Job summary
- Main area
- Clinical Management
- Grade
- Band 8a
- Contract
- 12 months (12 month fixed term contract)
- Hours
- Part time - 22.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 380-FR0618
- Employer
- Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Trevor Gibbens Unit
- Town
- Maidstone
- Salary
- £55,690 - £62,682 per annum pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 06/01/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Deputy Head of Allied Health Professions
Band 8a
We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We offer a range of ongoing benefits to our valued workforce. From an active health and wellbeing programme to regular recognition events, we work hard to provide varied benefits that make a difference to your work-life balance.
Would you like to work flexibly? In the NHS, we are reminded every day of how important life is. As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you.
Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement.
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Job overview
Please note, at this stage, the role is open only to internal staff (including NHSP and Agency staff currently on placement within our organisation) and staff substantively employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). Any individual who is at risk of redundancy will be given priority, provided they meet the essential criteria.
We are pleased to offer an exciting opportunity to join Kent and Medway Mental Health Trust as Deputy AHP Lead for Forensic & Specialist Services. This senior leadership role will strengthen the Allied Health Professional workforce across diverse pathways, including Forensic Mental Health, Specialist Inpatient Services, and Community Teams.
As Deputy AHP Lead, you will work closely with the AHP Lead to provide strategic and clinical leadership, building strong relationships with service managers, clinical leads, and MDTs to champion AHP practice, quality, and innovation.
Key Responsibilities
Provide operational management and professional supervision to AHPs (OTs, SLTs, Physiotherapists, Dietitians).
Offer visible clinical leadership across forensic inpatient units, community teams, and specialist services.
Support safe, effective, person-centred AHP service delivery.
Lead service development, quality improvement, workforce planning, and evidence-based practice.
Represent AHPs within senior leadership forums and contribute to Trust-wide AHP strategy.
Drive recruitment, retention, career progression, and professional governance
Base negotiable across Kent & Medway with hybrid options.
Join a supportive AHP leadership team committed to high-quality care.
Main duties of the job
-
To support the directorate head of AHPs in the delivery of effective and efficient professional management and clinical leadership of all AHP Staff within the Directorate.
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To oversee operational management of Forensic AHP services
- To influence and develop all AHP services across Forensic and Specialist Services
- To deputise for the AHP lead for forensic and Specialist Services
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To provide clinical/professional supervision to AHP staff within the Forensic and specialist Directorate
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To provide clinical leadership and support to AHP teams across all Forensic and Specialist Directorate Services
- To attend and contribute to a range of Forensic and Specialist, and Trust Wide AHP Leadership Meetings.
- To lead/facilitate CPD opportunities for AHP staff including forums, Action Learning Sets and training.
Working for our organisation
We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated ‘Good’ by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.
Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It’s why we’re passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.
Join us - if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that’s doing well together.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To support the directorate head of AHPs in delivery of effective and efficient professional management and clinical leadership of all AHP Staff within the Directorate.
Promoting and demonstrating best, evidence-based practice through supervision and appraisal.
The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).
We are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.
Please refer to the attached job description for the full details on the responsibilities and person specification
Person specification
Personal Attributes
Essential criteria
- Effective organiser, influencer and networker
- Able to work flexibly and cooperatively as part of a team
- Demonstrable commitment to and a focus on quality, promoting high standards of clinical care to improve patient outcomes/recovery
- Demonstrably involves patients and public in their work
Desirable criteria
- Hold a current full driving licence and owns a vehicle suitable for work
- Uses evidence to make improvements and seeks out innovation
knowledge and skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to maintain a high level of professionalism at all times, especially in complex/challenging situations.
- Able to make decisions autonomously and co-operatively as part of an inter-professional team
- Sound knowledge of clinical governance and its relationship to clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient experience
- Strong understanding of NHS governance frameworks, CQC standards, and risk management
- High level of financial literacy with ability to interpret budgetary and performance data with an understanding of NHS financial standing instructions
- Demonstratable knowledge of clinical and non-clinical risk management
- Proven ability to design implement and evaluate service development projects and transformation programmes
- Advanced Communication Skills, able to present complex, sensitive or contentious information clearly to a range of stakeholders.
- Competent in the use of digital systems and data tools, (e.g. ESR and finance reporting systems, excel, word etc)
- Ability to prioritise own work effectively and to be able to guide others
- Ability to motivate, empower and enable others
Desirable criteria
- Ability to deal with large volumes of information and to draw out key issues/themes for the AHP workforce
- Ability to prioritise own work effectively and to be able to guide others
- An understanding of the broad aims of current national and local healthcare policy and an appreciation of the implications of this on clinical practice
- Understanding of Provider Collaborative models and system-level governance arrangements.
- Understanding of workforce planning models for AHPs
Training qualifications and registration
Essential criteria
- A recognised AHP professional qualification
- Registration with the Health Care Professions Council
- Evidence of significant personal development through formal postgraduate courses or experience eg MSc or equivalent
- Approved Practice Educator
- Project management or equivalent experience
- NHS finance Training
Desirable criteria
- Registered member of the relevant professional body and / or special interest group
- Formal management or leadership qualification
- Evidence of risk management and patient safety qualification or experience.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Extensive experience in clinical practice, holding a range of experience within a variety of settings
- Experience of delivering and coordinating clinical/professional supervision
- Experience of managing/leading staff within the work place
- Experience in leading change or undertaking audits, service evaluation and research in clinical environment
- Experience of motivating staff and of reviewing the performance of individuals through regular supervision and appraisal
- Experience in project and/or programme management
- Demonstrated experience of governance, compliance and quality assurance
- Financial management experience, including budgets and cost improvement programmes
- Experience in developing Standard Operating Procedures to ensure services are safe and efficient.
- Experience of utilising data to support services
Desirable criteria
- Experience of recruitment and selection of staff
- Previous experience within a clinical leadership/professional management role
- Experience in overseeing contracts with NHS partnerships to ensure adherence to contractual obligations
- Experience in Business planning and workforce re-design
- Experience in digital transformation
- Experience in working with income generating ventures.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Clare Hardwick
- Job title
- Head of Allied Health Professions
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07879652656
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