Discharge Coordinator

South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust; Springfield Village; On-site; GBP 48,000 - 57,000; Part time

Job summary

South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust is seeking a part-time Discharge Coordinator (Band 6) to join the Acute and Urgent Care service line. The post supports Tolworth or Springfield Hospital wards, prioritises discharge planning, and collaborates with the MDT and community partners.

You will assess needs, remove barriers, and ensure timely discharges, working closely with ward consultants and managers to optimise the patient pathway.

Qualifications

• Registration in a relevant clinical field (RMN/OT/Social Work/Psychology) and CPD ongoing.
• Experience in discharge planning or care coordination is desirable.
• Experience working with MDTs and community agencies.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate MDT actions to ensure timely discharge planning.
• Identify barriers to discharge and escalate as needed.
• Maintain accurate discharge dates and plans across wards.

Skills

Discharge coordination

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Communication skills

Risk assessment awareness

Administrative duties

Education

Current professional registration (RMN/OT/Social Work/Psychology)

Tools

MS Office

Job description

South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust

Discharge Coordinator

The closing date is 24 November 2026

This is an exciting time to join one of the integral departments of the Acute and Urgent Care (AUC) Service Line at South West London & St George's as we are looking at new ways to improve the quality of the care as we promote effective patient flow. The Discharge Coordination Team is a dynamic team that supports wards with:

• Promoting purposeful admissions by agreeing a plan on admission with an estimated discharge date
• Tackling barriers to discharge, preventing avoidable delayed discharge and transfer of care.
• Timely escalation of issues leading to increased length of stay to the service line, ICBs and Local Authorities.

Discharge Coordinators work in conjunction with internal and external partners in supporting proactive discharge planning and timely discharges in line with expected dates of discharge.

They focus efforts on behalf of individual patients at heightened risk of delayed transfer of care (DToC) from inpatient wards and provide accurate information/updates into the trusts daily discharge and pathway meetings.

Main duties of the job

This part time role is an admin and clerical band 6 role and we are looking for a highly motivated Nurse, OT, social worker or experienced non-clinician to be part of a team that will help the service line to provide the best care for our patients by ensuring timely access to relevant services through pro-active assessment of needs and barriers.

The post holder will cover either Tolworth or Springfield Hospital wards.You could be based in any of those 2 sites. The post holder must be adept at prioritising the activities that will provide the most efficient, effective and safe discharge pathway and escape any conditions that will prevent this from happening. They will be able to work closely alongside the ward consultant, ward manager and wider MDT.

They will be confident at building relationships, develop and foster relationships with staff across the acute and urgent care pathway and with partner agencies and will proactively manage these relationships so that staff can count on reliable and knowledgeable support and information about discharge processes. The successful post holder will have a good knowledge of community services and referral processes to ensure smooth discharges.

About us

Unless expressly stated in the job advert this role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' - we aspire to be 'outstanding'.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a varietybenefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Job responsibilities

Discharge Coordinators are responsible for coordinating and prioritising action from the MDT and partners to ensure that:-

• Barriers to Discharge and Estimated Dates of Discharge forms are completed and updated in line with clinical reviews
• Intervening early to remove barriers to prevent patients becoming delayed transfers of care.
• Highlighting potential B list) DTOC patients to expedite discharge planning and prevent them becoming A list (reported) DTOCs.
• Updating Borough DTOC meetings on patients who are A and B list Delayed Transfers of care
• Verification of purpose of admission and expected length of stay
• Establishment of scope for discharge within 24 hours and work to expedite discharge: Invoking a rapid review by a Consultant (arranging temporary accommodation from budget to permit early home treatment (not exhaustive).
• Support carer engagement triggering Carers Assessments as required, and to work closely with carers and relatives in the interests of supporting timely discharges.
• Pre-empt and resolve arising barriers to discharge i.e. keys, other agency support to discharge.
• Promote conditions based discharge so that discharge takes place once agreed conditions are met.
• Ensure early liaison with Community Teams of pending discharges to HTT or direct to community teams.
• For detained patients to consider short periods of section 17 leave or the use of Supervised Community Treatment where appropriate in line with legislation and least restrictive principles.
• To develop effective relationships with local authorities, housing providers, tenancy support teams and benefit agencies specific to Boroughs
• Pre-empt, accelerate homelessness unit input / liaison.
• Introduce HTT involvement at the right point to commence facilitated early discharge by HTT.
• Investigate cases that are about to pass / have passed projected milestone dates recorded for passing key stages in the acute care pathway i.e. discharge review, discharge plan in place, discharge.

Person Specification

TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS

• Current professional registration in relevant clinical subject/practice e.g. RMN, OT, Social Work, psychology or equivalent relevant experience in health, social care or voluntary sector
• Evidence of post qualification training/education
• Ongoing evidence of continuing professional development
• A commitment to completing full quality improvement development as outlined in the trust strategy
• Training in providing supervision, mentorship or equivalent, or willingness to undertake training.
• To have completed or be working towards accredited courses which enable potential development
• Recognised training that supports clinical practice ( Psychosocial Intervention or DBT)

EXPERIENCE

• Demonstrable experience of working at Band 5 or equivalent for 2 years
• Experience of liaising with community agencies
• Experience of working with people who have experienced serious ongoing mental health problems
• Experience of working within a multidisciplinary team
• Experience of implementing the principles and practice of the Recovery approach
• Experience of implementing changes in working practices
• Experience of using and supervising others in the use of psychosocial interventions
• Experience of using quality improvement methodologies
• Experience of implementing and monitoring standards of care, including clinical audit and governance

Knowledge & Skills

• oExcellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and the ability to influence others in clinical decision making towards discharge
• oSound knowledge and skills in risk assessment
• oKnowledge of safeguarding policies and procedures
• oClear understanding of the Mental Health Act, Care Act, Housing Act, Quality & Safety Governance, Clinical audit and relevant national policies
• oAn ability to develop, supervise, teach and manage junior staff
• oKnowledge of recent initiatives across professional workforce
• oClear understanding of the process of supervision
• oAbility to contribute to, monitor and implement changes and improvements to services
• oFamiliarity with budget control and management
• oAbility to monitor and control resources
• oKnowledge of performance management procedures
• oSpecialised clinical skills, e.g. group work, anxiety/anger management, CBT, family work skills
• oAppreciation of the ward/team manager's role and how to balance clinical and non-clinical responsibilities
• oKnowledge of Recovery Model of care

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.

South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust

£47,951 to £56,863 a yearpro rata per annum inclusive of Inner London HCAs