Assistant Operational Support Manager - Patient Flow

The Acute & Emergency Medicine Care Group is seeking to appoint an Assistant Operational Support Manager to support the delivery of urgent and emergency care services at Aintree University Hospital. This is a key operational role on ensuring effective coordination of patient pathways across the ED. The postholder will support operational delivery, with a clear emphasis on patient flow, timely progression of care, and early discharge facilitation. Working under the direction of operational managers, the postholder will:

• Provide day-to-day leadership of patient flow administrative teams, ensuring clear prioritisation and standards
• Train and develop teams to proactively track patients, escalate delays and drive timely decision-making
• Support front-door and downstream flow through active oversight of patient progress, reducing bottlenecks and delays
• Coordinate with clinical, nursing and site teams to facilitate safe and timely discharge from the ED
• Maintain accurate, timely information to support operational decisions and escalation
• Contribute to delivery of key UEC performance standards, Provide day-to-day operational and administrative support, working under the direction of senior operational managers.
• Act as a central point of coordination for operational activity, ensuring workload is organised, prioritised, and supported through accurate and timely information and appropriate escalation.
• Undertake delegated operational tasks in line with standard operating procedures and agreed processes, including coordination of meetings, actions and service activity.
• Support the monitoring and reporting of performance, contributing to delivery against local and national standards and service objectives.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams, including clinical, nursing and corporate colleagues, to support safe and effective service delivery.
• Act as a first point of escalation for routine operational issues, supporting resolution within scope and escalating where required.
• Provide day-to-day supervision and support to administrative or operational staff, contributing to effective team working.
• Support workforce coordination, including staffing information, rota processes, leave and absence management.
• Contribute to governance, quality and assurance processes, including data collection, reporting, audits and reviews.
• Support service improvement activity and ensure compliance with organisational policies, procedures and data quality standards., The Assistant Operational Support Manager will provide comprehensive operational and administrative support to the service, contributing to the effective coordination, delivery and continuous improvement of services. The postholder will work under the direction of senior operational managers and operate within clearly defined delegated authority.
Operational Support and Coordination
• Support the day-to-day operational running of the service, ensuring effective coordination of activity and timely resolution of operational issues.
• Act as a central point of contact for operational matters, ensuring accurate information flow and appropriate escalation.
• Undertake delegated operational tasks in line with standard operating procedures and agreed processes.
Assist in the organisation and coordination of meetings, service activity and action tracking.Performance and Information
• Support the monitoring, reporting and analysis of operational performance, including the collation and validation of data.
• Assist in tracking progress against key performance indicators and service objectives, highlighting risks and issues to senior colleagues.
• Ensure information used to support operational decision-making is accurate, timely and appropriately presented.
Workforce and Team Support
• Provide day-to-day supervision and support to administrative or operational staff, as required.
• Support workforce coordination activities, including maintenance of staffing information, rota processes, leave and absence management.
• Promote effective team working and maintain constructive working relationships across multidisciplinary teams.
Governance, Quality and Assurance
• Support the implementation and monitoring of governance processes, including data quality, incident reporting and compliance with policies and procedures.
• Contribute to audits, reviews and assurance processes as required.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records in line with organisational standards.
Service Improvement and Development
• Support the implementation and review of operational processes and standard operating procedures.
• Contribute to service improvement initiatives and projects, including data collection, analysis and tracking of actions.
• Identify opportunities for improvement in administrative and operational processes and escalate appropriately.
Communication and Working Relationships
• Work collaboratively with clinical, nursing and corporate colleagues to support safe and effective service delivery.
• Communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, ensuring clarity, professionalism and timeliness.
• Support the management team in maintaining effective communication across the service.
This list of duties and responsibilities is not exhaustive and the post holder may be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade of the post, as directed by their line manager.

The role requires a highly organised and proactive individual who is confident operating in a fast-paced environment. You will be an effective communicator, able to influence across multidisciplinary teams, and use data to support operational and performance management.,
• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience gained through relevant operational or administrative roles
• Evidence of ongoing personal and professional development
Desirable criteria
• Relevant qualifications in business administration, management, or operational support
• NHS-specific training or qualifications, Experience of working in a busy operational, administrative, or service environment
• Experience of supporting managers with coordination, reporting, or service delivery processes
• Experience of working to established policies, procedures, and SOPs
Desirable criteria
• Experience of providing day-to-day line management or supervision of staff
• Experience of working within the NHS or public sector
• Experience supporting urgent and emergency care or acute services
• Experience supporting performance improvement or service development activity
• Experience supporting workforce, rota, or medical staffing processes, Understanding of operational processes and effective service coordination
• Understanding of operational performance standards and their application within NHS services
• Understanding of governance, risk management, and assurance processes
• Awareness of working within delegated authority and escalation frameworks
Desirable criteria
• Knowledge of NHS operational and performance management processes
• Awareness of urgent and emergency care performance standards
• Knowledge of NHS information governance and data quality requirements, Strong organisational and prioritisation skills with the ability to manage competing demands
• Ability to analyse and interpret operational information and identify issues for escalation
• Effective written and verbal communication skills with a range of stakeholders
• Confident IT skills, including use of Microsoft Office and Clinical digital systems
• Ability to work independently within defined parameters and SOPs
Desirable criteria
• Guidance Score Data handling or reporting skills
• Experience working with BI or performance teams
• Experience preparing reports, briefings, or dashboards
• Experience using NHS systems (e.g. ESR, e-rostering)
  
  NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHL Group) was formed on 1 November 2024, born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our communities.
We are one of the largest employers in region, with over 18,900 colleagues who are dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond. For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services that extend to more than two million people in the North West. We operate from five hospital sites: Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside, and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to several elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital provide specialist services in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology and respiratory medicine, both in the hospital and out in the community. Liverpool Women's Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single en-suite bedrooms and mainly focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.

Note: Under current Home Office Immigration Rules we are currently unable to offer right to work visa sponsorship for Band 2 and 3 roles with a salary of less than £25,000 pa as they do not meet the UK Visas & Immigration criteria. Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview. We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role. Candidates applying for the role of Healthcare Assistant on the staff bank should note that due to the nature of the role, workers must be aged 18 or above when commencing in post. Applicants are therefore welcome from those aged over 18 or within 3 months' of their 18^th birthday. The Trust is committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance and achieve fair, equitable and consistent practice. We welcome flexible working requests and will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements from day one of your employment. Not all roles are suitable for every flexible working opportunity all of the time. Flexible working options may include reduced hours, compressed hours, fixed shifts, time back in lieu and home working. The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity; we value the contribution of individual talent, skills, knowledge and experience and aim for a workforce demography representative of the local community. We encourage applicants from the following groups that are currently under-represented in our workforce black, Asian and minority ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+), disabled, male and age 16-24. Trust policy requires that the cost of submitting & processing the successful applicant/s DBS application be recovered via salary deduction following start in post. The amount of £26.50 (standard disclosure) or £54.50 (enhanced disclosure) will be deducted from salary, in manageable monthly instalments for up to 3 months following commencement of employment. Bank posts require upfront payment. From April 2017, Skilled visa applicants and their adult dependant(s) will be required to provide a criminal record certificate from each country they have lived in consecutively for 12 months or more in the past ten years. Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa. This organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to the abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff must ensure they adhere to the organisations safeguarding children and adults' policy and comply with the Local Safeguarding Children and Adult Board procedures. Staff should be mindful of their responsibility to safeguard children and adults in any activity performed on behalf of the organisation in line with the requirements of statutory guidance and legislation. All employees (and volunteers)are expected maintain their safeguarding knowledge and skills by completing mandatory safeguarding training which includes understanding and recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and taking appropriate action. As an organisation, we have adopted the Merseyside Domestic abuse workplace scheme which supports our staff who are experiencing Domestic Abuse /any forms of sexual violence. If you have any personal requirements that will enable you to participate in our recruitment process please contact a member of the Recruitment Services by phone on at the earliest opportunity to ensure that measures can be put in place to enable your application for this post. Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.