Discharge Officer (DO) inSouthampton inSouthampton PUBLISHED 30 DEC 2023

General Duties

• To assist patients in moving to the Discharge Lounge.
• Act as an advocate to patients when appropriate to ensure their discharge is safe and effective.
• Ensure plans for transferring patients to community services are progressed with the patient, next of kin, and MDT to facilitate discharge from the hospital once the patient is deemed medically stable.
• Act proactively to provide a reduction in length of stay and delayed discharges.
• Support the advanced discharge officer, complex discharge Practitioner and the senior managers within the UHS acute discharge hub on all aspects of discharge planning and escalate to them any issues with complex discharge.
• Liaise with care agencies and care homes to establish dates for assessments and agree transfer dates; work alongside social services, CCGs and trusted assessors to ensure return to placement and restarts of care packages are completed following policy.
• To escalate any delay within the discharge planning process to appropriate team leaders, clinical leaders and service managers. This may include MDT assessments, diagnostics, family, care home delays etc
• Liaise with the bed managers to ensure they are aware of all medically fit patients or when discharges are at risk Participate in the weekday, weekend and bank holiday rotas as rostered.
• To work in other areas of the Hospital when required.

For additional information, please refer to the job description and person specification.

We highly encourage you to visit us at the Acute Discharge Hub, B Level, West wing entrance near the physiotherapy reception.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Please note this vacancy is only open to applicants from Hampshire & Isle of Wight NHS system,
which is limited to Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, Southern Health FT, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, Isle of Wight NHS Trust, University Hospital Southampton FT, Solent NHS Trust, South Central Ambulance Service or Hampshire Hospitals FT.

Please see below for a detailed job description of the role.

The Complex discharge team at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) are delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity for a patient-focused, friendly and enthusiastic individual, as part of our expanding service.

Key Responsibilities

• Support and coordinate the discharge tasks for designated ward/area in a safe, timely and proactive manner, working in partnership with the multidisciplinary team (MDT), including nursing, medical, therapy, social services and community teams; clinical commissioning groups, voluntary agencies and next of kin.
• Discharge Planning to manage a caseload of patients for designated ward / delegated area of responsibility.
• Ensure discharges are lined up for the earliest opportunity each day, escalating where discharges are at risk of failing.
• Keep up-to-date records of the patient's discharge planning and journey in the patient notes and on the complex discharge database (APEX).
• Work with the MDT to ensure all patients have up-to-date, realistic discharge plans and take action to implement, monitor and amend the plans if necessary, with all relevant colleagues.