Public Health and Intelligence, NHS National Services Scotland

The Role

As a member of the Public Health and Intelligence (PHI) senior team the Medical Director has a shared corporate responsibility for delivering on the PHI mission and vision. Our mission (what we do and why) clearly identifies PHI as a public health intelligence organisation:

  • To transform information into evidence for action to protect and improve health and well-being in Scotland.

Our vision (where we want to be) was only recently approved by the NSS Board. It has a clear line of sight to what we need to do to support delivery of the NHS Scotland 2020 Vision:

  • Nationally and locally, developing and enabling better integrated health intelligence to support the 2020 Vision.

There are three key challenges that fall out of the vision and which are particularly relevant to the role:

  • How we support health and social care integration (our main effort) and wider public service integration.
  • How we transform the way we deliver to take account of changing user requirements, technology advances and the need to develop and enable local analytical capability.
  • How we optimise our role in supporting research to aid addressing some of the major health service and health issues affecting Scotland.

The Medical Director has three main roles in supporting delivery against the mission and vision:

  • Providing professional public health input to shape strategic direction
  • Leading and organising the clinical workforce.
  • Influencing and shaping the national external context with a particular focus on clinical and research links.

It is clear that the role requires someone who is more than credible professionally in the public health arena. They should have experience to show that they understand how data, information and intelligence can be used to influence health outcomes strategically. However it will be evidence of effective leadership that will set the successful candidate apart; they will be able to demonstrate that they:

  • Can operate effectively as part of a (non-medical) senior management team in a corporate environment.
  • Have the people management and leadership skills to get the best out of a highly specialised group ~ 50 staff that make up the clinical and medical workforce.
  • Have the presence and strategic comprehension to be influential nationally with a broad range of senior stakeholders.

Further information can be found in the following documents: