Occupational Health Manager

Main area Occupational Health Grade NHS AfC:
Band 8a Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Flexible working

Site Bedford Hospital Town Bedford Salary £57,528 - £64,750 Per Annum depending on experience Salary period Yearly Closing 26/10/2026 23:59

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as an Occupational Health Manager, based at Bedford Hospital.

This is a key clinical leadership role within the Occupational Health Service. You will lead the day-to-day delivery and continued development of the Bedford Hospital and wider cross site service, ensuring that staff, systems and resources are managed effectively and that employees receive a responsive, professional and high-quality service.

Working with the wider Occupational Health team, you will provide specialist clinical advice and support to managers and employees across the Trust. Your responsibilities will include management referrals, pre-placement health screening, immunisation and vaccination programmes, health surveillance, rehabilitation advice and support following workplace incidents.

You will help ensure that the service complies with occupational health legislation, professional standards, Trust policies and recognised good practice. You will also contribute to service improvement, audit, income generation and the delivery of occupational health services to external organisations.

We are looking for an experienced and approachable Occupational Health professional who can provide visible leadership, manage and develop a team and build effective working relationships across the organisation. You should be innovative, adaptable and committed to improving the experience of staff and service users.

You will combine leadership and operational management with a varied clinical caseload, including complex management referrals, clinical reviews, health surveillance, vaccinations, blood sampling and self-referrals. You will provide evidence-based advice on fitness for work, rehabilitation, workplace adjustments and occupational health risks, while maintaining confidential and accurate clinical records.

You will develop and supervise colleagues, support workforce planning, and contribute to policy development, audit and accreditation. Working with Human Resources, Infection Prevention and Control, Health and Safety and other services, you will help manage workplace incidents and promote staff health.

You must be a first-level registered nurse with a recognised Occupational Health specialist nursing qualification, or equivalent, and substantial post-registration Occupational Health experience. You will need strong clinical judgement, current knowledge of occupational health, health surveillance and immunisation, and excellent communication, analytical and report-writing skills. You should be organised, approachable and confident in managing complex cases, competing priorities and team development.

You must also be able to travel between Trust sites when required.

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics.
You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Please read the attached job description for full details of this role, duties and responsibilities.

MAIN

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• 1) To assist the Head of Occupational Health for Bedfordshire Hospitals to manage and develop the Occupational Health Service at Bedford Hospital, ensuring there is effective use of departmental resources, including staff management (including skill mix issues).
• 2) To assist the Head of Occupational Health with manpower planning, recruitment, appraisal, personnel…