Job Description

An exciting secondment opportunity has arisen to join the Community Hospital Inpatient Bed Management team based at Maidstone Hospital.



Community hospitals provide a range of comprehensive healthcare services for patients over the age of 18, but mainly older, frailer individuals. The units predominantly provide rehabilitation and end of life support for palliative patients and their families.



Patients are referred to the ward either from the acute setting to allow a further period of rehabilitation and assessment or directly from home via their GP or local community nursing teams. The Bed management team are responsible for triaging patients and allocating them to the most appropriate bed and location. Whilst there is no direct patient care it's important that you understand the role of a Ward Band 6 and the responsibilities they have when they care for our patients.

You will need to have the skills to:

Address challenges related to bed availability, patient flow, and resource allocation

Oversee and optimize patient flow within the Community Hospitals, ensuring efficient bed utilisation and timely admissions and discharges.

Coordinate admissions, discharges, and internal transfers to maintain optimal bed occupancy and facilitate timely patient movement.

Liaising with clinical teams, other departments, and external organisations to ensure smooth patient flow and effective communication

Monitoring bed occupancy, identifying trends, and generating reports to support decision-making and process improvement.



Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we've got a passion for delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. To do this we need outstanding people who share our values compassionate Aspirational Responsive Excellent



We know a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion leads to better patient care and a happier workforce. We pride ourselves in being diverse and welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences



We ask for information about your protected characteristics on our application forms. This isn't visible to anyone involved with shortlisting or interviewing you, except when you choose to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme due to disability. Short listers will see two ticks alongside your application to ensure they apply the principles of the scheme to your submission



The data we collect helps us to ensure we are attracting diversity in our applicants, that all our colleagues have equitable access to career opportunities and supports us on our journey to being a Great Place to Work



As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want you to be able to work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Talk to us about a flexible working arrangement that won't involve sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We'll support you to work flexibly in a way that will suits us both



See where you can go with KCHFT career pathways



As a community Trust many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. As such you will be asked to confirm you have a full UK driving licence where driving is a requirement of the role to be able to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment, if you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via kentchft.recruitment@nhs.net quoting the vacancy reference number so we can support you further.



The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.



Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you, their contact details can be found in the job advert.



We can get a lot of applications for some roles so to be in with the best chance of being shortlisted please make sure you apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job.



At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve.



Find out more about the community difference here .



Good luck! We can't wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.