Practice Operations Manager (Haddenham Surgery)

Based: Haddenham Surgery with occasional attendance at other Medical Practices as needed
Basis: Permanent, Full-time 37 hours per week (preferred) / Flexible
Salary: £32,000 – £38,000 per annum based on full-time
Eligibility: You must be eligible to work in the UK

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. 

The Role 

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, QOF performance, CQC readiness, and the staff and patient experience that makes Haddenham a practice people want to work in and attend — rather than spreading yourself across work that requires entirely different skill sets. 

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. 

Your 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, identifying and resolving risks and pressures promptly 

• Lead local implementation of group policies, procedures and operating standards, ensuring consistent and compliant practice 

• Own CQC readiness at site level, maintaining required evidence, leading local action plans, and contributing to risk registers 

• Act as the initial point of contact for patient complaints and significant events, managing resolution or escalation in line with policy and working closely with the Group Quality and Clinical teams 

• Use operational data and insight to identify trends, improvement opportunities and performance risks, and translate these into action. 

Lead your people 

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 practice’s workforce. 

• Provide visible, inclusive and 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 People and Culture 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 People and Culture 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 the Group Manager, IT, Digital & Estates 

• Ensure the practice environment is safe, well maintained and used effectively by patients and staff; lead on local estates works and improvements with guidance as needed from the Group Manager, IT, Digital & Estates 

• Act as a key holder and participate in the site’s 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 Mereside’s social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), assigning or actioning items as appropriate. 

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 attend events, but actively 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 Haddenham’s patients have a genuine voice in how services are shaped 

• Work proactively to obtain, collate and 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. 

Your Place in the Operations Team 

The Mereside Operations team has three Practice Operations Managers working together as a core delivery unit, responsible collectively for operational service delivery across the group. The Group Practice Operations Manager (who also holds the POM role for Staploe Medical Centre, our largest site at c.24,000 patients) line-manages the other two POMs: the Practice Operations Manager at Cathedral Medical Centre (c.12,000 patients) and this role at Haddenham Surgery (c.8,000 patients). 

This means two things in practice. First, the postholder is expected to be a proactive and supportive colleague to the other two POMs — sharing knowledge, covering capacity, and contributing to group-level thinking. Second, given the relative scale of Staploe, the Haddenham POM has an explicit supporting role to the Group Practice Operations Manager in their capacity as POM for the largest site. This is a collaborative, not a hierarchical, relationship — but it is a real expectation of the post. 

Each year the Operations team identifies strategic projects that POMs lead or contribute to alongside BAU — recent examples include AI tool rollouts, process redesign and policy reviews. The postholder should expect to be involved and to bring the same ownership to this work as to day-to-day site management. 

You should have or be: 

• 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. 

It would be an advantage if you also: 

• 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. 

Working pattern and flexibility 

The role includes shared responsibility as a site key holder. The postholder is also expected to be flexible in their day-to-day working hours to support on-the-day operational planning and resource allocation across the practice, working with the Group Practice Operations Manager where site-level cover needs to be adjusted at short notice. There may be occasions when the postholder is required to work outside of normal working hours, including responding to sickness absence calls or attending the practice in the event of alarm activation or other urgent operational needs. These situations are expected to arise occasionally and will be managed in line with organisational policy. 

Where practicable, Mereside Medical will seek to work flexibly with the postholder in relation to working hours, recognising personal commitments and promoting a healthy work/life balance, while ensuring the needs of the service are met. 

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of duties. The need for flexibility is required and the post holder is expected to carry out any other related duties that are within the employee’s skills and abilities whenever reasonably instructed. 

If you are interested in this role please send a CV and covering letter to: 

[email protected] 

Practice Operations Manager (HS) JD April 2026

Closing date: Sunday 17 May 2026. Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy early. If you have not received a response within 2 weeks of the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful on this occasion.