Patient flow facilitator - Older People and Stroke

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is one of the largest healthcare systems in the United Kingdom, employing approximately 40,000 staff across a wide range of clinical and non-clinical professions and roles. We deliver acute hospital, primary, community and mental health services to a population of over 1.15 million people, and to a wider population of 2.2 million when regional and national services are included.

The Role

The post holder will play a key role in facilitating safe, effective, and timely patient discharges across Older People and Stroke Services within the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH). The aim of the role is to improve patient flow, enhance patient experience, and ensure optimal use of hospital capacity.

The post holder will work proactively across medical wards, supporting multidisciplinary teams to identify and address barriers to discharge at the earliest opportunity. This will involve close collaboration with nursing staff, medical teams, Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), and community services to ensure coordinated and person-centred discharge planning.

Duration, Location, and Working Pattern:

Location based in Royal Alexandra Hospital Permanent Contract Full-time position (36 hours per week) The shift pattern is Monday to Friday.

Key Responsibilities

Coordinate and oversee daily patient flow across Older People and Stroke wards, including assessment units, acute wards, hyper-acute stroke and rehabilitation areas, ensuring safe, timely and effective use of bed capacity. Act as the central point of contact for patient flow within OPSS, liaising with ward teams, site management and bed management teams to maintain oversight of capacity, pressures and escalation issues. Attend and actively contribute to daily OPSS safety huddles and board rounds, providing accurate real time information on admissions, discharges, transfers and delays. Monitor patients who are medically fit for discharge, proactively identifying and escalating barriers to discharge, including therapy requirements, social care delays, guardianship, Adults with Incapacity processes and complex frailty needs. Support early and coordinated discharge planning in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams, promoting discharge without delay while maintaining patient safety, dignity and person-centred care. Coordinate patient movement across the stroke pathway, including hyper-acute, acute stroke and stroke rehabilitation areas, ensuring flow decisions reflect clinical acuity, rehabilitation potential and specialist input requirements. Escalate flow risks related to frailty, delirium, cognitive impairment, dependency and safeguarding concerns, ensuring appropriate senior review and operational support. Maintain accurate and up-to-date flow data, including bed occupancy, admissions, discharges and delayed discharges, and contribute to operational reporting and escalation updates for OPSS management. Work collaboratively with ward managers, senior nurses, AHP leads and medical teams to resolve flow challenges and support safe patient placement and transfer decisions. Contribute to the identification of recurring flow and discharge issues, supporting service improvement activity within Older People and Stroke Services. Ensure all flow activity is undertaken in line with OPSS policies, governance requirements and NHS values, supporting quality, safety and positive patient experience Collation of data on patient flow

Knowledge, training, qualifications and/or experience required to do the job:

Registered General Nurse (1st level) Minimum of three years post registration, with experience working in a ward environment, and a working knowledge of discharge planning. Confident IT skills, able to demonstrate ability to use various applications with ease and familiarity Excellent working knowledge of support services within the Acute Sector Excellent working knowledge of Acute Services in the Secondary Care setting Good working knowledge of Primary Care Services Evidence of continuing professional development Ability to fulfil criteria as outlined in job description. This job description is a general outline of the above post, and it is not exhaustive. This job description is subject to periodic review with the post-holder. Duties may change in line with the service changes and of the post-holder’s own personal development.

What We Offer

We offer a wide range of supportive policies designed to enhance your employee journey, including a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme, Cycle to Work Scheme, bursary scheme and extensive learning and development opportunities.

As an NHS Scotland employee, you will be entitled to:

A minimum of 27 days annual leave, increasing with length of service, plus public holidays Membership of the NHS Pension Scheme, including life insurance benefits Development opportunities including study bursaries, e-learning and classroom-based courses Enhanced pay for working public holidays NHS discounts on a wide range of goods and services Confidential employee support and assistance, including counselling and psychological therapies

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, we would love to hear from you.

For An Informal Discussion, Please Contact

Jenny McFarlane, Lead Nurse, On 07976955693 or email Jennifer.McFarlane2@nhs.scot

Details on how to contact the Recruitment Service and the Recruitment Process: Information for candidates

This post may close early to the volume of response. Please submit your application form as soon as possible. Due to the volume of applications that we receive, we will not be able to provide shortlisting feedback.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) recognises the importance of work-life balance and is committed to offering a range of flexible working options where service needs allow. For roles where less than full-time hours can be accommodated, and where the tenure is listed as “various”, we encourage applications from individuals seeking flexible working arrangements. Flexible working will be included as a topic for discussion during the recruitment process.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde encourages applications from all sections of the community. We are committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion and are proud of the diverse workforce we employ.

By signing the Armed Forces Covenant, NHSGGC has pledged its commitment to being a Forces Friendly Employer. We welcome applications from across the Armed Forces Community and recognise military skills, experience and qualifications throughout the recruitment and selection process.

Candidates must provide original and authentic responses to all questions within the application form. The use of artificial intelligence (AI), automated tools or other third-party assistance to generate, draft or significantly modify responses is strongly discouraged. By submitting your application, you confirm that all answers are your own work, reflect your personal knowledge, skills and experience, and have not been solely produced or altered by AI or similar technologies. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in your application being withdrawn from the recruitment process.

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