Chief Medical Officer

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1.    Board, corporate and strategic leadership

•    Contribute fully as an Executive Director to Trust strategy, corporate decision-making, governance, risk management, population health and reducing inequalities and organisational performance.
•    Provide expert medical and clinical advice to the Board of Directors, Council of Governors, Executive Team and relevant committees.
•    Champion safe, effective, compassionate, affordable, patient centred and evidence-based care across all services.
•    Act as a senior ambassador for CNWL at local, regional and national forums, strengthening strategic partnerships and the Trust's reputation.
•    Ensure clinical objectives are aligned with quality, workforce, operational and financial plans.

2.    Statutory, professional and accountable officer duties

The CMO will hold the following executive and statutory accountabilities:
•    Responsible Officer(RO)  for Medical Appraisal and Revalidation; 
•    .Caldicott Guardian (CG) - line manager and accountable for CG
•    Board lead for Research and Development, undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, medical workforce strategy and management.
•    Board lead for Quality Improvement and joint lead with Chief Nurse for Quality Management System (QMS) 
•    Pharmacy – line manager for the Chief Pharmacist who is also the Controlled drug Officer; responsible for all aspects of medicines management and optimisation, 
•    Lead for clinical pathway redesign and related organisational learning  
•    Oversight of professional standards, including conduct, capability, health, performance and engagement with the GMC, Royal Colleges, NHS Resolution, PPA and other regulatory bodies as required.

3.    Medical workforce leadership

•    Provide professional leadership to doctors and dentists across the Trust, fostering an inclusive, compassionate and high-performing medical culture.
•    Directly manage Divisional Medical Directors and relevant corporate direct reports, ensuring clarity of accountability and consistent professional standards.
•    Ensure robust arrangements for consultant appointment processes, appraisal, job planning, revalidation, performance management, professional development and succession planning.
•    Promote medical engagement, wellbeing and leadership development, ensuring the medical voice informs organisational decisions and transformation programmes.
•    Support productivity, workforce sustainability and service quality through effective medical workforce planning and consultant engagement.

4.    Quality, safety, clinical governance and learning

•    Provide Joint executive leadership and accountability with the Chief Nurse for clinical governance, clinical risk, patient safety, clinical effectiveness, complaints learning, patient safety incident investigations learning and quality improvement.
•    Work with the Chief Nurse and Executive colleagues to ensure governance systems support continuous improvement in quality, safety and patient experience.
•    Champion Quality Improvement, benchmarking, evidence-based practice, research, innovation and the adoption of digital technologies that improve care, safety and productivity.
•    Ensure medical engagement with patient feedback, incident reviews and organisational learning, including contribution to the Annual Quality Account and Board quality reporting.
•    Promote patient, carer, governor and community involvement in service design, delivery and evaluation.

5.    Education, research and innovation

•    Provide executive oversight of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, working with the Chief People Officer, Director of Medical Education, Divisional Medical Directors and education partners.
•    Ensure doctors in training receive appropriate supervision, support and high-quality learning environments.
•    Maintain strong relationships with universities, deaneries and education bodies, and develop future clinical leaders.
•    Promote research, innovation, learning and improvement as core components of clinical excellence.

6.    System leadership and partnerships

•    Lead and influence clinical strategy across Integrated Care Systems, Provider Collaboratives and regional partnerships.
•    Build effective relationships with NHS England, commissioners, regulators, local authorities, primary care, voluntary sector partners, universities and other providers.
•    Ensure clinical perspectives inform commissioning, service planning, integrated models of care and transformation programmes.
•    Champion population health, prevention, reduction of health inequalities and improved outcomes for underserved communities.

7.    Information governance and confidentiality

•    Lead the work of the Caldicott Guardian and provide Board-level oversight 
•    Oversee protocols and assurance arrangements relating to the lawful, safe and proportionate use of person-identifiable information.
•    Through the Caldicott Guardian work with the Information Governance function to ensure compliance with relevant legislation, standards, improvement plans and regulatory submissions.