Role Title: Head of Older People & Physical Disability Services

April 2011

ROLE PROFILE

Service Area: Adult Social care

Directorate: Community Wellbeing

Accountable to: Assistant Director Adult Social care

Grade: M

JE Code:JE0013

Purpose of job (outline what, to whom and why)

To improve outcomes for older and disabled people by leading, developing and managing the: enquiry, referral and assessment services for people aged over 18 years; specialist teams for older people aged 65 plus; the team for those 18 to 65 year with a physical disability/long-term condition; and to develop and manage the future integration of these services with health services and other local provision.

Key Objectives (list what outcomes are essential)

1 / Partnerships with the PCT, other council and partner services, are undertaken which develop policies and deliver services that promote independence, wellbeing and choice for customers, and meet the care requirements following assessment, for older people and people with disabilities
2 / A diverse group of managers are managed, which includes supervision, appraisals, and holding regular team meetings ensuring policies and procedures are being adhered to, and services delivered to a high standard
3 / Service managers work in partnership across adult social care to establish work priorities, to innovate and develop cross team services, ensuring a seamless adult social care service for customers
4 / All policies and procedures are monitored and maintained both within areas of control , and across adult social care, delivering a consistent and lawful, application of policy into service delivery, including meeting the requirements for registration and inspections by the Care Quality commission ( or other future regulatory bodies) and other statutory bodies
5 / Service budgets are prepared, monitored and controlled, to ensure that financial targets are met and systems are in place to identify pressure areas and respond appropriately.
6 / Manage older people and Physical Disability Assessment and Care management Social care services, to ensure continuous improvement , by meeting national and local performance targets and by setting and meeting team improvement targets
7 / Complaints are investigated and reports prepared to ensure timely and appropriate resolution for customers
8 / Disciplinary or capability procedure actions are undertaken as necessary, including chairing hearings, ensuring that staff are managed to work to at least minimum acceptable standards of conduct and service delivery
9 / Professional development is undertaken, and encouraged and supported for all staff, ensuring relevant knowledge of new national and local initiatives is maintained, communicated, and implemented within the teams.

Scope (outline the size or scope of the role, direct or indirect responsibility for people, finances, resources and any special aspects of the role)

People: The role requires the post holder to give clear management direction to approximately 80 members of staff via a group of 7 direct report managers, from several areas of Social care, building strong working relationships with HR, Finance, Commissioning to ensure cohesiveness of services ensuring that the service works within the agreed budgets and the councils agreed policies and procedures.

This role requires significant stakeholder engagement particularly with the private and voluntary sector as performance management of Older person’s and Physical disability Contracts and budgets, is undertaken in conjunction with commissioners.

It is the responsibility of the Service Manager to give direction to the managers regarding the policies and procedures of the Council and to ensure monitoring of implementation

Financial: This role has responsibility for General fund budgets, of approximately 20.75m

(gross) . This does include some staffing costs but the majority of the budget is large external contracts for the provision of services, by private and voluntary sector organisations.

Specific Responsibilities: This role has operational leadership for all adult Safeguarding and Mental capacity Act policy, procedures, allocation, and oversight of this work , across all Adult Social Care Services

Work Profile (outline the main areas of responsibility and accountability and competencies)

This is a key role in statutory services demanding a professional approach in giving leadership and guidance to a group of managers delivering a wide range of services to an increasing population with complex care needs.

The role holder is responsible for the leadership, support and direction for all council Older people’s and Physical disability services and for the oversight of all services in areas which are provided through contract by numerous external organisations The focus of this role is to continuously improve and develop these services to meet the changing needs of an increasing population, particularly by the allocation, management and oversight of all residential and Nursing home placements within Milton Keynes ,ensuring, that customers needs are met , and budgets are well managed.

This role has responsibility for significant budget management which include large, complex and volatile budgets, which require detailed analysis and close management oversight

The role holder is responsible for performance management of staff across these services including dealing with recruitment and selection, workforce planning, and matters of capability and discipline.

This role will lead change, specifically by promoting the integration of services for older people and physically disabled adults, and by developing an integrated and singly managed Service across health and Social care

Head of Older People & Physical Disability Services1

April 2011

Job Context (attach the organisation chart(s) relating to the role )

Head of Older People & Physical Disability Services1

April 2011

PERSON SPECIFICATION

In this section the Skills, Knowledge, Qualification and Competency requirements to perform the role to a satisfactory standard are set out. The extent, nature and level of the role holder’s knowledge and skills should be specified

Awareness some knowledge or skills sufficient to show aptitude and the ability to learn in the particular work area

Significant knowledge and skills gained through practice and/or qualification sufficient to fulfil the role requirements

Extensive knowledge and skills gained through practice and/ or qualification to fulfil the role requirements and contribute to training others and developing policy and practice in the work area

PERSON SPECIFICATION / Examples specific to role / Required / Level / Method of Assessment interview, testing, reference
Essential / Desirable / Awareness / Significant / Extensive
SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
Technical knowledge and qualifications / A recognised Management qualification. (DMS, MBA or equivalent) or
A relevant social care or health professional qualification ( or equivalent ) / x / reference
Planning and organising work / Plan and organise own work load, to delegate where appropriate, and to achieve deadlines even within shifting priorities work / x / x / testing
Planning capacity and resources / Maximise the use of financial, human and physical resources to ensure continuous service improvement and value for money / x / x / interview
Managing self and personal skills / Ensure you have the personal resources to do your job effectively and measure your performance against agreed objectives and address any areas for improvement ; undertake any development activity to ensure that your skill and knowledge meet the needs of the role / x / x / interview
Communication / Deliver information clearly and succinctly to others in the council, partnerships, external organisations and to customers; employing the council’s standards of plain English to create meaningful statements and being able to communicate at all levels.; use numerical and statistical data accurately to influence others where appropriate / x / x / Interview/ testing
Providing direction / Provide leadership to people in a way which motivates supports and enables them to achieve the objectives of MKC’s Vision and Values. Demonstrating a leadership style which inspires and draws out the strengths from individuals within a team / x / x / Interview/
reference
Influencing and interpersonal skills / Build working relationships across the organisation to enable sharing of information, whilst demonstrating integrity and sensitivity to confidentiality; Identifying areas of mutual benefit in working with other key stakeholders and build relationships to achieve service improvements across the directorate, council and other organisations / x / x / Interview/
reference
PROBLEM-SOLVING
Using initiative to overcome problems / Analyse complex problems and identify and implement solutions which will be meet the needs of the majority of stakeholders / x / x / Interview/ testing
Achieving results / Develop flexible but robust medium and long-term plans which support MKC’s Vision and Values for service improvement , making sure that standards are in place for effective communication, monitoring progress and measuring success / x / x / Interview/
reference
Managing risk / Demonstrate a highly developed ability to undertake risk assessments to ensure that proportionate and positive risk taking is applied to all situations with the services / x / x / Interview/ testing
Facilitating and Managing change / Develop strategies for change which takes note of barriers and risks, and the appropriate monitoring required: putting in place a specific programme, including the necessary resources, supporting mechanisms and communication structure to ensure the planned service improvements are positively managed and implemented / x / x / Interview/
reference
ACCOUNTABILITY and RESPONSIBILITY
Undertakes tasks without supervision / Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously, to set own direction, but also to incorporate into service planning, national and corporate direction when required / x / x / Interview/ testing/reference
Managing people / Plan and organise the distribution of work; monitoring progress and quality, measuring against agreed standards, reviewing and updating in the light of developments; Identifying the people required to achieve team and organisational objectives, determining the combination of skills, knowledge and behaviours required to achieve the successful outcome of strategic plans within MKC’s Vision and Values / x / x / Interview/
reference
Managing financial resources / Prepare, agree and monitor a budget to achieve goals and aims, taking timely action when there are unforeseen developments and drawing on internal or external expertise when necessary, to ensure value for money and financial balance. / x / x / Interview/ testing/reference
Values and culture / Lead by example, and display a commitment to MKC’s behavioural ethics, influencing colleagues by demonstrating, and encouraging a way of working which reflects the principles of the equality and diversity
Ensure that MKC’s Corporate Equality policy is clearly communicated to all employees. / x / x / interview
Customer service / Consult with customers to ensure that we are providing what they need to the required standard ,and keep customers involved in changes and developments that may effect them.
Ensure that all customers have fair and equal access to services and facilitating support and/ or resources, to enable every customer to access the services they need / x / x / interview
Health and safety / Embed a culture which ensures safety considerations are firmly embedded in the planning and decision processes within your remit and making sure that legislation relating to health and safety which impacts on your service areas are understood by all employees and that the working environment is free from risks and hazards / x / x / interview

COMPETENCIES REQUIRED – All post holders must be able to comply with the Council’s core competency requirements which include communication, respect for others, customer service, drive for results, delivering the promise and continuous personal development.

In addition for those posts with management responsibilities the competencies will include managing self and personal skills, providing direction, facilitating and managing change, working with people, using resources, achieving results, promoting policy, values and culture, customer service and health and safety.

Other information

able to travel to meet service delivery requirements
available to undertake work outside of normal working hours

Signed Job holder / Signed Line Manager / Signed Assistant Director
Print Job holder / Print Line Manager / Print Assistant Director / Date

Head of Older People & Physical Disability Services1