| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Clinical and Medical |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Clinical Director |
| Direct reports | Unit Head (Clinical), Consultant Physician, Senior Resident Doctor, Junior Resident Doctor |
| Experience | 10+ years in the specialty after postgraduation, with experience leading a unit or clinical team |
Head of Department (Clinical) job description template
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Job title: Head of Department (Clinical)
Department: Clinical and Medical
Reports to: Clinical Director
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A clinical Head of Department leads one specialty, such as medicine, paediatrics or orthopaedics. The HOD runs the department's rosters, OPD and inpatient standards, residents' training, equipment plans and outcome reviews while keeping a full consultant practice. They are the first escalation point for patients, nurses and management on anything in the specialty. A good HOD keeps the department's numbers healthy, teaches well and fixes problems before they turn into complaints.
Key responsibilities
- Prepare the monthly duty roster for consultants and residents covering OPD, wards, ICU referrals, emergencies and night on-call.
- Write department protocols for common conditions and procedures, and brief every new consultant and resident on them in the first week.
- Review daily admissions, long-stay patients and planned discharges with the team to keep average length of stay within the department target.
- Present the department's deaths and complications at the monthly mortality and morbidity meeting and carry through the agreed changes.
- Plan equipment and consumable needs for the specialty, write purchase justifications and evaluate vendor demonstrations with biomedical engineering.
- Run the teaching programme for DNB or MD residents, including case presentations, journal clubs, logbooks and internal assessments.
- Handle complaints about the department's care, review the records and meet the family together with the treating doctor.
- Review departmental revenue, OPD footfall, bed occupancy and referral sources every month and share the findings with management.
- Interview and recommend consultants and residents for hiring, and rate new doctors' probation reviews before confirmation.
- Agree turnaround times and handovers with nursing, lab, radiology and pharmacy heads for the department's patients.
Requirements
- MD, MS or DNB in the specialty, with DM, MCh or DrNB for super-specialty departments
- Valid registration with the National Medical Commission or a State Medical Council
- Recognition as a DNB teacher or postgraduate guide is an advantage in teaching hospitals
- 10+ years in the specialty after postgraduation, with experience leading a unit or clinical team
KRAs and KPIs for a Head of Department (Clinical)
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Department outcomes | Mortality, complication and readmission rates within the targets agreed with the Clinical Director each quarter |
| Length of stay | Average length of stay within the department benchmark for its 10 most common diagnoses |
| Roster coverage | Monthly roster published 7 days before the month starts, with no uncovered on-call night |
| Documentation quality | At least 95 percent of audited case files complete, with discharge summaries signed on the day of discharge |
| Resident training | All scheduled teaching sessions held and every resident logbook reviewed monthly |
| Department growth | OPD footfall and admissions at or above the annual department plan |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Hospital information system (HIS), Electronic medical records, Duty roster sheets, Departmental MIS reports, Specialty diagnostic equipment.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Clinical Director, Chief of Surgery, Medical Director
Interview questions for a Head of Department (Clinical)
- How do you build an on-call roster when two consultants in a team of five are on leave?
- Your department's average length of stay is two days above the benchmark. How would you bring it down?
- How do you give feedback to a senior consultant who ignores the department protocol?
- Describe how you prepare residents for the DNB final examination alongside ward work.
- Which equipment would you ask for first in a new department, and how would you justify it?
- A family says the resident on night duty ignored their father's breathlessness. How do you respond?
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What does a head of department do in a hospital?
A clinical head of department leads one specialty. They set the duty roster, department protocols and teaching programme, review outcomes and length of stay, plan equipment, handle complaints about the department and recommend hiring. Most HODs keep a full consultant practice alongside these duties.
How is a head of department different from a unit head?
A unit head leads one clinical unit within a department, with its own beds, OPD days and residents. The head of department is responsible for all units together, including rosters, protocols, budgets, equipment and teaching standards. In smaller hospitals a department has only one unit and the two roles merge.
How do you become an HOD in a hospital?
Most doctors become HOD after 10 or more years of practice in the specialty, often after leading a unit. Private hospitals look at clinical reputation, patient volumes, teaching record and administrative ability. In medical colleges the post usually follows academic rank, such as professor, under the college's own norms.