Chief Operating Officer

As Chief Operating Officer you will be a voting member of the Board, reporting to the Chief Executive. You will:

• lead delivery of hospital and community clinical services against national standards, owning the operational plan to recover urgent and emergency care, elective, cancer and diagnostic performance.
• lead three Divisional Managing Directors, each the accountable officer for their division, and the wider divisional and directorate leadership teams.
• be the executive lead for relationships with partners at Place and System level, including the Place Partnership and the Lancashire & South Cumbria Provider Collaborative,
• lead the development of clinical service strategy with clinical leaders, and drive service developments and reconfigurations that improve Neighbourhood Health.
• lead capacity planning, operational resilience and emergency planning.
• take part in the Executive on-call rota.
In your first year you will lead admission and attendance avoidance at scale, restore theatre and outpatient productivity, and transform how and where outpatient care is delivered.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals serves some of the most deprived communities in England while also welcoming 22 million visitors each year. This creates a demanding environment but also a unique opportunity to develop health and care services that better meet local needs. We are currently ranked 134th out of 134 trusts in the National Oversight Framework and are seeking a Chief Operating Officer who is motivated to lead one of the NHS's most significant turnaround opportunities. This role is broader than many COO posts. You will lead hospital and community services across three clinical divisions and act as executive lead for relationships with partners at Place and System level, including developing our Place Partnership to deliver better Neighbourhood Health. A significant proportion of your time will be spent working beyond the Trust. Our turnaround is already underway. We are focusing on fewer priorities and using our improvement system to make good practice the standard every day. Our staff are committed to the communities they serve and want to be proud of their Trust again. They need clear direction, consistent standards and compassionate accountability to achieve that ambition. We welcome applicants from acute, community, mental health or commissioning backgrounds, whether you are an experienced COO or an outstanding deputy ready to step into a first executive role., Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to around 330,000 people on the Fylde Coast and to the almost 31 million people who visit each year. We provide community health services across Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre and North Lancashire, specialist regional services in cardiac care and haematology, and host the National Artificial Eye Service. In 2025/26 we saw 79,692 A&E attendances, 110,811 day cases and inpatients and 374,781 outpatient attendances. Our purpose is to improve the life chances and health outcomes of our population. We serve some of the most deprived communities in England, and we know our future lies in those communities as much as in our hospitals.