Support Manager Full Time NEW

North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) are working towards merging as one organisation from July 2026.

This will create an exciting future that brings together the best of both organisations. As a single, strong and sustainable organisation, we will not only be able to deliver better outcomes for our patients and fairer care for our population, but it will also provide greater opportunities for our people.

Should you join NBT as an employee prior to our organisations merging, your employment will be automatically transferred across to UHBW. Should your employment begin after our two Trusts merge, you will be employed directly by UHBW and therefore UHBW terms and conditions of service will apply

Our job adverts may close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Considering this, if you are interested in this role, please do apply as soon as you can.

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Job Overview

The Medicine Division management team at NBT are looking to recruit a Support Manager on a full-time, fixed term for 12 months.

The Post Will Have Key Responsibilities Relating To

• Outpatient service management
• Performance management
• Complaint coordination
• Line management of administrative colleagues

The successful candidate will be assigned to Cluster 2 within the Medicine Division and be responsible for the delivery of services the cluster – Geriatric Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Allergy and Immunology and Medical Virology.

Interested candidates are encouraged to reach out to discuss the post in more detail via the contact information provided below.

Main duties of the job

This post forms a key role within the Medicine Management team within the Medicine Division at North Bristol NHS Trust. The postholder will be responsible for a sub-set of specialties across the division and will manage the secretarial, administrative and clerical staff and services that support the clinical practice.

The postholder will be required to have existing staff management experience and skills, and an extensive background in administrative and clerical processes and procedures.

Applicants will also need to have an understanding of waiting lists, preferably in an outpatient environment, as clinic utilisation and performance targets such as RTT and diagnostic waits will form a large part of the role.

Applicants should have well developed communication skills (both written and verbal), as you will be dealing with patient concerns and complaints. This is a varied role where you will work closely with fellow Support Managers, Specialty Managers and General Managers, and there is much potential to learn and experience new skills.

This post will be expected to promote a patient focused culture and help support and develop the services within Medicine.

Working for our organisation

North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 12,000 staff providing healthcare to the residents of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset from our award-winning hospital building at Southmead. We are the regional Major Trauma Centre, and an internationally recognised centre of excellence in a range of services and major specialities. Our vision is that by enabling our teams to be the best that they can be, we will provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.

North Bristol NHS Trust values all people as individuals. We aim to be an anti-discriminatory organisation and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We welcome applicants from all underrepresented groups.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Staff Management – Secretarial, Administrative, Clerical

• To manage attendance and absence of staff group, including return to work meetings, sickness absence and stage of sickness management, occupational health referrals etc.
• To work closely with the team to ensure staff retention and appropriate training, appraisal and development objectives.
• To keep electronic and other staff files up to date.
• To oversee annual leave processes and maintain sufficient administrative cover.
• To carry out recruitment to vacant or new posts, including creating or reviewing job description/person specifications, organising and carrying out interviews, testing and appointing – completing the necessary paperwork (IT or otherwise).
• To ensure IT and other systems are well supported eg, eRS, EDMS, Winscribe etc.
• To authorise eRostering time-sheets, checking hours are correct and approved.
• To update, amend or implement administrative processes to improve working practices.

Outpatients and Performance

• To work closely with the Central Outpatients Department to ensure accurate and optimum clinic booking and utilisation, for all areas of the specialties.
• To oversee the Outpatient and Elective waiting lists, and ensure pathway management is active and accurate and that waits are not being exceeded, and if so, being escalated.To ensure National targets continue to be achieved, reviewing long-waiters and highlighting capacity issues.
• To ensure changes to clinic templates are raised, authorised and subsequently actioned correctly.
• To oversee Advice & Guidance to ensure timely turn-around and appropriate use, in conjunction with the administrator.
• To contribute to demand and capacity modelling for the Specialties.
• To utilise a number of Trust reporting sources and provide regular performance information /reporting for the Specialties.
• To produce a weekly report of typing turnaround, highlighting outliers to the agreed targets.

Complaints Co-ordination

• To be the point of contact for complaints relating to the Specialties, co-ordinating progress against defined time-scales.
• To liaise with managers and clinicians in the investigation of complaints and co-ordination of responses.
• To co-ordinate and draft responses to patient complaints, using the agreed Trust format and timescales.

Other

• To deal with operational issues in conjunction with the fellow Support Managers, Specialty Manager, Assistant General Manager and General Manager.
• To attend the monthly Consultant/Management team meetings, producing agendas and keeping a record of outcomes via an action log.
• To check and authorise invoices for the Specialties, bringing to the attention of the necessary manager.
• To process Freedom of Information requests.
• To participate in areas of service development where current services can be improved or streamlined, ensuring stakeholder input during any service redesign.
• To work closely with and deputise for the Specialty Manager to maintain services across the Medicine Division at North Bristol NHS Trust.
• To participate in the Divisional SPOC (inpatient flow) daytime rota.
• A key part of this role will be working closely with the Acute Provider Collaborative team to support the development of the Single Managed Services (SMS) within the Division between North Bristol NHS Trust and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston.

Person specification

Education/Training/Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to GCSE Level with a Grade C and above in English and Maths

Work Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working in the NHS and the requirements of an outpatients service
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary and busy team environment.
• Experience of working under pressure and to deadlines
• Experience of working to fixed protocols and procedures
• Experience of talking to patients/service users or working in customer focussed environment.
• Experience of using spreadsheets to record and track information
• Experience of managing waiting lists and patient pathways (RTT and other national pathways)

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

Essential criteria

• Must be computer literate / possess keyboard skills
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities as needed according to service demand
• Knowledge of the Lorenzo patient administration system, including managing access plans, building clinics, updating Directory of Services etc.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; good telephone manner
• Good organisational and time management skills; must be able to prioritise and plan daily workload, including working flexibly in a busy and frequently interrupted department.
• Must be able to demonstrate attention to detail, and complete tasks to deadlines.

Desirable criteria

• Understanding of patient confidentiality, data protection and freedom of information policies as they relate to waiting times.

Personal Qualities/Special Circumstances

Essential criteria

• Positive attitude that embodies the NBT Cares Value

Please note that if you apply for a position with North Bristol NHS Trust, you may be contacted via TRAC or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your TRAC Account and email accounts including junk and spam folders.

If you apply for this vacancy and have not received a communication from North Bristol NHS Trust within three weeks of the closing date, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.

Please note that North Bristol NHS Trust does not reimburse travel expenses relating to interview attendance.

If you feel you meet the requirements of the Disability Act / Two Ticks scheme and require further support/advice, please contact us on tel 0117 414 1151.

North Bristol NHS Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The successful applicant(s) will normally commence at the minimum of the scale unless they have previous NHS service at the same band. Progression through the scale is by annual increments.

At North Bristol Trust (NBT), we know diverse and inclusive environments lead to happier and healthier teams and improved patient care and outcomes. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are currently underrepresented in NBT’s workforce at Band 8a and above. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and LGBTQIA+ people.

Please note that stringent pre-employment checks are undertaken on all successful applicants prior to commencement in post.