Multi Professional Lead for Discharge

Transformation Unit; Bournemouth; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Band 6 Nurse/Occupational Therapist to join the Integrated Discharge Team. The post requires weekend and bank holiday work as part of a 7-day service, based at Royal Bournemouth or Poole Hospital.

The role focuses on discharge planning and ensuring timely, safe patient discharge from hospital. The postholder will work within a dynamic MDT, supporting discharge to assess models and ownership of discharge processes in line with Dorset

Qualifications

• NMC registered Nurse or equivalent professional body.
• Experience with discharge planning and hospital discharge processes.
• Leadership or management qualifications or experience.
• Teaching and Assessing in Clinical environment course or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Integrated discharge team to achieve effective discharge planning.
• Provide autonomous leadership within the MDT to facilitate safe discharge.
• Promote Home First and Discharge to Assess principles to avoid delays.
• Discharge patients who do not meet clinical criteria to reside.
• Advise patients, families and staff on discharge planning policies and SOPs.
• Record patient discharge information accurately in the ward tracking system.

Skills

NMC registered

Discharge planning experience

Leadership and management

Teaching and clinical assessment

Education

First level degree or working towards Leadership and management qualification

Leadership and management qualification

Teaching qualification

Tools

Excel

Access databases

Job description

Main area Discharge services Grade Band 6 Contract Permanent: Working across the 7 day working week Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (7/day working including weekends and bank holidays) Job ref 153-CO06996

Employer University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Bournemouth Hospital Town Bournemouth Salary £39,959 - £48,117 pa Salary period Yearly Closing 13/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 23/11/2026

Multi Professional Lead for Discharge

Band 6

As University Hospitals Dorset we are a three site acute trust with ‘university hospital’ status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m.

We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious £500m transformation programme is well on the way to delivering state-of-the-art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.

In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with over seven miles of sandy beaches you’ll find inspirational opportunities to achieve your perfect work/life balance. With the New Forest and the Purbecks on our doorstep, we’re also less than three hours from London by road or train. The thriving towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch give way to idyllic villages and unspoilt landscapes just minutes from our hospitals.

We believe that having a diverse workforce, and allowing people to be themselves, is essential in ensuring we offer an inclusive, welcoming and productive place to work.

We especially welcome applications from minority groups in the community who may be underrepresented in our workforce.

At UHD our active staff network groups are the Women's Network, Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group (BAME), Pride Network, European (EU), Pro Ability Staff Network, and the Armed Forces Support Group.

As a Trust we are proudly signed up to the Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant guaranteed interview schemes.

We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support the preparation of their application. While this is not discouraged, we kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of your own experience and suitability. Personal integrity is an important part of the recruitment process.

Job overview

We are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for a Band 6 Nurse/Occupational Therapist to join our University Hospitals Dorset Integrated Discharge Team .

The Integrated Discharge team across UHD is an extremely dynamic, innovative and supportive multidisciplinary team who are passionate in enacting a discharge to assess (D2A) model for discharge out of hospital, as outlined in the Our Dorset Discharge Model. The team supports the hospital multi-disciplinary team working across the clinical areas. Working with external partners, community and voluntary services in the Transfer of Care Hub to plan discharge in line with the patient’s expressed wishes, their next of kin/ representatives to achieve a safe and timely discharge from hospital.

The post holder will be expected to work weekends and Bank holidays as the service operates 7 day / week. There are two positions, one post holder to be based at Poole Hospital and one post holder to be based at Bournemouth hospital.

Base Location: Royal Bournemouth or Poole Hospital

Interview Date: 23rd November

Main duties of the job

• To work with the Integrated discharge team in the Transfer of Care Hub as a professional discharge lead to achieve effective discharge planning practice.
• Works as a discharge expert autonomous practitioner supporting the multi-disciplinary team to facilitate safe, effective patient discharge as an integral part of the ward team and Transfer of Care Hub member.
• To support a culture of “Home First” and Discharge to Assess principles for discharge in line with agreed Dorset Home First strategy are in practiced to avoid significant delays or unrealistic expectations of patients/ relatives.
• To provide the timely discharge of hospital patients who do not meet the clinical criteria to reside,
• To be a skilled and knowledgeable advisor for patients, family/carers and staff, articulating an understanding of the National Hospital Discharge Service Requirement Policy, Discharge Planning: Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) and discharge planning processes for simple and complex discharges.
• To provide expert discharge advice and support the clinical areas in effective recording of patient discharge information on Health of the Ward patients tracking system that delivers accurate communication in real time.

Working for our organisation

Our values define who we are as #TeamUHD. They underpin everything we do now and in the future. They define how we treat our patients, visitors, and each other, our valued teammates and colleagues. UHD are investing in services across the Trust, with many being transformed and developed following merger and the New Hospital Programme. This means that some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or long term. Recruiting Managers interviewing for this role will be happy to answer any specific questions that you have about this at interview.

Please note if the role or service is relocated as part of a planned move, employees will not be eligible for excess mileage reimbursement. Travel from the postholder's home to the new work base will be considered a normal commute. Any other changes not related to this relocation will be managed according to the relevant Trust or National terms and conditions.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The integrated discharge team has an overarching aim to reduce a patient’s length of stay thereby reducing the risks associated with elongated stays in acute hospital beds. The Our Dorset discharge to assess ( D2A) model is committed to enabling and supporting patients to be assessed away from the acute hospital setting. Dorset is recognised as an integrated care system. Transformation work continues in line with the Dorset Futurecare programme recognising the complexities of hospital discharge utilising knowledge of legal frameworks such as safeguarding, Deprivation of Liberty, Mental Capacity Act and excellent interpersonal skills.

Person specification

Qualifications

• NMC registered Nurse / or equivalent professional body Experience of managing/ supporting the complexities of care delivery within an acute hospital setting
• Experience of working with hospital discharge services
• 1st level degree or working towards Leadership and management qualification
• Teaching and Assessing in Clinical environment Course or recognised teaching qualification

Experience

• Demonstrable post-registration experience
• Experience in undertaking audit
• Teaching Practice and developing staff
• Ability to motivate and lead a people
• Planning and prioritisation skills
• Computer literacy particularly working with excel spread sheets and access databases
• Awareness of the importance and impact of priorities and autonomy in practice
• Ability to work in highly pressurised situations

Knowledge

• Knowledge of the National Hospital Discharge Service
• Knowledge of Older Persons Medicine / Frailty and importance of a comprehensive Geriatric Assessment
• Knowledge of MCA and Human Rights Act and Advocacy / Safeguarding
• Understanding of current NHS trends and policies, including clinical governance, NHS improvement, CQC,ICS etc
• Awareness of the importance and impact of priorities and autonomy in practice
• Multidisciplinary approach to care
• Ability to keep up to date with evidence based practice and effectively communicate this to the team
• Evidence of knowledge and managing staff through human policies and procedures
• Awareness of principles of budgetary management

Please note:

Staff recruited are expected to be available to work flexibly across all our Trust locations to meet service demands.

This advert may be closed early if sufficient applications are received.

COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself and our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst this vaccination is not a condition of employment we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated.

Internal Candidates: staff employed prior to merger who voluntarily change jobs will be appointed to UHD terms and conditions.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Name Katie Reed Job title Senior clinical lead for discharge - RBH Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 03000195931 Additional information

Val Horn

Directorate Manager : Discharge Services

UHD NHS Foundation Trust

Tel: [phone] - 3173