Employer Overview

The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive - and we all have our part to play. As employers we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities. As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that is a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern. In addition, although the role advertised may have a “home” office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you. We are an accredited Living Wage Employer which means that every colleague working for our organisation and third‑party contractors will earn a real Living Wage.

Role Overview

A speciality Training Programme Director (TPD) is a member of the Speciality Training Committee (STC) who is managerially responsible to the Postgraduate Dean for the delivery of training in that speciality according to the standards set by the GMC and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The demands on TPDs are likely to vary at times and the guidance below should be interpreted flexibly.

Responsibilities

• To emphasise the importance and promote the development of a quality learning environment for all learners.
• To support Postgraduate Deans in meeting all NHSE statutory requirements.
• Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality Improvement
  • Assist in the development of quality processes which are complementary across the healthcare workforce.
  • Support the use of clinical skills training and simulation (where appropriate/applicable), stressing the importance of teamwork and human factors.
• School Programme Management
  • Oversee the Specialty’s Regional Training Programme and advise Postgraduate Deans and Heads of School on the following matters:
  • Specialty‑specific matters and trainee/trainer concerns.
  • Recruitment to training posts and programmes.
  • Postgraduate programme management, including assessments, progression, rotations, support and remediation, OOP management, trainee management, careers support, less than full‑time training, inter‑deanery transfer, academic training and other related work‑streams.
  • Provide reports to the Specialty Training Committee and School Board.
  • Complete the annual school development plan.
• Educational and Workforce Development
  • Advise and support the Postgraduate Dean in educational and workforce development elements, including professional development of the educational faculty.
  • Support compliance with requirements particularly with regard to the supervision and support for trainees and learners.
  • Identify learning needs and support provision of educational appraisal, educator development and resource for faculty, trainees and learners.
  • Create and promote shared learning opportunities to increase effective inter‑professional working across the School.
• Intelligence Support / Provision
  • Ensure local intelligence processes inform quality management processes.
  • Engage with information systems (trainee database, post establishments).
• Strategic Workforce Development and Commissioning
  • Contribute to workforce planning, ensuring clinical engagement with local and national workforce planning processes.
  • Develop educational programmes where needed to support achievement of curriculum competencies, engaging with commissioning processes as required.
  • Identify and support the implementation of alternative workforce solutions within the School.
  • Advise the Postgraduate Dean on commissioning and decommissioning activities.
• Finance
  • Engage with financial business planning processes and associated School budgets as needed.
  • Ensure compliance with procurement requirements.

Secondments

Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only; agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.

Our commitments to you

We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We recognise that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better patient outcomes. We strive to ensure our people feel trusted, valued and empowered. We welcome your talent and enthusiasm irrespective of age, disability, neuro‑divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We have policies and procedures to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability and/or who are neuro‑divergent. We welcome applications from disabled candidates. If you meet all the essential criteria, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Recruitment Process

Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. Whilst we appreciate that you may have had support with your application (e.g., using AI technology or guidance from a trusted individual), it is important that the information in your application reflects your own knowledge, skill and experience and that you apply on that basis. If applying for this role on a secondment basis, please make sure you have obtained prior agreement from your current line manager to apply for this position. We do not accept applications via recruitment agencies. To comply with the HM Government Functional Standard GovS 007 and the Personnel Security Standards 2024, individuals employed or contracted by NHS England may be required to undergo a baseline personnel security standards check, dependent on the role. The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is attached to advise you on how we will process your personal data. If you have applied via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred third‑party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Additional Information

Our work supports the NHS to deliver high quality services for patients and best value for taxpayers. Our staff bring expertise across hundreds of specialisms – including clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education and commercial – enabling us to design and deliver high‑quality NHS services. We lead the NHS in England by enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities, making the NHS a great place to work where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential, working collaboratively to ensure our workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care, optimising the use of digital technology, research and innovation, and delivering value for money. Earlier this year, the Government announced that NHS England will gradually merge with the Department of Health and Social Care, leading to full integration. The aim is to create a smaller, more strategic centre that reduces duplication and eliminates waste. If successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR), retrieving key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, continuous service dates (CSD) and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the recruitment process.