About the job

Job summary

Registered General Nurse or Allied Health Professional in relevant clinical discipline with current professional registration e.g. NMC

This role will require contact with vulnerable adults and children

The Yorkshire & Humber Health Protection Team based in Leeds is one of 9 Health Protection Teams across the country. UKHSA Yorkshire & Humber are a multi-disciplinary team, providing a day to day health protection and acute response function, including the management of infectious diseases and environmental hazards and supporting the response to major incidents.

Location

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow.  This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at Blenheim House, Leeds. With regular travel within the geographical area of responsibility and travel elsewhere/nationally as maybe required by the post. For certain roles, some additional flexibility may be possible, which will be agreed upon with the hiring manager based on individual requirements and business needs.

*Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas. Relocation expenses are not available.* 

Job description

Your main responsibilities:

The Advanced Health Protection Practitioner (AHPP) is a key member of a multi-disciplinary team providing the day to day acute service response. They will share responsibility with other senior members of the health protection team to provide oversight and management of incidents and outbreaks of infectious and non-infectious environmental hazards.

The post holder will require excellent generic public health skills and have specific lead areas of work involving partnership working with external organisations. They will actively assist in the development of joint plans and system wide priorities for public health action or improvement.

The post holder will contribute to the strategic work of the locality/patch-based health protection team deputising if appropriate and will lead and coordinate defined complex areas of work including regional and national work streams.

The postholder will:

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Use expertise and knowledge to lead the management of complex incidents and outbreaks of infectious diseases and non-infectious environmental hazards, in collaboration with the Incident Director.
• Assume management and supervision of the day to day acute response service and complex incidents to ensure high quality safe and effective delivery, if required.
• Manage and carry out continuing responsibility for a caseload ensuring accurate, up to date records of contacts/action by completion of relevant records and compliance with team handover procedures, in line with UKHSA’s standards for record keeping.
• To utilise an evidence based approach to manage clinical/professional advice and discussions within the team and support and participate in the team’s formal case review process.
• To monitor standards, ensuring quality and consistency and to take action where any shortfall occurs.
• Contribute to and where required lead ongoing longer term management of issues relevant to a defined geographical area within their region.
• Contribute to the UKHSA response during incidents in line with UKHSAs Emergency Planning and Resilience Response (EPRR) arrangements as part of the region’s responsibilities under the Civil Contingencies Act.
• Contribute to and support the UKHSA region’s input into Emergency Planning arrangements.
• May be required to participate in a local on call rota at local, regional or national level as required.

SURVEILLANCE

• Contribute proactively and where required lead the development and maintenance of effective systems for the surveillance of communicable disease and environmental hazards for a designated area of work.
• Proactively use surveillance outputs to inform and influence local and national Public Health actions, policies and strategies.
• Contribute to health needs, health inequalities, health impact assessments and influencing both national and local priorities.

PARTNERSHIP WORKING

1. Develop and nurture key relationships with a wide range of individuals and stakeholders and take responsibility for the maintenance of professional networks relevant to role.
2. Employ highly effective communication, negotiation and influencing skills to enable stakeholder relationships to deliver objectives with:

• External organisations and wider NHS stakeholders to ensure collaboration in the strategy in the Sector
• Internal leaders and staff to gain input to the development of systems, processes and activities

1. Deal with complex and conflicting subject matter problems or in day work load in workshops, meetings, one to one communications and other events, comprising various parts of the business.
2. Contribute actively to the development and implementation of system wide priorities and programmes for public health action or improvement.

RESEARCH, TEACHING AND TRAINING

• Contribute to research activity to complement the health protection evidence base.
• Develop and deliver appropriate teaching resources and activities across a range of audiences.
• Contribute to training programmes for Foundation Year Doctors and Specialist Trainees in the Faculty of Public Health training scheme as appropriate, and to the training of public health and health care professionals and practitioners within the locality.
• Ensure appropriate clinical supervision and mentorship systems are in place.
• Provide clinical/professional supervision and mentorship as appropriate. 

Management Arrangements

The postholder will:

• To be a visible, positive and competent role model and motivator setting and monitoring team professional standards.
• Ensure day-to-day operational delivery of the region’s health protection function, responsibilities and resources, planning and managing the physical resources that ensure the regional HP function is fully equipped and fit for purpose.
• Direct, design and undertake audit as part of a wider programme of governance and quality/service improvement activity across the UKHSA region.

Key Working Relationships

The post holder will develop working relationships and communicate regularly with a wide range of individuals, clinical and non-clinical, internal and external to UKHSA. This will include:

1. Staff in other UKHSA Regional teams;
2. Other UKHSA, divisions/directorates;
3. Local Authorities;
4. Care Homes;
5. Local Prisons;
6. Local NHS including commissioners and providers;
7. Local Resilience For a and Local Health Resilience Partnerships;
8. Healthcare Professionals;
9. Community and Voluntary Sector;
10. Other Government Agencies.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The Job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary.

Person specification

It is important through your application and Statement of Suitability of no more than 1500 words that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the essential criteria (for full details of all essential criteria please refer to the attached job description):

Essential

• Registered General Nurse or Allied Health Professional in relevant clinical discipline with current professional registration e.g. NMC
• Master’s in Public health, or higher degree in a related subject, or evidence of CPD in health protection and documented experience at master’s level practice
• Recognised qualification in Infection Prevention and Control or demonstrable equivalent experience
• Extensive experience in a health protection role at a senior level with specialist knowledge and expertise in Health Protection
• An understanding of and ability to work under the current Health and Social Care Act (e.g. safe guarding vulnerable adults; data protection, information governance)
• Proven experience of managing others in a managerial or supervisory role including performance management and appraisal and development
• Proven experience and ability to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct activities of/to others including managing and motivating a team and reviewing individual standards
• Ability to identify areas for development and delivery of training programmes ensuring national and strategic objectives
• Experience of leading and maintaining quality and governance frameworks
• Proven experience of leading and developing robust audit and service improvement practices
• Ability to identify areas for policy development and experience of delivering these for service improvement utilising a variety of literature and resources
• Leadership and management of projects (e.g. Quality Improvement and research)
• Involvement and co-ordination of public health initiatives
• Incident and outbreak investigation and management
• Ability to undertake on call responsibility for public health
• Sound knowledge and understanding of the wider public health agenda
• Working knowledge of the principles of epidemiology
• Experience of effectively engaging with the media e.g. reactive press statement
• Experience of developing and delivering training programmes on a wide range of topics including to trainees, pre and post registration
• Experience of professional supervision/mentorship including supporting public health trainees. e.g.as a project supervisor
• Highly effective verbal, written and presentation communications skills; capable of constructing and delivering clear ideas and concepts concisely and accurately for diverse audiences
• Proven ability to build trusted stakeholder relationships networks in a politically sensitive and/or changing environment
• Ability to interpret, analyse and disseminate complex and/or sensitive information in a concise yet insightful way, pre-empting and evaluating issues and recommending appropriate course of action(s) to large and influential groups
• Proven capability to plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly
• Evidence of ability to handle challenging issues taking a problem-solving approach to ensure proactive and effective resolution
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office including Word, and Excel
• Experience of clinical and/ or professional supervision/mentorship
• Evidence of ongoing CPD and committed to self-development and willing to share experience with others to influence practice
• Ability to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct activities of others including managing and motivating a team and reviewing individual standards
• Experience of leadership within a changing environment
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships, both in terms of day-to-day working practices, and in relation to management systems and has the ability to take actions which support and promote this agenda

Desirable

• Recognised teaching qualification or equivalent experience, e.g. ENB 998, PGCE or NVQ Level 4 Certificate in Education
• Professional Public Health qualification and registration e.g. Specialist Community Public Health (SCPHN) part of the NMC Register or UK PH Register for practitioners
• Experience of project principles techniques and tools such as Prince 2 and Managing Successful Projects
• Understanding of public health law
• Experience of budget management and financial processes
• Evidence of understanding of the principles of workforce profiles, strategic workforce planning and workforce deployment issues

Benefits

Working for the UKHSA

For more information on the UKHSA please visit: UK Health Security Agency - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Range of health and wellbeing support

Any move to UKHSA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at Childcare Choices , 30 Hours Free Childcare, Tax-Free Childcare and More , Help with Costs , GOV.UK

Things you need to know

Selection process details

STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT: 

You will be required to complete an application form. This will be assessed in line with the full list of essential criteria as detailed in the attached job description – please do provide evidence of how you meet this. Your Statement of Suitability should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria (outlined in the person specification section).

You will also be asked to provide information within the ‘Employer/ Activity history’ section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview.

STAGE 2 – INTERVIEW 

This competition will involve an interview by video. 

As part of the process, candidates will be invited to interview which will involve an in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification.  Candidates will also be asked to participate in a session where they will be required to prepare and deliver a 5-minute presentation to the panel.  This will be followed by a question-and-answer segment.  The presentation will be designed to assess each candidate’s experience in line with the requirements of the role.  Full details will be provided prior to the interview.

Civil Service Success Profiles / Civil Service Competency Framework 2012-2017

As a civil servant your performance and appraisal will be assessed against the civil service core competencies or success profile elements detailed below:

Strategic cluster – setting direction:	People cluster – engaging people:	Performance cluster – delivering results:
1.       Seeing the big picture   2.       Changing and improving 3.       Making effective decisions	1.       Leading and communicating   2.       Collaborating and partnering   3.       Building capability for all	1.       Achieving commercial outcomes   2.       Delivering value for money   3.       Managing a quality service   4.       Delivering at pace

 For further information on the selection process, please refer to the attached Candidate Pack.

Expected Timeline:

Advert close: 23:55hrs on 22nd April 2024 – unfortunately, late applications will not be considered. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Interviews: TBD

Please note these dates could be subject to change.  

Security clearance level requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.  Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard.  People working with government assets must complete Basic Personnel Security Standard checks.

For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest. 

Please Note

This role is to be appointed under NHS Terms & Conditions. Full details on the T&C’s are found https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/

Are you already a civil servant, or employed by a Civil Service Commission accredited public body? Please state home department on your application form.

Do you meet the nationality requirements for this post? https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/

Complaint process:

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: Complaints1@ukhsa.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.