THE SENIOR CLINICIANS’ ROLE PROFILE
ORGANISATIONAL USER GUIDE
The NHS North West Leadership Academy (NHS NWLA) Senior Clinicians’ Role Profile (SCRP) has been piloted in
twenty three organisations across the North West. Building on learning from the pilot organisations, this guide
has been developed for organisations who wish to embed the tool. It summarises how the Role Profile has been
used in practice; the benefits for the individual, process and organisation as well as practical recommendations
for implementation.
The NHS NWLA developed the SCRP in response to a need identified by senior
clinicians for a tool that describes the leadership behaviours of a ‘corporate
clinician’. The SCRP contains details of the behaviours that are highly relevant
to success in a senior clinical role and is designed for use by senior clinical
leaders (defined as working at or aspiring to accountable decision-making
level). It is a self-assessment instrument which enables evaluation of strengths
and development needs which can then feed into personal development
planning and discussions with a line manager. The role profile can be accessed
at: http://www.nwacademy.nhs.uk/resources/senior-clinicians-role-profile
BENEFITS OF USING THE SENIOR CLINICIANS’ ROLE PROFILE:
Individual
Process
Organisational
•Provides individuals with clear
identification of development
areas and learning needs
•Identifies “blind spots” but also
builds confidence in areas the
individuals had not previously
identified as strengths
•Shapes thinking around what is
expected of a senior clinical
leader in their role
•[when used in a recruitment
process] provided in depth
feedback to candidates
focusing on developing selfawareness for personal
development
•The detailed practical
descriptions of competencies
and behaviours enabled
individuals to clearly
understand what is expected of
them in their current roles and
also in future roles to which
they aspire.
•Provided structure to job
descriptions
•Provided a focus on corporate
responsibility
•Provided focus on what the
role and competencies of a
specific role are (e.g. Clinical
Director) and how to identify
gaps
•[when used in a recruitment
process] supported panel
members by prompting job
analysis discussions prior to
interview to agree
competencies and indicators
required for specific roles and
providing in depth reports prior
to the face to face interview
•Raised questions about clinical
leadership and the support the
organisation offers
•Raised awareness of some of
the challenges of senior and
corporate clinicians and
effective strategies and
behaviours which can be
adopted within the different
contexts in which they work
throughout the organisation
•Provided confidence in the
robustness and
appropriateness of the
competencies due to the wide
consultation the NWLA did
with Clinicians in developing
the Role Profile as well as
knowing the tool is being used
widely across the North West
which allows for consistency
across organisations with
regards Clinical Leadership
competencies
•Saves time and money already
having competencies outlined.
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EMBEDDING THE SENIOR CLINICIANS’ ROLE PROFILE:
Understand
To raise awareness and understanding of what constitutes 'clinical leadership'
•Organisations used the tool to explicitly outline the behaviours of a senior clinical leader which lead to an increased
understanding of the role of a senior clinical leader in the organisation; an understanding of what constitutes effective
clinical leadership; an understanding of what support the organisation offers; as well as the ability to articulate what
clinical leadership looks like at varying levels of the organisation.
Structure
To contribute to the development of job descriptions for senior clinical leadership roles
•Organisations used the tool to strucutre definitions of senior clinical leadership roles (such as Clinical Director) in formal
job descriptions. For example, one organisation's objective was to have competency focused role and responsibilities
outline which accurately and effectively describe clinical leader roles at the differing levels of seniority. Using the SCRP was
considered to save the organisation time and money with regards to the creation of competencies and formulation of
clinical leadership job descriptions and person specificiations.
Design
To aid the design of assessment and development centres for senior clinical roles
• Organisations who used the tool to design recruitment processes described objectives of having a competency-based
approach to selection enabling the appointment of high-calibre clinical leaders. Again the use of the SCRP was refered to
as saving time and money in supporting the design of competency based interview questions. Other organisations piloted
the tool in specifically designed diagnostic centres which tested each of the competencies. The outcomes of which is fed
back to each participant and a detailed development report identifying areas of strength and development needs
produced for discussion and agreement between the participant and the line manager.
Develop
To use as part of senior clinical development programmes
• Organisations used the SCRP to either incorporate piloting the tool in exisitng clinical leadership development
programmes as a distance travelled measure (pre and post development); used in the design of programmes as a model of
best practice; used to review programmes to ensure content is aligned to competency areas or used to establish particular
development intitiatives such as a specfic one day development event to equip senior clinical leaders with knowledge and
skills to perform effectively against the framework.
Benchmark
To align organisational activity and development frameworks
• Organisations described using the SCRP as a benchmark to review existing programmes (as above) or models of activity
(e.g. Trust Leadership Competency Framework) which exist in the organisation to establish whether they are meeting the
requirements of a senior clinical leader outlined in the SCRP.
Plan
To support, organisatoinal development, talent development and succession planning
•Organisations describe piloting the SCRP and using results to feed into Organisational Developent plans as well as building
capability to use the SCRP in identifying, developing and nurturing current senior clinical leaders and those with the
potential and aspiration to take on these roles effectively in the future. One organisation reported starting to develop a
succession planning and talent management process for Medical staff through engaging Medical Directors and Associate
Medical Directors in use of the SCRP self assessments.
Appraise
To support the appraisal process
•Organisations utilised the tool to support the clinician with their appraisal process as a self development tool. Other
organisations suggest prefered use as a tool to support development discussions with line manager. It is seen as
particularly useful in identifying potential development gaps and as a framework to discuss the relative perceptions of
performance levels and development needs. The SCRP is also seen as having useful applications in career planning and/or
discussions as it was seen to depict roles as well as the level of commitment required for those who are considering senior
clinical roles.
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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION:
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Adapt the application of the tool to fit the specific needs of your organisation.
Assess organisational readiness and target where the tool can have most benefit.
Encourage individuals to read the entire document thoroughly before completing the self-assessment.
Follow self-assessments with a session facilitated by someone who is familiar with the tool.
Be aware that users may not populate the action plan with evidence. A facilitated session is beneficial to
support identification of evidence and revise a self-assessment as well as clarify any misinterpretations of
competency descriptions. Feedback suggests bringing competencies ‘to life’ has been extremely important
in terms of discussing what roles will actually entail and determining what is required of the individual.
Be clear when communicating the tool, include - clarification of how the tool has been developed,
evidence supporting the content, how it fits into existing organisational approaches, why it is necessary
and who it is applicable to.
Use the SCRP as a framework for discussion rather than as a definitive solution in order to ‘present’
competencies and indicators in a manner which is consistent with other organisational tools.
Case Study: Using the Senior Clinicians’ Role Profile in Recruitment
The Senior Clinicians’ Role Profile was originally piloted for the appointment of Acute Physicians.
Using the profile, the panel members prioritised which competencies and indicators were most critical for the roles
to which they were appointing. Following these discussions, the agreed indicators were re-clustered to reflect the
Trust behavioural framework to ensure consistency of presentation and approach. These then formed the basis for
the development of appropriate competency based interview questions for an in depth telephone interview.
Following the telephone interviews, the panel members received detailed candidate reports which identified
strengths and potential development areas against each competency area. This then enabled the design of further
bespoke competency based questions for each individual candidate, ensuring the panel were able to ‘drill down’ in
a more targeted way at the face to face interview.
Whether successful or otherwise, all candidates received in depth feedback against the competencies and for those
who were successful, the outcomes have formed the basis of individual development plans.
Since the original pilot, we have used the process several times over and are in the process of formally amending
our appointment processes for all consultant roles to reflect this new approach.
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Case Study: Senior Clinician’s Role Profile Diagnostic Centre
As part of our grant from the NW Leadership Academy we are trialling a diagnostic centre for aspiring clinical
director\senior clinical leader roles to provide objective feedback for individuals in relation to the role profile
that has been developed.
We ran our first diagnostic centre on Friday 25th January to very positive feedback from the clinicians involved
and are planning an additional diagnostic centre on Friday 8th February 2013. Individuals would receive the
following:
- Comprehensive assessment of current strengths and areas for development through the diagnostic centre
(full day)
- 90 minutes feedback session to discuss and clarify results of the diagnostic centre with external coach
- Comprehensive development report linked directly to the Senior clinician role profile
This is a very intensive day consisting of a series of individual and group exercises, it is essential that
participants are present for the entirety of the day as a number of group exercises are dependent on the
numbers booked.
Feedback from previous participants has been that they have found the day challenging and fun (in parts!).
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