The Business Manager Role
Business Managers work in Primary Care, where they manage the overall running of general practices (GP Surgeries). As a Business Manager, you’ll work where people often have their first and most frequent point of contact with the NHS. Business Managers will work with a variety of staff who work from or are nased within the practice. These staff will typically include GPs, Practice Nurses, Medical Secretaries, Receptionist, Physiotherapists, Pharmacists and others. Please see this link to the GM Primary Care Careers Platform – https://gmprimarycarecareers.org.uk/generalpractice/careers/practice-manager/
Available Training and Development
NHS LA & MMU Health and Social Care Apprenticeship
The NHS Leadership Academy are working in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University to provide a Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship in Health and Social Care, with the Mary Seacole Programme integrated within it. Designed for early career leaders in the health and social care sector, this apprenticeship degree is a practice-focused leadership programme delivered by Manchester Metropolitan University in partnership with the NHS Leadership Academy. The apprenticeship will deliver a full honours degree, professional accreditation with the Chartered Management Institute, and NHS Leadership Academy award in Healthcare Leadership which is fundable via the apprenticeship levy or through 95% government support (please contact Maria Murphy to ensure full course fees are paid). The programme supports apprentices to apply what they have learned in their own workplace and align with the objectives of the NHS People Plan. Teaching will take place part-time over two years via a blend of online and face to face learning, and is ideal for health and care professionals whose role involves driving improvements in care quality and managing key delivery challenges. It will develop managers capable of maximising their potential and rapidly improve care outcomes. The apprenticeship degree will cover the role of strategic leadership and operational thinking in health and social care, and explore the key principles for effective management in social care. The embedded Mary Seacole programme is a highly successful and nationally recognised leadership development programme for first time leaders in health and care to develop knowledge and skills in leadership and management. You can find out more about the programme here.
A full breakdown of the programme’s teaching units can be found in the course brochure.
Who’s it for? There are different entry routes to the programme, though all will require apprentices to have a minimum of two years’ management experience. The details for the entry route requirements can be found on Manchester Met’s website.
Next steps – The next intake of apprenticeships will commence in April 2021 and applications are now open. If this apprenticeship is something that you think your organisation would be interested in we would encourage you to contact the apprenticeship team at Manchester Met to discuss. You can also watch a recording of the recent information session on Microsoft Teams or via Youtube which provides a thorough introduction to the programme and how it works.
North West Leadership Academy PM Development Programme
Designed to allow practice managers the space and time to consider their impact as a leader on themselves, their practice teams and GP’s, as well as the wider system.
Programme Aims
Delivered via Zoom over three 3-hour workshops this programme is designed to support practice managers to:
- Build and develop effective working relationships across their networks
- Enhance influencing and negotiation skills
- Greater confidence and personal resilience working across systems
- Develop more effective and assertive communication skills
- Consolidate learning into reality and apply back to their workplaces.
Learning Outline
During the programme participants will embark on a development journey which builds the foundations to form a sustainable peer support group. Reflecting on recent leadership experiences participants will be supported to develop their leadership both personally and as teams, looking at how practice managers can develop and support the role in PCNs.
The next cohort starts on 26th January. See this link for further information – PM Development Programme
Apprenticeships
We are working in partnership with our local Trusts and are able to offer fully funded access to Leadership and Management Qualifications for Practice Managers or those aspiring to progress towards a career in Practice Management. The qualifications available are apprenticeships at degree or masters levels (level 4, 5, 6 and 7).
These opportunities mean we can support practices to provide a robust career development pathway from new recruit to senior manager or advanced practitioner.
Cost:
Please note, these qualifications are fully funded (full cost without funding is around £18,000 for a masters level qualification). We currently have a limited pot of funding available so if you are interested please action this asap so we can secure your place.
Entry criteria:
Providers usually require applicants work a minimum of 30 hours per week to access an apprenticeship.
Providers:
There are many providers of leadership and management apprenticeships, the following examples meet the required standards but this is my no means exhaustive:
Level 5 Leadership & Management: https://www.damartraining.com/apprenticeships/management-apprenticeships/
Level 6 Chartered Manager Degree: https://www.managers.org.uk/apprenticeships-and-epa/apprenticeships/level-6-chartered-manager-degree-apprenticeship
Level 7 Senior Leader’s MBA (Salford): https://beta.salford.ac.uk/courses/degree-apprenticeship/salford-mba-senior-leader-degree-apprenticeship
Level 7 Senior Leader’s MBA (MMU): https://www.managers.org.uk/apprenticeships-and-epa/apprenticeships/level-7-senior-manager-masters-degree
The full list of approved providers can be found here – https://www.sbs.nhs.uk/ica-apprenticeship-training-services. (please note other providers can be used if needed but we would need to discuss this further initially).
The way forward:
i) Consider the qualification and provider you would like to work with, discuss it with your line manager and have initial conversations with the preferred training provider to discuss your requirements
ii) Contact the CCG Education, Training & Development team to advise you are interested in (or have somebody interested in) completing an apprenticeship via stoccg.learningdevelopment@nhs.net. We would need to know, what qualification and level was being considered, the provider, the course duration and the preferred course start date
iii) We will then work with Stockport FT to agree the funding transfer can take place and will confirm with you BEFORE you agree to start the course with the provider.
Contact:
ETD via stoccg.learningdevelopment@nhs.net or discuss with potential training provider – The full list of approved providers can be found here – https://www.sbs.nhs.uk/ica-apprenticeship-training-services. (please note other providers can be used if needed but we would need to discuss this further initially).