Practice Operations Manager

Haddenham Surgery is a well-established, friendly practice serving around 8,000 patients, with a proportionate team and a manageable operational footprint. We are looking for an exceptional operational leader someone with the authority and confidence to run a GP practice to the highest standard, and the collaborative instinct to do it as part of something bigger.

As Practice Operations Manager you will have genuine site-level autonomy: accountable for service quality, patient and staff experience, contractual and regulatory compliance, and the overall performance of Haddenham Surgery. You'll also be a full member of the Mereside Operations team, actively contributing to group strategy and owning your part in delivering it.

We've deliberately redesigned this role to remove the tasks that make traditional practice management unmanageable. Payroll, management accounts, employment contracting, IT networking and infrastructure, and large estates projects sit with specialist central functions. This means you can focus on leading your practice well on service quality, CQC readiness, and the staff and patient experience that makes Haddenham a practice people want to work in.

The result is a role with real scope and real support: stretching, but genuinely doable. If you thrive in a collaborative structure, take pride in operational excellence, and want to lead a site that matters to its community, we'd like to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

You are the senior operational leader at Haddenham Surgery, with full accountability for service delivery, quality and compliance. This means keeping clinical and non-clinical services running safely and efficiently day-to-day, driving continuous improvement, and ensuring the practice meets its contractual and regulatory obligations including QOF performance and CQC readiness.

You are responsible for the staff experience at Haddenham Surgery from the culture of the team to the practical business of making sure the right people are in the right place. You will be a visible, trusted leader for your team, the first port of call for day-to-day people matters, and a thoughtful steward of the practices workforce.

The physical environment, digital infrastructure and information governance of Haddenham Surgery are yours to steward. You will be supported by the Group Manager, IT, Digital & Estates for specialist input, but day-to-day ownership sits with you. You will also maintain oversight of shared operational resources including practice inboxes and social media channels.

Patient engagement is a contractual obligation and a genuine reflection of our values. It is delivered through a coordinated group approach with site-level tailoring, and the postholder is expected to take real ownership of this not just attend events, but actively shape how Haddenham Surgery listens to and communicates with its community.

About us

Mereside Medical is a flourishing group of three East Cambridgeshire practices in Ely, Haddenham and Soham, serving c.45,000 patients and employing more than 170 people. We are people-centred, clinically ambitious, and forward-looking embracing technology and innovation to deliver better outcomes for our communities. We are proud to host the NIHR Greater Cambridge & Suffolk Commercial Research Delivery Centre (Primary Care), one of only 14 nationally, reflecting our long-standing commitment to research and health improvement.

Our goal is to deliver on the ambitions laid out in theNHS10 year Health Plan for England in a way that is locally relevant, valued by patients, and satisfying for our staff. In addition to our core general practice work we run a large clinical research trials unit and we work closely with the ICB to develop innovative ways to improve local service provision. We are the lead practice for one of the two local PCNs and are represented in both.

We are proud to be the host organisation for the NIHR Greater Cambridge & Suffolk Commercial Research Delivery Centre (Primary Care), one of only 14 in England. This prestigious designation recognises our commitment to accelerating commercial clinical research delivery for health and economic benefit across our region.

Job responsibilities

Lead the practice

You are the senior operational leader at Haddenham Surgery, with full accountability for service delivery, quality and compliance. This means keeping clinical and non-clinical services running safely and efficiently day-to-day, driving continuous improvement, and ensuring the practice meets its contractual and regulatory obligations including QOF performance and CQC readiness.

• Maintain overall accountability for operational performance, capacity and patient flow,identifyingand resolving risks and pressures promptly
• Lead local implementation of group policies, procedures andoperatingstandards, ensuring consistent and compliant practice
• Own CQC readiness at site level,maintainingrequired evidence, leading local action plans, and contributing to risk registers
• Act as theinitialpoint of contact for patient complaints andsignificant events, managing resolution or escalation in line with policy and working closely with the Group Quality and Clinical teams
• Use operational data and insight toidentifytrends, improvementopportunitiesand performance risks, and translate these into action.

Lead your people

Youare responsible forthe staff experience at Haddenham Surgery from the culture of the team to the practical business of making sure the right people are in the right place. You will be a visible, trusted leader for your team, the first port of call for day-to-day people matters, and a thoughtful steward of the practices workforce.

• Provide visible,inclusiveand accountable leadership for practice staff, fostering a culture where people feel supported and able to do their best work
• Ensure excellent induction and onboarding for all site-based and visiting staff, and act as the first point of contact for day-to-day staff matters, resolving routine issues and escalating to PeopleandCulture where needed
• Support local managers with staffing rotas, capacity planning, absence monitoring and wellbeing, and workforce planning including succession considerations
• Monitor compliance with mandatory and statutory training requirements, working with PeopleandCulture to meet completion targets and escalating risks promptly
• Exercise delegated authority in line with the Mereside Delegated Authorities Schedule for local purchasing, recruitment activity and contractor engagement, escalating decisions outside agreed thresholds to the Group Practice Operations Manager.

Manage the site

The physical environment, digital infrastructure and information governance of Haddenham Surgery are yours to steward. You will be supported by the Group Manager, IT, Digital & Estates for specialist input, but day-to-day ownership sits with you. You will also maintain oversight of shared operational resources including practice inboxes and social media channels.

• Take ownership of Health & Safety compliance at Haddenham Surgery and branch sites, ensuring statutory requirements are met under the guidance of theGroup Manager, IT,Digital & Estates
• Ensure the practice environment is safe, wellmaintainedand used effectively by patients and staff; lead on local estates works and improvements with guidance as needed from theGroup Manager, IT,Digital & Estates
• Act as a key holder and participat ein the sites emergency and out-of-hours response arrangements as required
• Provide first-line IT support at site level (e.g. NHSMail, Smartcards, SystmOne access), escalating more complex issues to the Group Manager, IT, Digital & Estates
• Take an active role in group-level GDPR and information governance assurance; all POMs are expected to be well-versed in healthcare IG requirements and to contribute to group-level compliance activity
• Maintain oversight of shared operational resources including the Practice Management and Patient Group inboxes and Meresides social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), assigning or actioning items asappropriate.

Engage your community

Patient engagement is a contractual obligation and a genuine reflection of our values. It is delivered through a coordinated group approach with site-level tailoring, and the postholder is expected to take real ownership of this not just attendevents, butactively shape how Haddenham Surgery listens to and communicates with its community.

• Co-deliver the Mereside Patient Forum and uphold the Patient Charter in all engagement activity, ensuring Haddenhams patients have a genuine voice in how services are shaped
• Work proactively to obtain,collateand act on patient feedback through a range of channels, sharing insights with the Operations team to inform site-level and group-level improvement
• Contribute to the shared production of patient engagement materials including videos, posters, newsletters and surveys in both digital and print form and support planning and attendance at engagement events, including occasional events outside normal working hours.

Person Specification

Experience

• A genuinely enthusiastic, caring, and proactive approach with a clear passion for supporting both patients and colleagues
• A strong commitment to achieving the best for your team while also bringing out the best in them through encouragement, accountability, and support
• A confident and decisive leadership style, with the ability to make informed decisions and take ownership of outcomes
• The ability to build trusted, supportive relationships with the Haddenham GP partner, providing reassurance, practical support and collaborative problem-solving
• Highly organised and resilient with the capability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced healthcare environment
• An engaged, collaborative mindset with strong communication skills able to contribute actively to the wider Operations team, lead and influence at all levels, and build trusted relationships across the organisation
• A continuous improvement mindset, always looking for ways to enhance services, processes, and team performance.
• Have previous experience in primary care or an NHS setting, with a solid understanding of general practice operations
• Bring experience in managing resource allocation within a healthcare environment
• Have confidence in using clinical systems and digital tools to support efficient practice management and reporting
• Demonstrate experience in leading change, service improvement, or transformation initiatives
• Have a good understanding of workforce planning, rota management, and HR processes
• Show an interest in population health, community engagement, and improving access to services
• Already have, or are willing to work towards, an iGPM accreditation.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

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