Theatre manager

Founded in 2003 by Professor Dick White, and now part of the Linnaeus Group, DWR has grown rapidly to become the largest private veterinary referral hospital in the UK. DWR is a busy, purpose-built specialist referral-only small animal veterinary hospital providing 24/7 referral-only services for patients across England, via our dedicated team of world-class clinicians, RVNs and support colleagues.  The hospital is fully equipped with the latest surgical equipment and diagnostic facilities commensurate with a flagship specialist veterinary hospital.

We are dedicated to deliver Excellence, Trust and Care in all we do.  Based in Six Mile Bottom, Suffolk, UK, located only 6 miles from the historic town of Newmarket and 8 miles from the vibrant and historic university city of Cambridge, with excellent connections to London, the Midlands and the stunning East Anglian coast.

Job Summary:

The role of Theatre Manager is a pivotal position within DWR, liaising with a variety of stakeholders to ensure that resources are available to allow surgical procedures to be performed in a safe, timely and effective manner with patient care at the centre. We envisage the Theatre Manager to have good knowledge and experience of specialist referral practices, including nursing and anaesthesia that is related to surgical conditions. We would expect a Theatre Manager to have excellent organisational abilities, communication skills and able to effectively manage, lead and develop people is a key requirement of the role. Assertiveness and being able to be flexible yet decisive are important attributes for this position.

Dick White Referrals is currently going through an exciting phase of expansion, and redevelopment increasing our number of surgical theatres around late 2022 to the start of 2023. The successful candidate would therefore play an important role in the design phase along with managing this expansion as we move into our new facilities to enable a smooth transition and continued service of the surgical team.

Responsibilities:

• Organise the theatre schedule for the current five theatres and personnel involved working in the theatres including Soft Tissue, Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Cardiac Surgery. It is important the Theatre Manager makes sure the correct cases are booked in and that staff availability meets the needs of the theatre.
• Overarching management of all theatre suites and the central sterile services department.
• All line management responsibilities of the team of theatre RVNs and Technicians.
• Allocate RVNs, Theatre Technicians and Anaesthetists to procedures taking into account individuals experience and the needs of the individual case.
• Be responsible (with aid from the Deputy Theatre Manager) for the daily and out of hours rota for the RVNs and Technicians and manage holiday requests.
• Stock control and ordering of theatre items and liaise with our Hospital Manager on maintenance and repair of theatre equipment. This will involve placing orders, investigating and researching new equipment or replacement equipment.
• Attending monthly meetings with the Senior Management Teams, including Infection Control, Hospital Manager, Director and Line Manager.
• Attending daily and weekly meetings with the surgical theatre team.
• Liaise with HR with any professional or personal difficulties within the team and be responsible for assisting in management of these difficulties.
• Implementation of theatre standards, SOP’s and work-flow procedures within the team.
• Be involved with design of new theatre space as we expand to minimise disruption to surgical services.
• Actively promote and champion DWR’s core values; displaying the behaviours you expect from others.
• Continue to maintain and develop your own professional knowledge and skills in line with the mandatory RCVS registration CPD requirements (if applicable).
• Maintain effective and professional colleague relationships.
• Work with appropriate people/teams to find solutions and speedily and effectively resolve issues and concerns raised.
• Lead by example ensuring a professional and positive attitude is always maintained.
• Promote Health and Safety policies and practices, ensuring compliance is always maintained.
• Writing and implementation of SOPs
• Complete the recruitment process when required.
• Fire Marshal responsibilities.

Successful Candidate:

The successful candidate will ideally be an experienced RVN passionate about raising standards within the theatre environment. Excellent organisation and communication skills are a must, along with prior experience in a leadership role. This is a full-time position, working a 40-hour week – daily hours will vary depending on business needs; however, we expect the 40 hours to fall between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday with some potential for flexibility for the right candidate, some evenings and weekends on call may be required. This role is split between administrative and clinical duties.

Benefits

As you would expect from the UK’s largest private veterinary referral hospital, we offer an inspiring and friendly working environment together with career development opportunities and an excellent package and benefits that include:

• Competetive salary
• Organised in-house CPD
• Dedicated CPD allowance
• Pension
• Generous leave allowance
• Access to Private Medical cover
• Personal Health Insurance
• Life Assurance
• Childcare Vouchers
• Cycle to Work Scheme

If you share our passion for delivering excellence, trust and care then we would love to hear from you.