The post holder will work in a targeted way to achieve the best pathway out of hospital, maximizing independence and choice for the individual and working in a solution focused way to ensure that once ready, there are no barriers in place to an effective discharge.
The post holder will work with individuals identified through their attendance and participation at daily whiteboard meetings and weekly Bed Management and Clinically Ready For Discharge (CRFD) meetings. This will provide them with a complete picture of the acute care pathway and barriers to patient flow.
The post holder must be adept at prioritizing the activities that will most rapidly lead to effective discharge and have strong legal literacy to ensure that there are no legal barriers to discharge. This includes expert knowledge of housing legislation, Care Act 2014, No Recourse to Public Funds, Mental Health Act (s117) and the Mental Capacity Act including Court of Protection.
The post holder will sit organizationally within the Inpatient Services and be present on the inpatient wards within a defined geographical area working with an identified caseload to enable effective discharge planning. This post is for Park Royal Centre for mental health, it's a 9-5 post Monday -Friday and due to the nature of the role it is a fact to face job., The post holder will coordinate the CRFD list for the Borough and attend the weekly CRFD meeting as a matter of routine to update on progress and highlight any potential blocks that they have been unable to resolve.
Using strengths based social work practice to manage a specific caseload of individuals who are inpatients and patients on HTT caseload and have potential barriers to discharge identified early on, in their inpatient stay or admission to HTT. Pre-empt and resolve arising barriers to discharge and length of stay.
Ensure that patient care is provided in the most appropriate care setting to ensure effective and efficient treatment and that there is a clear and robust discharge plan. This will involve attendance on wards for specific discussions including White Board meetings, and s117 discharge planning meetings.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings., Compassion: Our staff will be led by compassion and embody the values of care outlined in our Staff Charter.
Respect: We will respect and value the diversity of our patients, service users and staff, to create a respectful and inclusive environment, which recognizes the uniqueness of each individual.
Empowerment: We will involve, inform and empower our patients, service users, careers and their families to take an active role in the management of their illness and adopt recovery principles. We will ensure our staff receive appropriate direction and support, to enable them to develop and grow.
Partnership: We will work closely with our many partners to ensure that our combined efforts are focused on achieving the best possible outcomes for the people we serve., Please see above for detailed job description and main responsibilities. Attend the weekly bed management meetings and take an active role in challenging delays in discharge.
+ Develop positive working relationships with key stakeholders, including local commissioners ( health & local authority)
+ To develop effective relationships with housing providers, tenancy support teams and benefit agencies specific to the Borough.
+ Verification of purpose of admission and expected length of stay for all new admissions to the hospital. Ensure ward staff have identified an Expected Date of Discharge (EDD) and identify likely pathway out of hospital early during their inpatient stay.
+ Ensure that tenancies are maintained whilst in hospital and that independence is maximised on discharge.
+ Where necessary, to take a lead in commencing discharge planning until such stage as community care coordinator is appointed
+ To provide robust assessment of need and risk assessment with due regard to the principles of personalization, balancing risk, choice and control to produce a care plan, which demonstrates consideration of the least restrictive option.
+ Work to facilitate / broker positive risk taking over cases between the ward and HTT. Pre-empt, accelerate homelessness unit input / liaison.
+ Investigate cases that are about to pass / have passed projected milestone/ discharge dates in the acute care pathway i.e., discharge review, discharge plan in place, discharge date.
+ Work with communities and employers to ensure the individual maintains links with their community supports whilst an inpatient.
+ Develop positive working relationships with the local housing teams and placements panel and have an excellent understanding of the paperwork required to present to panel for funding.
+ Support care coordinators with complex cases that require continuing care funding or where there is a complex family situation preventing safe discharge, including liaison with Children's Services when necessary, where there are children involved.
+ Ensure early liaison with the community teams of pending discharges to HTT or direct to community.
CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.
Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. For more information on these and other benefits of working for us, see our Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing page
Become part of our team. We care for you as much as you care for others.
CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.
Due to the high response levels we receive for some vacancies, we may expire any of them prior to the advertised closing date and advise you to submit your application as soon as possible.
Our Agenda for Change employment contracts are subject to a contractual 13 week probationary period.
If you are offered a job, information will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.