Job summary
We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate who can work as part a team. The successful candidates will have a sound clinical background with effective decision-making skills and the ability to work as part of a team. You will be an experienced and competent nurse or equivalent clinician.
You will be confident in using RIO (patient electronic record system) and have a good knowledge of excel. You must also have good listening, communication skills and problem-solving skills as well as the ability to work under pressure in challenging situations where conflict may arise. A good understanding of the London Compact Agreement and Clinical Prioritisation framework is also desirable.
Main duties of the job
Acute Care Pathway Out of Hours (OOH) Coordinator is responsible for maintaining the operation of the ACP within its bed capacity during the OOH period. Evaluation has found gatekeeping in the OOH period to be a weakness of the current system.
In the absence of 'in hour's' managers, Discharge Coordinators and 'in hours' medical resources, the post holder will find it harder to create new capacity in the ACP system in the OOH period. The post holder must therefore start the OOH period with a bed stock reserve, gate keep diligently to commit that reserve wisely and try to reconstitute the reserve whenever possible. The post holder must support the Assessing and Triage services in finding alternatives to admissions. The post holder will work collaboratively with external stakeholders.
About us
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 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 variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.
About our locations:
Springfield University Hospital, Tooting
Our largest, 19-ward site is in Springfield Village, created following our £150m investment into two new world class mental health facilities. A 32-acre public park, shops and cafes are now opening. Springfield is close to shops, cafes and Tooting Bec on the Northern Line plus Earlsfield and Tooting rail stations and bus routes.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Gate Keeping
The post holder will be responsible for coordinating gate keeping for the Trust outside of working hours.
The post holder must: Seek early warning from Trust and non-Trust staff on duty during the OOH period (See Information / Communication / Liaison).
The post holder must pre-empt, negotiate the timing of and generally smooth demand placed on the ACP system (and Beds) from the following sources:
- Deterioration in wellness of community patients that may result in a crisis admission (Crisis line calls)
- A&E referrals
- Police referrals
- Liaison Psychiatry
- AMHP referrals
Patients about to be referred to the ward by HTTs themselves
Referrals from neighbouring healthcare providers that do not meet criteria (Not exhaustive)
The post holder must develop systems to receive directly (or receive notification of) new referrals being made outside of working hours by all potential referrers, including neighbouring Trusts.
Coordinate HTT response for requests for assessments by Psychiatric Liaison / A&E departments, tasking teams as required ensuring a rapid response of the service user.
Manage requests made by neighbouring Trusts for transfer/repatriation of service users, (coordinating research into the eligibility of transferees).
Facilitate access to a bed for eligible patients and gate keep ineligible patients. Support on-call managers in responding appropriately to gatekeeping dilemmas.
Support Adult Emergency Duty Team procedures to arrange Mental Health Act Assessments.
The post holder must liaise with the on-call managers to create capacity in the system, for example, using a decision tree to facilitate admission to a Trust Non-Acute bed in a safe and effective way.
Where a bed cannot be created in an acute admission ward, older peoples ward (in accordance with the policy) or non-acute ward in the Trust the post holder will be responsible for identifying a potential bed in an NHS or private provider and for escalating and advising the On-site nurse advisor and On Call Manager of the potential options.
Bed Management
The post holder must:
- Manage the available bed stock during the out-of-hours period, maintaining a reserve
- When the bed reserve is used, reconstitute the reserve by encouraging discharges
- Work to facilitate / broker positive risk-taking over cases between Ward and HTT and HTT and CMHT consultants and team managers work as intermediaries and negotiating local transfer of care contracts and trial home treatment
- Pre-empt and resolve arising barriers to discharge i.e. keys, and other agency support to discharge.
- Promote conditions-based discharge so that discharge takes place once agreed conditions are met
- Authorise appropriate requests by HTTs and Urgent care teams for temporary accommodation for service users about to be admitted due to homelessness so that home treatment can be initiated as an alternative
- Authorise appropriate requests for funds to provide items such as food which will facilitate discharge or prevent admission.
Information / Communication / Liaison
Forge linkages with; understand roles and capabilities of, coordinate response with and through, the following OOH resources:
- On- Call Managers
- On-Call Directors
- On-Call Pharmacy
- Duty SHOs (Kingston, St Helier), Psych Liaison St Georges
- SPR (Springfield / St Georges), SPR LD and CAMHS and SPR Other
- On-Call Consultants: Child, LD, Adult (Springfield) Adult (Sutton Kingston and Tolworth)
- Local Authority EDT (Wandsworth), Local Authority AEDT (Kingston, Richmond, Sutton, and Merton)
- Ward Managers
- PICUs (Ward 1 and ELFT)
- Hollyburn Hospital
- Winter Surge Capacity
- Emergency Response Teams
- Temporary Staffing OOH
Contribute to the patient record for cases handled during the OOH period:
- Use call-taker support to pass and take messages and maximise efficient use of time
- Update the ACPCC help-desk system accordingly
Financial
- Manage budgets and authorise payment for temporary accommodation for service users about to be admitted due to homelessness so that home treatment can be initiated as an alternative.
- Authorise payments for other items, such as food, and topping up electricity/gas cards which can prevent admission or facilitate discharge
Training and Development
- To receive both professional and managerial supervision.
- To attend all mandatory training and service-related essential training.
- To contribute and commit to undertaking an annual Development Review/appraisal.
- To undertake personal development as identified in the Personal Development Plan (PDP).
- To maintain relevant Professional Registration
Job description
Job responsibilities
Gate Keeping
The post holder will be responsible for coordinating gate keeping for the Trust outside of working hours.
The post holder must: Seek early warning from Trust and non-Trust staff on duty during the OOH period (See Information / Communication / Liaison).
The post holder must pre-empt, negotiate the timing of and generally smooth demand placed on the ACP system (and Beds) from the following sources:
- Deterioration in wellness of community patients that may result in a crisis admission (Crisis line calls)
- A&E referrals
- Police referrals
- Liaison Psychiatry
- AMHP referrals
Patients about to be referred to the ward by HTTs themselves
Referrals from neighbouring healthcare providers that do not meet criteria (Not exhaustive)
The post holder must develop systems to receive directly (or receive notification of) new referrals being made outside of working hours by all potential referrers, including neighbouring Trusts.
Coordinate HTT response for requests for assessments by Psychiatric Liaison / A&E departments, tasking teams as required ensuring a rapid response of the service user.
Manage requests made by neighbouring Trusts for transfer/repatriation of service users, (coordinating research into the eligibility of transferees).
Facilitate access to a bed for eligible patients and gate keep ineligible patients. Support on-call managers in responding appropriately to gatekeeping dilemmas.
Support Adult Emergency Duty Team procedures to arrange Mental Health Act Assessments.
The post holder must liaise with the on-call managers to create capacity in the system, for example, using a decision tree to facilitate admission to a Trust Non-Acute bed in a safe and effective way.
Where a bed cannot be created in an acute admission ward, older peoples ward (in accordance with the policy) or non-acute ward in the Trust the post holder will be responsible for identifying a potential bed in an NHS or private provider and for escalating and advising the On-site nurse advisor and On Call Manager of the potential options.
Bed Management
The post holder must:
- Manage the available bed stock during the out-of-hours period, maintaining a reserve
- When the bed reserve is used, reconstitute the reserve by encouraging discharges
- Work to facilitate / broker positive risk-taking over cases between Ward and HTT and HTT and CMHT consultants and team managers work as intermediaries and negotiating local transfer of care contracts and trial home treatment
- Pre-empt and resolve arising barriers to discharge i.e. keys, and other agency support to discharge.
- Promote conditions-based discharge so that discharge takes place once agreed conditions are met
- Authorise appropriate requests by HTTs and Urgent care teams for temporary accommodation for service users about to be admitted due to homelessness so that home treatment can be initiated as an alternative
- Authorise appropriate requests for funds to provide items such as food which will facilitate discharge or prevent admission.
Information / Communication / Liaison
Forge linkages with; understand roles and capabilities of, coordinate response with and through, the following OOH resources:
- On- Call Managers
- On-Call Directors
- On-Call Pharmacy
- Duty SHOs (Kingston, St Helier), Psych Liaison St Georges
- SPR (Springfield / St Georges), SPR LD and CAMHS and SPR Other
- On-Call Consultants: Child, LD, Adult (Springfield) Adult (Sutton Kingston and Tolworth)
- Local Authority EDT (Wandsworth), Local Authority AEDT (Kingston, Richmond, Sutton, and Merton)
- Ward Managers
- PICUs (Ward 1 and ELFT)
- Hollyburn Hospital
- Winter Surge Capacity
- Emergency Response Teams
- Temporary Staffing OOH
Contribute to the patient record for cases handled during the OOH period:
- Use call-taker support to pass and take messages and maximise efficient use of time
- Update the ACPCC help-desk system accordingly
Financial
- Manage budgets and authorise payment for temporary accommodation for service users about to be admitted due to homelessness so that home treatment can be initiated as an alternative.
- Authorise payments for other items, such as food, and topping up electricity/gas cards which can prevent admission or facilitate discharge
Training and Development
- To receive both professional and managerial supervision.
- To attend all mandatory training and service-related essential training.
- To contribute and commit to undertaking an annual Development Review/appraisal.
- To undertake personal development as identified in the Personal Development Plan (PDP).
- To maintain relevant Professional Registration
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Registered General or Mental Health Nurse with Post Basic Qualifications - relevant to the area of practice
- Social Worker - Level 4 with PQ Full Award or equivalent
- Registered Occupational Therapist with substantive experience in working in Mental Health
Desirable
- MSc Health Management, MBA or Recognised management or leadership course
- Clinical background in mental health services
Experience
Essential
- Previous experience in managing teams
- Previous experience in planning and managing flow, able to demonstrate an understanding of the issues affecting this within the health context
- Previous contact centre/control room experience
- Excellent organisational skills - able to prioritise own work and manage own time
- Evidence of strong problem-solving skills - able to respond to unexpected issues and respond.
- Proven experience of service improvement
Desirable
- Demonstrable results of successful involvement in discharge planning and coordination
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Registered General or Mental Health Nurse with Post Basic Qualifications - relevant to the area of practice
- Social Worker - Level 4 with PQ Full Award or equivalent
- Registered Occupational Therapist with substantive experience in working in Mental Health
Desirable
- MSc Health Management, MBA or Recognised management or leadership course
- Clinical background in mental health services
Experience
Essential
- Previous experience in managing teams
- Previous experience in planning and managing flow, able to demonstrate an understanding of the issues affecting this within the health context
- Previous contact centre/control room experience
- Excellent organisational skills - able to prioritise own work and manage own time
- Evidence of strong problem-solving skills - able to respond to unexpected issues and respond.
- Proven experience of service improvement
Desirable
- Demonstrable results of successful involvement in discharge planning and coordination
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
