Deputy Ward Manager | Northumbria Healthcare - NHCT Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Hexham; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare trust in Hexham seeks dedicated professionals for their Ambulatory Care/Elderly Care Assessment Unit. Candidates will provide high-quality, person-centred care, manage patient caseloads, and coordinate department staff efficiently. This role is pivotal in ensuring the effective treatment and support of elderly patients with complex health needs while maintaining clinical excellence. A commitment to patient care and teamwork is essential in this vibrant community.

Qualifications

• High-quality person-centred care experience.
• Contemporary knowledge underpinning clinical practice.
• Clinical skills in venepuncture and cannulation.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality person-centred care.
• Coordinate staff to ensure efficient department functioning.
• Manage incident reports and deal with complaints.

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our team in the Ambulatory Care/Elderly Care Assessment Unit at Hexham. The department is a combination of the two specialties with patients often migrating between the two.

The Ambulatory care department sees a diverse caseload of patients from various specialities, attending day cases for the administration of intravenous medication, blood transfusions, venesections, specialised blood tests and ambulatory care pathways. The Elderly Care Assessment Unit sees patients predominantly over the age of 65 and those with frailty and multiple co‑morbidities.

Referrals are made from a variety of sources (NEAS/Community paramedics/GPs/UTC) and accepted same day or by appointment. Patients attend for falls and syncope assessment on a pre‑planned basis. The department facilitates a pathway for hospital admission for frail elderly patients that can be medically managed locally and avoiding A&E.

The department has a resident speciality doctor and on‑call consultant cover.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide high‑quality person‑centred care.
• Maintain contemporary, relevant knowledge to underpin clinical practice.
• Maintain clinical skills and competence in venepuncture and cannulation.
• Rotate between the different clinical areas within the department, taking charge in the absence of the department manager.
• Coordinate staff to ensure the department functions efficiently.
• Take appropriate steps to manage staff sickness/shortages to ensure that disruption to the department is minimal.
• Manage incident reports.
• Deal with concerns and complaints.
• Coordinate a caseload of patients within ambulatory care:
• Ensure that patients receive appointments/treatments at appropriate intervals.
• Liaise with HCPs from other specialities to ensure that prescriptions and drugs are available for administration.
• Oversee the safe administration of medications in accordance with trust policy.
• Supervise junior staff and offer suitable advice and guidance.
• Use relevant IT systems to inform safe and effective care.
• Complete electronic discharge summaries.
• Accept and triage telephone and electronic referrals.
• Arrange and review in a timely fashion dependent on clinical need.
• Liaise with the Patient Flow team and the wider MDT to ensure that patients are assessed and treated efficiently, allowing seamless flow throughout the department.

We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, covering one of the largest geographical areas of any NHS trust in the country. Leading in innovation and quality – opening a state‑of‑the‑art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England.

Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients. You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost‑effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep.

Please read ‘applicant guidance notes’ before submitting your application.

This advert closes on Thursday, 18 Dec 2025.