JOB DESCRIPTION

TITLE:Secretary / General Manager

GRADE:Secretary Manager (Voluntary Hospitals Group:Band H3)

REPORTING TO: Master of The Rotunda Hospital.

RESPONSIBLE TO:The Board of Governors

ROLE SUMMARY:This is a senior management post with a key role in the strategic and operational management of the Rotunda Hospital.

The Secretary / General Manager is responsible and accountable for the provision of an effective and customer focused non clinical services/allied health professional services and the strategic development of these services to meet changing organisational needs.

The Secretary / General Manager is the secretary to the Board of Governors and is responsible for reporting to the Governors on corporate governance and financial management.

About the Rotunda Hospital

Located in Dublin City Centre, The Rotunda Hospital is the oldest continuously operating maternity hospital in the world and one of the busiest in Europe, providing unbroken service to women and babies since 1745.The Rotunda is the lead provider of women’s and infant’s healthcare for the RCSI Hospitals Group. We currently care for over 10,000 pregnant mothers each year, as well as over 1,200 neonatal intensive care admissions and perform over 3,000 gynaecologic surgeries annually.

The Rotunda Hospital provides dedicated services to meet the needs of pregnant women and their babies, as well as women with gynaecological conditions, and women and men who experience infertility. As a world class maternity hospital, The Rotunda Hospital consistently seeks excellence from clinicians, management and staff to ensure all patients receive high quality, safe and reliable care.

Requirements for applicants:

  • Proven experience as a senior manager in a healthcare environment with specific experience in acute service delivery
  • Knowledge of relevant statutory requirements – Health and Safety, Data Protection etc
  • Understanding of relevant national standards including National Standards for Safer Better Maternity Services
  • Understanding of business functions such as HR, Finance, marketing etc.
  • Knowledge of interconnected and interactive relationships of clinical services provided in the Hospital
  • Demonstrable competency in strategic planning and business development
  • Experience in fundraising would be advantageous
  • Working knowledge of data analysis and performance/operation metrics
  • Working knowledge of IT/Business infrastructure and MS Office
  • Outstanding organizational and leadership abilities
  • Excellent interpersonal and public speaking skills
  • Aptitude in decision-making and problem-solving
  • BSc/BA in Business Administration or relevant field; MSc/MBA would be advantageous

Competencies: the successful candidate will demonstrate ability in the following:

-Powerful influential operator at all levels

-Human management skills

-Total organisation view, visionary

-Quality management focus

-Commercial acumen

-Collaborate effectively in multi- disciplinary teams

-Providing managers with the right tools and resources to do their jobs

-Delivery Focused and Results Oriented

-Courage, as defined as not being afraid to make difficult decisions, and being able to engage in constructive and challenging debate

Key Working Relationships:

  1. Report to the Master on hospital management issues
  2. Report to The Rotunda Board of Governors on all matters of statutory and national policy compliance, Service Level Arrangements with the HSE and other relevant inter-agency agreements
  3. Liaise with the Rotunda Hospital Board of Governors, the Master, Director of Midwifery and Nursing, Clinical Director, Department Managers, Clinical Leads/Heads of Department etc in monitoring services and identifying areas for improvement
  4. Liaise with the CEO and other Executive members of the RCSI Hospitals Group to ensure that the Rotunda is represented appropriately in all relevant areas
  5. Build and maintain appropriate relationships with external stakeholders and promote The Rotunda Hospital’s future service opportunities

General Accountability:

Corporate Level

  • Ensure appropriate and effective governance arrangements are in place to provide assurance to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on the Rotunda Hospital’s compliance with Statutory and Regulatory requirements as outlined in the Annual Compliance Statement, the SLA with the HSE, and other relevant communications
  • Ensure the Board of Governors has administrative support to schedule meetings and record minutes of meetings; work with the Chairman of the Board of Governors and Chairman of Committees of the Board to agree agenda and papers for circulation in advance of meetings; ensure all Board Committees have up to date Terms of Reference
  • Support the Board of Governors Internal Audit system and ensure action plans are implemented to address any quality improvements agreed from these audits
  • On behalf of the Board of Governors ensure that a robust Risk Management process is in place to identify, eliminate, mitigate or transfer risks associate with any aspect of the business of the hospital or the reputation of The Rotunda Hospital
  • Support the Annual Service Planning process for the Hospital in liaison with the RCSI Hospitals Group Executive; in particular take responsibility for the Annual Service Level Arrangement negotiations and advise the Board of Governors on its acceptability or risks of agreeing it
  • Support the Master and Board of Governors in developing and implementing Hospital Strategy including Capital Development Programmes on site and relocation of The Rotunda Hospital to the Connolly Hospital Campus
  • Ensure hospital wide compliance with Data Protection requirements
  • Ensure all Health and Safety regulatory requirements are met, monitored and improved as necessary
  • Act for and represent the Master in matters pertaining to his areas of non clinical responsibility as directed and delegated by him from time to time
  • Take Hospital wide leadership for specific projects requested by the Master or the Board of Governors

Management Executive Level

  • Work collaboratively with the Master, Director of Midwifery and Nursing, Clinical Director and Department Managers to ensure smooth and effective delivery of Hospital services
  • Fully participate as a mandatory member of relevant Hospital Committees to ensure smooth and effective delivery of Hospital services
  • Ensure the effective and efficient development and deployment of workforce capacity and capability across the hospital
  • Ensure specific training and development needs for The Rotunda Hospital staff are identified and provided for
  • Support the development and implementation of appropriately focused management and operational planning and control systems to facilitate the correlation of responsibility and accountability at all levels
  • Participate in the budgetary process with particular emphasis on ensuring that appropriate resource allocations are consistent with the goals and objectives of The Rotunda Hospital
  • Ensure financial performance objectives that support quality and safety of patient services are set and met
  • Ensure trend analysis of on-going activity, projected activity and changes in market are conducted and plans are developed to ensure the hospital is adequately resourced and prepared to meet demands
  • Provide the Master with full information on all non-clinical key performance indicators through regular updates, in response to ad hoc requests or if a performance indicator is likely to go off track; at all times raise any concerns about performance and escalate to the Master or Board of Governors as necessary
  • In conjunction with the Master, Director of Midwifery and Nursing and Patient Quality and Safety Manager support the development of quality initiatives in Risk Management, Patient Complaints, Patient Focused Service Delivery, Patient Satisfaction etc
  • Ensure that The Rotunda Hospital meets national standards as outlined by HIQA or other relevant agencies in areas of responsibility including hygiene, health and safety, environment management, and governance and leadership as outlined in the Standards for Safer Better Maternity Services
  • Ensure that the Hospital makes the most effective and efficient use of developments in information technology for both patient care and administrative support in a manner which integrates systems throughout the organisation and the community
  • Liaise with the hospital’s external professional advisors including brokers and insurers, solicitors, internal and external auditors, architects, engineers and property consultants to ensure the objectives and assets of the hospital are protected
  • Ensure all media enquiries and Parliamentary Questions are reviewed by appropriate managers and that all responses are clear and accurate before release and that a record of all such releases is maintained
  • Continually develop and reinforce the reputation of The Rotunda Hospital as a provider of excellent services

This job description is subject to review by the hospital authority from time to time. This is a description of the principal responsibilities of the post and is not a comprehensive list of duties.

December 2017