Discharge Coordinator

NHS; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider in Norfolk & Suffolk is seeking a Discharge Coordinator to manage discharge plans for patients with complex needs. The ideal candidate is a qualified mental health practitioner with excellent collaboration skills to work effectively with various healthcare professionals. This full-time, permanent position offers a salary range of £38,682 to £46,580. The role involves flexible working hours across multiple locations including Ipswich, with a focus on enhancing patient care and efficiency in the discharge process.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of post registration clinical experience relevant to the post.
• Experience in the use of CPA, Safeguarding, MAPPA, and Child Protection.

Responsibilities

• Manage discharge plans for individuals with complex needs.
• Work collaboratively to ensure timely discharge of service users.

Skills

Risk Assessment and Risk Management

Ability to work under pressure

Education

First Level Registered Nurse - RMN/RNMH/RNLD

Post-registration training in clinical/psychological interventions

Job description

Job summary

It’s a very exciting time to join us in Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) as we continue our journey of improving and investing in our inpatient and community services as well as supporting and developing our staff.

We are looking for enthusiastic and motivated individuals with a caring and empathetic approach to join our developing Clinical Bed Management Service. We want qualified mental health practitioners (registered mental health or learning disabilities Nurses, Occupational Therapists or Social Workers) who have a passion to improve the lives of our patients to join our team.

We require someone who is dedicated to ensuring our patients’ inpatient stay is as productive and as short in duration as possible. Your focus will be on working with inpatient staff, the patient themselves and their carers as well as community services across health, housing and social care to expedite the patients’ discharge from their hospital stay. The expectation is that you will support the development and execution of a comprehensive discharge plan for people with often complex and diverse mental health and psychological needs. Primarily working Monday to Friday, during core hours across NSFT’s inpatient sites in Norfolk and Suffolk, you will be required to be able to travel to visit our inpatient service users who are placed in hospitals across both counties.

Main duties of the job

• Work as a core member of the centralised Clinical Bed Management Team but develop excellent working relationships with locality based inpatient MDTs, Crisis Teams, CMHTs, Housing Providers, 3rd Sector and Charitable Organisations and Adult Social Care Services.
• Contribute to locality and trust wide flow information and meetings.
• In conjunction with other professionals, identify current inpatients whose needs could best be met in a lesser restrictive environment e.g. in their own home with crisis/outreach support, in a respite or ‘step‑down’ facility or in a residential/nursing care home setting.
• Work to develop comprehensive discharge plans for individuals with complex mental health and psychological needs, whose discharge from hospital could be expedited.
• Undertake collaborative actions with inpatient MDTs, Community Mental Health Services, Adult Social Care, housing and 3rd Sector care providers, service users themselves and their Carers/families to facilitate safe and timely discharge of identified service users from hospital.
• By attending locality based clinical meetings and discussions, the post holder will work as a key member of the MDT, ensuring that high quality individualised care is delivered which ensures safety and a commitment to promoting recovery and wellbeing and maximising independence.

About us

The Clinical Bed Management Service is a team of experienced and skilled clinicians whose main aim is to ensure that NSFT’s patient population can access the necessary assessment and care they require at the right time, in the right place from the right service. The Service is made up of Clinical Bed Managers and Discharge Coordinators supported by a dedicated Medical Director for Patient Pathways in Acute Care & Flow. We work across all adult and older adult inpatient pathways and collaborate with inpatient and community MDTs both within NSFT and sometimes external to the Trust if our patient is receiving their inpatient treatment elsewhere. Our Service is responsible for ensuring the efficient and effective use of the Trust’s inpatient resources and for eradicating the use of out of Trust hospital placements.

Details

Date posted: 18 December 2025

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 6

Salary: £38,682 to £46,580 a year gross per annum

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number: 246-COR7647291-A

Job locations: Norfolk and Suffolk (Norwich / Ipswich / Bury St Edmunds / Kings Lynn)

Job responsibilities

Please see the Job Description for more details on the duties of a Discharge Coordinator.

We look forward to receiving your application for the Discharge Coordinator post and will be happy to discuss the role and the wider Clinical Bed Management Service in more detail. We recommend you speak to someone from within our developing team but initially feel free to contact Janice OHare who is assisting us with these exciting developments. Please contact her on: [e-mail]

Person Specification

Qualifications (Essential)

• First Level Registered Nurse - RMN/RNMH/RNLD or equivalent Mental Health professional qualification.
• Evidence of postregistration training in clinical/psychological interventions/skills relevant to the post.

Experience (Essential)

• Proven track record of post registration clinical experience relevant to the post.
• Experience in the use of CPA (Care Programme Approach), Safeguarding, MAPPA (Multi Agency Panel for the Protection of Vulnerable Adults) and Child Protection.

Desirable

• Understanding of difficult to manage/challenging behaviours.

Skills (Essential)

• Risk Assessment and Risk Management/Safety Planning skills.
• Ability to work under pressure.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name: Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address: Norfolk and Suffolk (Norwich / Ipswich / Bury St Edmunds / Kings Lynn)

Postcode: NR6 5BE

Website: https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)