Head of School of Primary Care - South West | NHS England
| Posting date: | 23 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £140,025 per annum pro rata |
| Hours: | Part time |
| Closing date: | 22 February 2026 |
| Location: | Bristol, BS1 6AG |
| Company: | NHS England |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: | 7645267/990-SW-19512-E |
Summary
NHS England is recruiting a Head of School for Primary Care, There are two heads of school for the South West Primary Care Schools who work collaboratively across all training and education related issues.
Sharing line management responsibilities and portfolio workstreamssuch as Placement Capacity, Assessment, and International Medical Graduates, aligins the schools priorities with the long term workforce plan, GP training expansion and delivery of GP training programmes
The role of Head of School is to work with and support the other Head of school, the Primary Care Dean and Regional Postgraduate Dean in leading the delivery of a wide range of functions.The responsibility of the role, to inform and support the Primary Care Dean, is an important one and along with the other Head of School creates a senior South West Primary Care strategic leadership team which responds to and informs national and regional plans and thinking.
Although the main role is to lead and develop the Postgraduate School of Primary Care, all senior clinicians may have wider roles and projects as agreed with the Postgraduate Dean/Primary Care Dean. Heads of School are expected to develop multiprofessional education, innovative ways of curriculum delivery and engage with workforce well-being strategies.
The Head of School is professionally and managerially accountable to the Primary Care Dean and will be responsible for line managing and supporting a number of Associate Deans. They will focus on improvement of learner supervision, support, assessment and experience, engagement of faculty and ensuring effective educational outcomes, both now and in the future. The role is evolving and will also focus on whole workforce transformation and developing multi-professional links as well as innovative ways of curriculum delivery and workforce well-being strategies. The Head of School will contribute to the vision of the local NHS and to enhance patient care by providing leadership and direction with respect to the quality of education and training.
We are responsible for:
• Providing strategic oversight, leadership, innovation and improvement of all activities related to the education and training of the workforce.
• Providing educational governance with respect to the quality of clinical learning placements
• Ensuring all learners across primary and community care achieve the levels of excellence required
• Providing oversight of the management of nationally coordinated Primary Care programmes across the South West
The NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose by:
• Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
• Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
• Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
• Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
• Delivering value for money.
If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit https://www.england.nhs.uk/.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
If you are successful at interview, we will run an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) in the Electronic Staff Record system (ESR). This transfer gathers valuable information from a previous or current NHS employer to support the onboarding process, including; statutory and mandatory competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You will have the opportunity throughout the recruitment process to inform us if you do not consent.
You can find further details about the job, organisational structure, recruitment profile, expected outcomes and benefits information in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
If you like what you have read and think you have the skills and experience, we need then don't delay, apply today! We get lots of applications for our roles and so we sometimes have to close our posts early. Don't miss out!
Secondments
Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.
This advert closes on Sunday 8 Feb 2026