System Therapies Complex Discharge Lead in Northampton

Site University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Town Northampton Salary £49,387 - £56,515 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 08/10/2026 23:59 Interview date 16/10/2026

Job overview

This is a unique opportunity for an experienced therapist to be the lead Therapies representative in the new system discharge hub.

This role is being recruited to provide a service 1st Nov to 31st Dec.

Northampton is set to move to a system wide Transfer of care hub (ToCH) in November 2026. It will establish a single, integrated, multidisciplinary coordination function, bringing together professionals from acute, community, social care and voluntary sector organisations into a unified system approach (KGH & NGH hubs integrate). At its core, the model is underpinned by a “Home First” philosophy, ensuring that patients are supported to return home wherever possible, with decision‑making guided by a strength‑based approach and a system‑wide focus on achieving the best outcomes for individuals.

The ToCH is intended to bring together teams involved in discharge planning through one coordinated system approach. Its core process runs from early identification of complexity through referral, triage, pathway allocation, brokerage and sourcing, discharge coordination and completion of discharge. There will be one hub across the system.

The successful candidate will be the consistent therapies representative in the hub. All hub representatives will function as a team, receiving and processing referrals throughout the working day, removing the daily hub meetings, and moving towards a more responsive model of referrals being received, reviewed and actioned as they come in.

The therapist will act as a central role, bringing significant experience as a clinician, whilst developing their understanding of system therapies services. The successful candidate will pull this knowledge together to help provide expert advice, signposting and system working to ensure best outcomes for patients and timely access to appropriate services during discharge planning.

The system ToCH will be based at Northampton General Hospital and therefore the therapist will be hosted by and line managed by the NGH Therapies management team with close links with system therapy leads. The hubs core hours will function between 8-4:30pm 7 days a week. This post is expected to provide the core provision mon - fri.

Main duties of the job

The System Therapies Discharge Lead will be the lead and consistent therapy presence within the Integrated Discharge Hub, bringing advanced specialist Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy expertise into daily discharge decision-making and system working.

In November 2026 Northamptonshire will be moving to a system Integrated discharge hub model. The therapist in post will act as a system therapies representative and will have insights into therapies services across the county across health and social care. The therapist will provide support and decision making for patients across the county including from NGH, KGH, and community hospitals.

The post holder will provide expert therapy analysis, clinical reasoning, positive risk management and professional advice for patients whose complex clinical, functional, psychological or social needs are affecting discharge. They will hold oversight of a targeted caseload of complex cases in an advisory capacity, reviewing existing assessments and information, clarifying therapy‑related needs and making recommendations to resolve barriers and support safe and timely discharge. The post holder will not routinely undertake hands‑on clinical assessment, treatment or intervention.

Working across professional and organisational boundaries, the post holder will lead the therapy contribution to discharge planning, escalation and validation processes. They will build effective relationships with acute teams, community services, adult social care, mental health, care providers, brokerage and other system partners to support patient‑centred decisions, appropriate use of resources and continuity of care.

As a senior therapist, the post holder will provide visible professional leadership, challenge constructively, support complex case resolution, educate colleagues and contribute to service improvement, audit, governance and evaluation. The role will promote a Home First and discharge‑to‑assess approach, where clinically appropriate, while maintaining professional standards and safeguarding patient choice, safety and dignity.

Base: Northampton General Hospital, with attendance at system settings according to service need. Operational accountability: Discharge Matron / Integrated Discharge Hub leadership.

Working for our organisation

We recognise that AI tools can support application writing; however, candidates are asked to keep their use to a minimum. Responses should reflect your own experience, skills and knowledge, as over‑reliance on AI‑generated content may result in generic answers that do not accurately represent your abilities.

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) brings together Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As a group, we are committed to improving services for our communities through collaboration, modernising care delivery and striving for excellence. Working together enables us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities, and there may be a requirement to work across sites depending on service needs.

Our Excellence Values are Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage. UHN welcomes applications from all backgrounds and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold the Gold Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Candidates who identify as members of the Armed Forces community and meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Leadership within the Integrated Discharge Hub

• Act as the senior therapy representative and consistent therapy presence within the Integrated Discharge Hub.
• Lead the therapy contribution to daily hub meetings, complex case discussions, discharge delay validation and system escalation processes.
• Provide authoritative Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy advice to support safe, timely and effective discharge decisions.
• Ensure therapy‑related risks, functional needs, equipment requirements, rehabilitation potential and post‑discharge support needs are clearly understood within system decision‑making.
• Coordinate and prioritise therapy input for complex discharge cases, working with ward and specialist therapy teams to avoid duplication and secure timely action.
• Chair or lead multidisciplinary and multi‑agency discussions where required, maintaining a clear focus on patient outcomes, agreed actions and accountability.
• Identify recurring therapy‑related barriers to discharge and elevate operational or system risks through appropriate governance routes.
• Represent Therapies at relevant hospital and system forums, communicating decisions and actions back to therapy teams.

Specialist therapy advice for complex discharge

• Review and interpret existing therapy assessments, clinical information and multidisciplinary evidence for patients with complex clinical, functional, cognitive, psychological and social needs affecting discharge, providing specialist advice and recommendations.
• Hold a targeted advisory caseload of complex therapy cases across the system, coordinating information and liaising with the multidisciplinary team and system partners to support timely decisions.
• Use advanced clinical reasoning to analyse risk, safety, patient choice, independence and environmental factors, and recommend proportionate discharge plans.
• Advise on the need for further therapy assessment or intervention and identify the most appropriate therapy team or service to undertake this.
• Provide expert recommendations on rehabilitation potential, functional prognosis, manual handling considerations, equipment, care needs and appropriate discharge pathways within own professional scope.
• Apply positive risk management and shared decision‑making, ensuring the patient remains central to discharge planning.
• Lead or contribute to complex case conferences and communicate sensitive information clearly to patients, relatives, carers and professionals.
• Maintain accurate, contemporaneous discharge records and ensure therapy recommendations, risks, decisions and actions are clearly documented.

System working and discharge coordination

• Develop and maintain effective relationships with internal and external partners to support seamless discharge and appropriate use of available resources.
• Work daily across organisational boundaries to resolve delays and support coordinated pathways from acute care into community settings.
• Contribute specialist therapy knowledge to discharge‑to‑assess, Home First, complex care and end‑of‑life pathways where relevant to the individual case and within professional scope.
• Ensure discharge plans reflect the person’s goals, functional presentation, risks, informal support, home environment and available community provision.
• Provide timely information and professional challenge when proposed plans do not adequately address therapy, functional or safety considerations.
• Contribute to escalation reporting and the validation of discharge delays, ensuring therapy actions and dependencies are accurate and current.
• Support admission avoidance activity by providing advice to urgent care, community colleagues and care providers when requested.

See JD for full roles and responsibilities

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons), diploma or equivalent professional qualification in Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy.
• Current Health and Care Professions Council registration.

Knowledge

• Advanced knowledge and experience of therapy assessment, intervention, review and discharge planning for people with complex needs, enabling interpretation of information and provision of specialist advice and recommendations.
• Experience of providing specialist advice and maintaining oversight of complex cases or an advisory caseload.
• Experience of effective multidisciplinary and multi‑agency working across organisational boundaries.

Skills

• Ability to analyse and balance complex interactions between function, cognition, risk, safety, independence, patient choice and available support using existing assessments and multidisciplinary information.
• Highly developed communication, negotiation, influencing and conflict‑resolution skills.
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary and multi‑agency discussions and translate decisions into clear actions.
• Ability to organise workload, manage competing priorities and maintain oversight in a fast‑paced operational environment.

At Northampton General Hospital we provide general acute services and hyper‑acute stroke, vascular and renal services to people living in Northamptonshire. As well as this we are an accredited cancer centre and provide cancer services to a wider population of Northamptonshire and parts of Buckinghamshire.

We are proud to be the first hospital in the UK to have obtained Pathway to Excellence designated accreditation from the American nurses credentialing centre (ANCC).

We celebrate staff achievements and value the importance of working as one big team. That’s why we talk about Team NGH. It’s all about working together to provide the best possible care for our patients and supporting each other to grow and develop our skills. We are driven to helping you to be the best you can be.

We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone’s full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities. The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals. We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative. We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds.This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.

Our Excellence Values:

• Compassion
• Respect
• Integrity
• Courageous
• Accountable

Due to the high number of applications received we are unable to respond to each application individually. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you have been unsuccessful in this application.

For further information on nursing, apprenticeships, A&E or any other departments please visit our specific website or pages that are indicated on the right hand side of this advert.

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust recognises that staff of differing backgrounds and life experiences enrich our workforce and bring different skills and knowledge. We therefore encourage and welcome applications for our vacancies from all candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CLOSE VACANCIES PRIOR TO THE ADVERTISED CLOSING DATE WHEN WE ARE IN RECEIPT OF SUFFICIENT APPLICATIONS

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Application numbers

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.

Name Marcella Irvine Job title NGH Head of Therapies Email address marcella.irvine1@nhs.net Telephone number 07711022160 Additional information

Marcella works part time, if Marcella is unavailable please contact Jenni Harris KGH Head of Therapies for more info. jenni.harris1@nhs.net

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