Head of Healthcare

Main area Offender Healthcare Grade Band 8b Contract Permanent Hours Full time – 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday) Job ref 277-8168697-WANDS

Site HMP Wandsworth Town London Salary £75,328 – £86,114 PA inc Salary period Yearly Closing 09/08/2026 23:59

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a Head of Healthcare to join the team at HMP Wandsworth.

You will be joining a well staffed and fully integrated offender healthcare service managing a team working across Primary Care, Mental Health and Substance Misuse services.

HMP Wandsworth is a Category B men’s prison located in the London Borough of Wandsworth, Southwest London, England. Wandsworth prison is operated by His Majesty’s Prison Service and is one of the largest prisons in the United Kingdom with an operational capacity of approximately 1500. The prison has one of the highest turnovers of prisoners nationally.

As our new Head of Healthcare, your responsibilities will include overseeing and managinga multi-disciplinary team that includes, primary care & clinical substance misuse, mental health primary & secondary care, GP & psychiatry services, optometry, dentistry, podiatry, physiotherapy, sexual health, drug & alcohol services to the establishment.

The post holder will demonstrate the ability to lead and empower others and demonstrate the ability to plan and implement innovative practice to the healthcare service.

Main duties of the job

To oversee and manage a multi-disciplinary team that includes inpatient services, primary care nursing, psychiatry & mental health nursing, GP services, optometry, podiatry, physiotherapy, dentistry, sexual health, drug & alcohol services to the establishment.

The post holder will demonstrate the ability to lead and empower others and demonstrate the ability to plan and implement innovative practice over 24/7 healthcare service.

Working for our organisation

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We Listen
• We Care

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Provide direction and co-ordination in conjunction with Heads of Departments and relevant managers in shaping and implementing the future provision and quality of services provided.

The post holder will exercise a high degree of perso n al and professional autonomy and can plan and reach complex and critical judgments and have decision making skills to satisfy the expectations of the role. To foster and maintain effective relationships with HMPS senior management team, Governors, and staff.

Deputise for the Prisons Services Manager as required .

To strategically develop, deliver, clinically audit and evaluate the Integrated Healthcare Service for the prison. This will include acute & primary care, long term conditions management, enhanced assessment and diagnostic intervention services and health promotion activities and be in line with the NHS Plan, public health ind i cators and National Service Frameworks .

To demonstrate and provide robust expert clinical leadership with a sound understanding of evidence-based nursing practice to provide a pro-active approach, to ensure quality and outcome driven practice on a day-to-day basis, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

To ensure the implementation of effective and appropriate patient centred care planning tools CPA , long-term condition registers and consistent delivery throughout all the prisons and forensic units within the service.

To ensure monitoring systems are in place, to promote the development of evidence-based practice in specialist fields and to promote research as appropriate.

To ensure the development of and participation in managerial and professional clinical supervision programme, to ensure all staff receive appropriate supervision, training and annual appraisal , and to ensure that it becomes an integral part of team practice.

The post holder will work collabo r atively with the Clinical Lead, GPs, psychiatrists and other clinicians to meet and review service needs as required.

Management Responsibilities

Operational

• To be responsible for the development and delivery of an effective integrated healthcare service clinical model.
• To develop, implement and maintain the National Sta n dards for Health Care in Prisons for the service .
• Ensure all clinics and consultations are delivered in a clinically effective and timely way, in line with service needs.
• Develop robust systems for the collection triage & allocation of referrals as appropriate and monitoring and auditing the quality and effectiveness of service delivery.

Management

• Develop strategies designed to promote and improve health and prevent disease, working proactively and collaborating with other professionals, organisations and agencies as required.
• Maximising resources to target need, including the deployment and supervision of staff.
• Delegate appropriate responsibility and authority to team members, whilst retaining overall responsibility and accountability for the service’s performance & results.
• To develop and maintain an effective case management service to ensure care and continuity of treatment is maintained throughout a patient care pathway whilst detained in prison.
• To monitor and review the implementation of appropriate & effective and accredited care planning tools/ CPA for all prisoners/ patients that are subject to the process in accordance with agreed Trust Policies.
• To develop effective systems and interfaces with community and acute health services ensuring continuity of care on release or discharge.
• To actively promote and demonstrate working across professional and organisational boundaries.
• To develop and maintain close working partnerships with all services that may be involved with the care and management of offenders, (prison staff, Ministry of Justice, Trust & Directorate senior managers & relevant forums, CMHT staff, NHS Hospitals, Probation Services, CPS, Courts, GP’s, community health services, Housing/Benefit services, social care, community multiagency forums etc.).

Human Resources

• Responsible for day-to-day management & co-ordination of the Integrated Healthcare Team.
• Responsible for the selection recruitment and retention of appropriately skilled staff.
• To ensure systems are in place for clinical supervision to team members including annual appraisal and identification of specific service, training, and personal development needs.

Governance

• Ensure the clinical policies are fair and equitable and that they support the needs of the Commissioners and offenders and are in line with Trust key performance targets and Clinica l Governance Frameworks .
• Ensure staff compliance with all Prison and Trust clinical policies and procedures as appropriate.
• Responsible for the management of all matters relating to discipline, complaints and serious & untoward incidents and investigations as required.
• Ensure appropriately skilled & qualified staff comply with the administration and management of medications according to their responsibilities in accordance with all relevant policies, guidance, and procedures.
• Ensuring high standards of electronic record-keeping competencies and offender confidentiality in line with trust & prison policy and systems, through effective monitoring and auditing processes.

General

• To liaise with other senior Trust personnel to share expertise, promote ideas and to ensure the service is working collaboratively with the Trust’s other Directorates as required.
• To effectively manage and continuously monitor all budgets and physical resources within the post holder’s sphere of control.
• To act as budget holder and authorised signatory for the Integrated Healthcare team.
• Develop and maintain inter-disciplinary and inter-agency working with all relevant agencies and organisations.
• Undertake other duties agreed in conjunction with the Prisons Services Manager
• Liaises with Clinical Lead, multi-professional teams, HMPS staff, Trust senior directors and staff, commissioners, independent service providers, CMHTs, multi-agency protection panels, community health providers, acute services, probation service, court services, criminal justice agencies, offenders, carers and families.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ:

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.

You will need to provide:

Proof of right to work documentation

Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographicID

Proof of address documentation

Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.

Address History:

5 years address history will be needed.

Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.

Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited .

If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en).

Person specification

Eduction and Qualification

• Registered Nurse
• Evidence of Leadership / Management qualification

Experience

• Previous middle management experience in a multi-disciplinary healthcare provision environment (minimum 3yrs)
• Experience of working within prison settings
• Experience of managing diverse staff groups across 24hr, 7 day period
• Experience of service implementation, development and change management

Skills

• Working knowledge of current issues/ agendas facing prison healthcare
• Working knowledge of the criminal justice system and its application to healthcare services
• Up-to-date knowledge of the National Offender Management Services approach to healthcare for offenders

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities. Remember, if you meet the minimum criteria for this role and you have a disability, you can be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme – Please ensure you select this on your application form. We would encourage you to be open about your needs so we can work with you to design a comfortable and accessible interview experience. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request.

If you require any adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know by adding the relevant details when scheduling your preferred interview date and time. Please feel free to contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs.

We encourage applicants to contact the hiring manager before their interview, if they have any questions about the role or the process. This is a great way to get clarity and prepare effectively for the interview.

If you have declared you are part of the armed forces community, you may be asked to provide evidence during the recruitment process. If you misrepresent this information, your offer may be withdrawn. For Armed Forces specific support, see our webpage: https://oxleas.nhs.uk/armed-forces-community/

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it’s essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information. AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

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