Senior Ward Discharge Coordinator

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Integrated Discharge Team as a Senior Discharge Coordinator. The role requires a highly autonomous individual that can progress their assigned caseload independently while contributing to daily MDT’s and team meetings to progress discharge planning.

Post holders are expected to:

• speak with patients, families and community support services as a core function of the role, and as such the need for exceptional communication skills are paramount.
• demonstrate the ability to remain calm and professional under challenging circumstances.
• progress complex patients referred for care and support upon leaving hospital via the national D2A framework.

This role is set within an established team, based onsite at the NNUH, as part of the wider Integrated Discharge Team (as such we are unable to support hybrid working). The role is fast paced and evolving - successful applicants will be able to oversee multiple ward sites within the hospital.

Discharging our patients to the right destination in a timely manner is key to maintaining flow throughout the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH). We advocate a "home first" ethos, initiating discharge planning from the point of admission, supporting early conversations, and early referrals to ensure patients are discharge ready, at the point of no longer having criteria to reside.

Main duties of the job

Discharge Coordinators work in close conjunction with the multi-disciplinary team and provide support for patients and their carers to proactively facilitate timely and safe discharges.

It is expected discharge coordinators will:

• attend their assigned ward sites to partake in daily Red2Green meetings and contribute to MDT discussions.
• display strong IT skills and engage with Trust systems to manage and progress their caseloads.

The role heavily relies on liaising with Health & Social care agencies (both internal and external to the Trust) – as such post holders will have excellent interpersonal and phone communication skills.

We are looking for a compassionate and empathetic individual, who will embody the Trust’s PRIDE values on a daily basis.

The IDT is part of a 7 day service within the Trust. To cover this, post holders will work approximately 1 weekend every 2 months.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To have an up to date knowledge of the multidisciplinary management of the patients and discharge plan of all patients referred on D2A P1-3 , alongside complex case support . Expectation is to have ability to manage more complex discharge cases with support of Complex Discharge Nurses.
• To have a good understanding of Discharge to assess, Home first and Discharge Pathways 1-3, as identified in the hospital discharge and community support guidance.
• To have an understanding of clinical conditions and terminology.
• To independently gather and collate information from the medical notes, patients and multi-disciplinary team colleagues to enable a clear plan for discharge to be followed from point of admission, gathering evidence to support a safe and timely discharge.
• To provide updates, co-ordinate discharges and provide administrative support to the multi-disciplinary team within the hospital and system partners to improve joint working practices leading to more effective patient care and timely discharges.
• To ensure ward view, OPTICA and handover remain up to date with any discharge progress.
• To assist in ensuring that all patients have an accurate EDD identifying if they meet Criteria to Reside and reason for delayed discharge reason in line with National Discharge policy.

Please see the attached job description for full details.

Please note that this advertised position, which is part of occupation code 3560 does not meet the UKVI eligibility requirements for a Skilled Worker Visa (this includes if you are already in a sponsored post and looking to change employer). The Trust would not be able to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship for this role.

Please note due to high volume of applications for some posts, this post may close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role asap.