Job overview
An exciting secondment opportunity has arisen to join the Community Hospital Inpatient Bed Management team based at Hawkhurst Community Hospital.
Community hospitals provide a range of comprehensive healthcare services for patients over the age of 18, but mainly older, frailer individuals. The units predominantly provide rehabilitation and end of life support for palliative patients and their families.
Patients are referred to the ward either from the acute setting to allow a further period of rehabilitation and assessment or directly from home via their GP or local community nursing teams. The Bed management team are responsible for triaging patients and allocating them to the most appropriate bed and location. Whilst there is no direct patient care it’s important that you understand the role of a Ward Band 6 and the responsibilities they have when they care for our patients.
Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB).
Main duties of the job
You will need to have the skills to:
1. Address challenges related to bed availability, patient flow, and resource allocation
2. Oversee and optimize patient flow within the Community Hospitals, ensuring efficient bed utilisation and timely admissions and discharges.
3. Coordinate admissions, discharges, and internal transfers to maintain optimal bed occupancy and facilitate timely patient movement.
4. Liaising with clinical teams, other departments, and external organisations to ensure smooth patient flow and effective communication
5. Monitoring bed occupancy, identifying trends, and generating reports to support decision-making and process improvement.
Working for our organisation
Rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC, we’ve got a passion for delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. To do this we need outstanding people who share our values compassionate Aspirational Responsive Excellent
We know a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion leads to better patient care and a happier workforce. We pride ourselves in being diverse and welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences
We ask for information about your protected characteristics on our application forms. This isn’t visible to anyone involved with shortlisting or interviewing you, except when you choose to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme due to disability. Short listers will see two ticks alongside your application to ensure they apply the principles of the scheme to your submission
The data we collect helps us to ensure we are attracting diversity in our applicants, that all our colleagues have equitable access to career opportunities and supports us on our journey to being a Great Place to Work
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want you to be able to work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Talk to us about a flexible working arrangement that won’t involve sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We’ll support you to work flexibly in a way that will suits us both
See where you can go with KCHFT
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
As a community Trust many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. As such you will be asked to confirm you have a full UK driving licence where driving is a requirement of the role to be able to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment, if you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via quoting the vacancy reference number so we can support you further.
The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.
Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you, their contact details can be found in the job advert.
We can get a lot of applications for some roles so to be in with the best chance of being shortlisted please make sure you apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job.
At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve.
Find out more about the community difference here.
Good luck! We can’t wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
6. Registered health care professional (NMC or HCPC registration) / relevant experience in health improvement environment
7. Health related degree and evidence of relevant post graduate development at Level 6
8. Evidence of Specialist qualifications relevant to area of practice (examples –: non-medical prescribing; mentorship, coaching, clinical expertise)
Desirable criteria
9. PRINCE 2 or equivalent project management training
10. PTLLS/DTLLS, PGCE or Certificate in Education Management or supervisory qualification or experience of study
11. Working towards Master level study
Experience
Essential criteria
12. Significant experience in area of practice
13. Practical experience in managing health related projects/complex caseloads
14. Supporting others (mentor / educator / supervisor) experience
Desirable criteria
15. Experience of leading and managing teams
16. Experience with the use of Microsoft Office
Knowledge
Essential criteria
17. Understanding of National Service Frameworks and NICE guidance to relevant to care setting and its application across health care services
18. Evidence of continued relevant professional development and implementation in practice within the last 12 months
Skills & abilities
Essential criteria
19. Understanding of training needs in relation to post
20. Ability to manage time effectively, priorities and work under pressure to meet deadlines
21. Ability to work effectively with a variety of people at all organisational levels across different sectors including areas of social deprivation
22. Ability to communicate complex, sensitive information to individuals and groups
23. Strong influencing and negotiating skills
Personal attributes
Essential criteria
24. Ability to motivate and organise others to ensure best practice.
25. Ability to manage and lead change
Ability to manage
Essential criteria
26. Able to support the implementation of local and national agendas for health under the guidance of the senior Practitioner
27. Ability to prioritise care delivery in a professional manner, taking into account Trust policies and procedures.
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