Discharge Co-Ordinator

Job summary

An opportunity has arisen for a discharge co-ordinator based at Furness General Hospital. The Discharge Coordinator will be ward based and will coordinate discharges to enable a reduction in length of stay, reduction in re admission and increase the quality of discharge planning whilst supporting members of the MDT team.

The role will provide the ward team to support and facilitate discharge planning from a patients admission to hospital.

The discharge coordinator will track the progress of patients through their hospital journey, and will develop robust plans to facilitate timely discharge.

A key part of the role will be liaising with with departments/services internally, and across system partners, who are involved in providing care to patients whilst in hospital and beyond discharge into the community.

Main duties of the job

• The Discharge Coordinator will be based on the ward coordinating discharges to enable a reduction in length of stay, reduction in re-admission and increase the quality of discharge planning whilst supporting members of the MDT team.
• The role will provide the ward team support to facilitate discharge planning from a patient's attendance to hospital. The discharge coordinator will track the progress of patients through their hospital journey and will develop robust plans to facilitate timely discharge.
• A key part of the role will be liaising with departments/services internally, and across the health economy, who are involved in providing care to patients whilst in hospital and beyond discharge into the community. This will involve developing excellent working relationships across the health boundaries, and with patient and their families.
• The discharge coordinator will check and challenge internal processes and decisions and will escalate issues with external organisations which could cause a discharge delay escalating these delays accordingly. Negotiation with staff, services and patients will be a vital part of this role to ensure the patient journey is progressed appropriately and safely.
• The discharge coordinator is responsible for undertaking referrals via Strata and will complete and track referrals to relevant services to enable discharge planning to take place at the correct stage in the patient's hospital journey.

About us

We operate from three main hospitals-Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI), and Westmorland General Hospital (WGH) in Kendal, as well as a number of community healthcare premises including Millom Hospital and GP Practice, Queen Victoria Hospital in Morecambe, and Ulverston Community Health Centre.

FGH and the RLI have a range of General Hospital services, with full Emergency Departments, Critical/Coronary Care units and various Consultant-led services.

WGH provides a range of General Hospital services, together with an Urgent Treatment Centre, that can help with a range of non-life threatening conditions such as broken bones and minor illnesses.

All three main hospitals provide a range of planned care including outpatients, diagnostics, therapies, day case and inpatient surgery. In addition, a range of local outreach services and diagnostics are provided from community facilities across Morecambe Bay.

Our community services for adults are provided in people's homes, community centres, clinics, GP Practices, community hospitals and our main hospitals. Our aim is to work with people to help them remain independent, improve their health and manage their conditions through high quality care, advice and support.