Job summary
- Main area
- Administration
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 5
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (Maternity Cover)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Night shift role of shifts 21:00-09:00 normally working 4 on and 4 off)
- Job ref
- 354-CO-21820
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Hybrid working
- Town
- Worthing
- Salary
- £31,049 - £37,796 Per annum, including unsociable hours enhancements
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 24/02/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Bed Manager
NHS AfC: Band 5
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may choose to use it to help prepare your application. We welcome innovation but ask that anything you submit reflects your own abilities, experience and voice. AI can support how you describe your skills and experience, but it should never replace your own words as we want to get to know you.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
A brilliant developmental and influential opportunity for a talented individual has now arisen within an established Patient Flow Service in Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Patient Flow is a 24 hour, 7 days a week service and this position will predominately cover night shifts (21:00-09:00) with some flexibility to work from home.
We are looking to recruit a non-clinical Bed Manager to take the lead in delivering the key components and improvements to patient flow, and you will be working within a busy and dynamic team.
We are looking for an enthusiastic, highly motivated professional with a desire to optimise patient flow and discharge pathways across Sussex, working closely with multi-disciplinary colleagues.
Experience in working within an acute mental health setting would be desirable but not essential as this would be provided on appointment with induction and training. You will also need a commitment to improve the patient experience and journey. The successful candidate must display a considerable degree of initiative, possess mature judgement and maintain a calm, friendly and efficient manner when dealing with service users, their relatives, colleagues and other key stakeholders.
This is the perfect opportunity for those who are looking for a new challenge, enjoy variety in their work and wish to be part of a team striving to make a difference to our patients’ health care across Sussex.
Main duties of the job
- To be responsible for the identified CDS area or trust wide if working out of hours to ensure that discharge pathway planning information is identified and recorded for each patient.
- To develop local relationships with acute wards, urgent care services and community mental health teams to support discharge pathway planning and patient flow.
- To participate as an effective member of the Clinical Bed Management Service.
- To work in accordance with the non-clinical policies and procedures which are relevant to the role of Bed Manager.
- You will also work closely with the Clinical Leads & fellow Bed Managers to ensure a seamless service is delivered to patients across Sussex, ensuring optimum bed capacity and that resources are deployed to meet the challenges faced with patient flow. The understanding and processing to aid decision making is vital for rapid, safe and appropriate patient moves.
- In addition, you will be required to provide comprehensive, professional, operational, effective support, within the Patient Flow Service; whilst being supported by the Clinical Lead Nurses Mangers for Capacity & Flow.
Working for our organisation
Sussex Partnership provides mental health and learning disability care for all age groups across Sussex and for children in Hampshire.
We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/ life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, home-working, part time hours, flexible start/ finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.
We’d love you to join our Trust, rated ‘good’ overall and ‘outstanding’ for caring by the CQC. Our staff agree, in our recent staff survey 82% told us that they recognise that care for patients is our top priority.
Other key survey results:
70% highlighting flexible working as a key point for satisfaction at work 79% reporting feeling able to make suggestions to improve the work in their team 77% identifying opportunities to show initiative in their roles
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- To develop effective working relationships with local teams and services to support and optimise patient flow
- To be aware of all patients admitted to inpatient services in the locally defined area and to scrutinise the information to identify
- discharge pathway (simple or complex)
- Record information accurately related to discharge pathway and ensure that information is communicated to agreed teams and services
- Participate as a core member of the Patient Flow service and provide support to ensure that all functions can be maintained
- Enable the Patient Flow Service to develop an emphasis on forecasting capacity and assertively identifying potential and confirmed
- discharges
- Provide timely information to the Acute Referral Co-ordinator and Clinical Leads on capacity across the acute services and identify any
- other teams or services who may be involved in the discharge planning for patients
- Escalate issues locally related to discharge pathway planning to ensure that potential obstacles are identified, communicated and
- resolved
- Participate in day to day communication which will include the collation of data and information recorded on patient records, reporting
- and recording and participate in patient flow Trust wide conference calls as and when required
- Collate and provide written information for each CDS area to assist with daily and weekly patient flow actions and engagement
- The post holder will be required to applying a high degree of confidentiality to all of their work. They must be able to demonstrate good
- interpersonal and communication skills, manage competing demands and organise their own work in meeting deadlines in order for the
- smooth operation of the service.
- Provide cover for other Bed Managers and record all referrals for inpatient admission which are received for the identified CDS
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Relevant degree level qualification or equivalent administrative experience or diploma level plus relevant experience
Desirable criteria
- Working in Mental Health settling
Knowledge/Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working within acute mental health services
- Knowledge and understanding of adult mental health services
Desirable criteria
- Lived experience of mental health issues
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Jessica Uprichard
- Job title
- Business and Performance Manager - Patient Flow
- Email address
- [email protected]
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