Deputy Director of Medical Services – Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals

Employment Type: Full-Time
Location: Darwin, NT
Position Classification: Staff Specialist
Application Close Date: 06/02/2022

Where you’ll be working

The Royal Darwin Hospital is co-located in the northern suburbs of Darwin with the 100 bed Darwin Private Hospital. It is a University teaching hospital affiliated with Flinders University (NT medical program), the Menzies School of Health Research and the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre. With 367 beds it provides a broad range of services in specialty areas to the Darwin urban population as well as serving as a referral centre to the whole Top End of the Northern Territory, a population of around 200,000, including rural and very remote Aboriginal communities. There is a strong clinical focus on Indigenous health and chronic diseases. Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) is the only tertiary level hospital, which supports other smaller hospitals including Palmerston Regional Hospital, Katherine Hospital and Gove District Hospital as major referral centre. RDH has almost all major medical and surgical specialities (except cardiac surgery) and level 3 ICU and Emergency departments.

Palmerston Hospital with 116 beds is a subacute service and opened in August 2018 as an extension of Royal Darwin Hospital, including an Emergency Department, Day and low acuity Surgery, Rehabilitation, a Medical ward, a GEM ward and Ambulatory care services.

The Northern Territory offers a great lifestyle, spectacular geography and unique medical opportunities not available elsewhere in Australia. The city of Darwin is one of the most vibrant and multi culturally diverse cities in Australia – it’s one of Australia’s best kept secrets! The city provides all the amenities to enjoy this tropical lifestyle including fishing, sailing, sport or just relaxing under a palm tree. National parks abound – a weekend in Kakadu, a trip to the Kimberley, camping out in Litchfield Park – it’s all at our doorstep. It is a vibrant growing community full of opportunities for both single people and families.

About the Role

This 2 year tenure for the Deputy Director of Medical Services role is a unique and wonderful opportunity to build your professional medical leadership career. Reporting to the Director Medical Services Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals your primary responsibilities will include supporting the Director of Medical Services Royal Darwin Palmerston Hospital to ensure the safe, effective and efficient delivery of medical services across the organisation. This position assists in the delivery of safe multidisciplinary patient centred health care at RDPH by managing and coordinating workforce improvement initiatives, and clinical governance processes that support the clinicians.

Primary objective:

Supporting the Director of Medical Services Royal Darwin Palmerston Hospital to ensure the safe, effective and efficient delivery of medical services across the organisation. This position assists in the delivery of safe multidisciplinary patient centred health care at RDPH by managing and coordinating workforce improvement initiatives, and clinical governance processes that support the clinicians.

Key duties and responsibilities:

1. Oversee processes that attract and retain the medical workforce: recruitment, appointment commencement, induction, credentialing, defining scope of practice, rostering and ensuring that staff have a clear understanding of role accountabilities, governance systems and culture.
2. Provide expect advice and direction to clinical leaders and executives in resolving complex, clinical, medico-legal, ethical and operational challenges.
3. Provide leadership, direction and development of the safety, quality and patient experience services to Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals including Patient Flow and Medical Services unit.
4. Ensure that programs are in place that develop the teaching and clinical supervision skills of staff within the facility to support continuity in the organisation’s ability to effectively train and teach medical staff.
5. Follow defined service quality standards, work health and safety policies and procedures relating to the work being undertaken in order to ensure high quality, safe services and workplaces.
6. Foster a positive workplace culture through exemplary leadership practices and role modelling behaviour.

About You

Essential:

1. Eligible for general and/or specialist registration with AHPRA
2. A minimum of 3 years’ experience in medical administration, leadership and management in a health service environment.
3. Demonstrated experience in developing and evaluating workforce management, training and education systems and achieving medical education outcomes in a clinical environment
4. Knowledge of contemporary patient centred clinical management that enhances the safety and quality of clinical services.
5. Demonstrated experience in leading the implementation of a multidisciplinary approach to service delivery.
6. Demonstrated high-level credibility and ability to act in an advisory capacity to clinicians.
7. Experience in clinical service planning, policy development and responding to medical legal requirements and consumer feedback requests.
8. Demonstrated interpersonal, communication, negotiation and motivational skills to build and maintain relationships.
9. Demonstrated analytical problem solving skills for managing conflicting priorities and delivering successful strategies and solutions.

Desirable:

1. Fellowship of Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.

More information

From 13 November 2021 all NTPS employees subject to the Chief Health Officer Directions No.55 of 2021 are required to provide evidence of at least one dose of an approved COVID 19 vaccination and evidence of two doses completed by 24 December 2021 except in circumstances where there is a medical exemption.

For further information please contact:

Dr Sara Watson, Director Medical Services RDPH on 08 8922 8871 or sara.watson@nt.gov.au

Applications close: Sunday 6th of February 2022.