Southwark Integrated Discharge Service Manager

Job summary
The Integrated Discharge Service Manager will work across Inpatient, Crisis and Community services within the Southwark Directorate.

The role reports directly to the Urgent and Crisis Services General Manager with strong links maintained with the Discharge Team, inpatient wards, Home Treatment Team, Psychiatric Liaison, ARC and the Trust Right Care Programme.

The purpose of the role is to ensure the directorate delivers a reduction in readmission, length of stay and bed occupancy on the inpatient units and more generally improve patient's access, experience, and outcome.

Main duties of the job
The post holder will utilise highly specialist knowledge and expertise through comprehensive support in the assessment, complex planning, implementation, and overall evaluation of individual patient where a likely delay in discharge is indicated. In these circumstances, liaison with multi-disciplinary teams and external partners to plan complex discharges and resolve organisational or external issues impacting on a timely transfer of care are required. The role necessitates strong and confident clinical decision-making ability.

The post holder will actively pursue actions relating to patients who are delayed discharges due to barriers. This will require the post holder to work collaboratively with all relevant parties including external agencies. The post holder will be accountable for escalating internal and external issues and delays that cannot be resolved in a timely manner and provide assurance once a resolution is achieved.

The post holder will gather and synthesise information obtained from the Right Care Team, inpatient Bed Management Meeting, Zoning information from community services, ED Liaison activities, Multi Agency Discharge Events (MADE), Delayed Transfer of Care (DToC)/CRFD huddles, Daily Clinical Care meeting (DCCM) and the Acute Referral Centre for Borough demand and capacity planning and across the directorate.

About us
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK as well as substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We work closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and are part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. There are very few organisations in the world that have such wide-ranging capabilities working with mental illness. Our scope is unique because it is built on three major foundations: care and treatment, science and research, and training.

SLaM employ around 5000 staff and serve a local population of 1.1 million people. We have more than 230 services including inpatient wards, outpatient and community services. Currently, provide inpatient care for approximately 5,300 people each year and treat more than 45,000 patients in the community in Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark; as well as substance misuse services for residents of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich.

By coming to work at SLaM, you will gain experience of being part of an organisation with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care. You will have access to professional development and learning opportunities and have the chance to work alongside people who are world leaders in their field.

Details
Date posted: 10 August 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8a
Salary: £66,274 to £73,496 a year
per annum inclusive of HCAS
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 334-NUR-8121979-FR
Job locations: Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AZ, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Quality

• To support the performance management of crisis services within the borough, providing demonstrable assurance that all relevant services are of sufficient high clinical quality including patient safety, patient satisfaction, clinical outcomes and compliance
• To use and provide information required for quality measures which will be collected & reported using dash boards to improve the quality-of-care delivery
• To investigate and monitor SUIs, complaints and disciplinary issues and ensure adverse outcomes are reported and action taken. Produce high quality, timely reports and action plans to ensure recommendations are implemented and lessons are learnt.
• To provide demonstrable assurance that service lines comply with all mandatory reporting and assurance frameworks to enable the Trust to achieve compliance.
• To provide demonstrable assurance that clinical environments are fit for purpose.

Effectiveness

• To provide leadership by developing and improving Right Care strategies across the borough including the operational management of the Discharge Coordinators
• To provide demonstrable assurance that the resources available achieve efficiencies, reduction of waste and improvements in clinical quality.
• To measure outcomes to demonstrate achievements against agreed standards.
• To promote the engagement of carers and families in the care pathway.
• Responsible for ensuring high levels of operational effectiveness, including throughput, resource utilisation and the attainment of performance targets within service lines.
• To work in partnership with housing providers, faith organisations day centre staff, outreach teams and other agencies providing support to the client groups

Financial performance

• To ensure the delivery of service within the resources available whilst maintaining the quality of service provision
• To identify commercial opportunities within the clinical service and seek to achieve income

Leadership

• To specifically lead and support the discharge coordination process in Croydon
• support the development of a culture that promotes leadership through coaching
• To assist in recruiting, motivating, training, developing and retaining appropriate staff enabling them to have the skills, expertise and discretion to function effectively in their roles
• Provide demonstrable assurance that staff have the appropriate skills and competence to deliver high quality care
• To demonstrate clinical competence and role model effective clinical care delivery
• To recruit/develop team leaders/managers who meet the organisational standards and measure performance against leadership and management competencies adopted by the Trust
• To be a visible leader and be accessible to clinical staff, services users and carers.

Training

• To provide opportunities for postgraduate and undergraduate training to doctors, nurses, psychologists, OTs, Social Workers and other health professionals in accordance with the tripartite mission.
• To monitor the clinical environments to ensure that they are fit for purpose of learning, actively seeking evaluation and feedback from multi-professional trainees to deliver improvements.
• To provide training and support to voluntary sector agencies including housing providers, outreach teams and day centre staff.

Research

• To actively participate in and encourage research activity within clinical services in order to achieve targets set by the Trust.

Service improvement & innovation

• To support and promote engagement in Trust wide initiatives for continuous quality improvement.
• To contribute to the delivery of effective and efficient clinical services by ensuring that staff are engaged in continuous quality improvement initiatives.
• To be a change agent driving a cycle of continuous quality improvement utilising lean methodology and other relevant techniques as appropriate

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Recognised Professional Qualification in Social Work (DipSW/CQSW), Mental Health Nursing (RMN), Psychology, Occupational Therapy or any allied medical profession

Desirable

• MSc. Leadership & Management course.

Experience
Essential

• Senior Management Experience in running large multidisciplinary teams with significant clinical and business delivery targets.
• Senior management experience of implementing patient flow strategies
• Experience of leading and managing change to deliver organisational & Directoriate goals

Knowledge/Skills
Essential

• Working knowledge of all relevant legislation associated with health and social care.
• Ability to develop close collaborative working relationship between individuals, teams and organisations
• Good practice in assessment, short term time limited treatments and interventions
• Ability to lead and manage change through influence without direct management

Other skills
Essential

• Recognition of own limitations, strengths and weaknesses and an ability to seek advice when necessary.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
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).

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).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).