution. Manage designated resources within the team to meet business and/or clinical needs. Working closely with the Test Lead, to support the development of testing plans based on the complex workflow and system configuration requirements to ensure the systems are fit for purpose and meet clinicians needs.

Please see job description for further details

Person Specification

Educations, Training and Qualifications

Essential

Educated to degree education or equivalent level or equivalent experience Evidence of continuous personal and professional development

Desirable

ITIL Certification or relevant experience or working in an ITIL environment Evidence of experience or qualification in one or more of the following SQL / SQL Server HL7 Interfaces Reporting tools ( Business Objects) Windows Server Administration

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

Professional experience providing support for Clinical Applications Experience of digital/IT clinical systems change/project management while also developing and maintaining high standards of quality Demonstrable understanding of clinical workflows relevant to EPR in NHS setting Knowledge of NHS/Government policies, strategies and organisational relationships in relation Clinical Systems, to be able to advise stakeholders and develop proposals for the service area Experience in contributing to the success of a multi-disciplinary team as effective team member Advanced systems development skills and technical knowledge across a broad range of clinical systems and software Knowledge of digital healthcare standards and NHS datasets and their relationship to coding, finance and commissioning Experience of contributing to the development of policies and procedures. Change management experience Knowledge of clinical risk management policies and processes Understanding of NHS IT systems and services

Desirable

Ability to contribute to the effective performance and budgetary management and control in Service area Experience of developing and executing testing plans

Skills

Essential

Effective verbal and written communication and presentation skills suitable for a range of audiences Able to clearly manage priorities for self and contribute to those of team in order to meet targets Ability to perform well under pressure and manage unpredictable workload with conflicting priorities Quality focused with an innovative approach and ability to solve complex problems Have experience of administering and supporting an organisational wide IT system Must have a methodical, disciplined approach to working practices Have knowledge of, and be able to communicate effectively on complex operational requirements for effective system management ( performance monitoring etc) Must be familiar with hospital environment and the role of EPR Systems in the clinical and business operation of the Trust Ability to undertake duties effectively and to time in line with legislation, policies and procedures High level of proficiency in the use of IT tools, particularly Microsoft Office. Advanced keyboard skills

Desirable

Competence in process analysis and redesign techniques

Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

Essential

Passionate and committed to bring our Dedicated to Excellence values to life, improving the way we work with each other, particularly focusing on empowerment, equality diversity and inclusion of our staff, patients and service users Ability to interpret and convey complex information from various systems in a manner that is easily understood by a variety of users Must be able to demonstrate analytical thinking and the ability to work through problems to a resolution Must be able to demonstrate both formal and informal communication ability, orally and in writing, when dealing with colleagues and other staff at all levels Able to perform confidently in stressful situations Ability to deliver to targets and deadlines Aligned to the Group's values of Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage Highly motivated, hard-working, self-confident, robust and resilient individual with drive and determination to deliver Honesty and professional integrity Commitment to personal development and development of staff Can constructively challenge and effectively manage conflict to reach a positive conclusion Ability to travel to the Northampton Hospital site and to other sites across the Group

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