Job summary
The Therapies Complex Discharge Lead will provide advanced specialist Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy expertise across inpatient services, supporting patients with complex therapy needs that are impacting discharge and patient flow. This is the second year of receiving winter funding for the complex discharge therapy team, this year we will be approaching this as a UHN Therapies model, adding resilience and expertise across both NGH and KGH. Whilst KGH will be your primary site there may be occasions where you are required to work at NGH.

The post holder will lead a roaming therapy function, providing expert assessment, clinical decision making and advice to the daily Discharge Hub, escalation areas and medically fit wards. They will act as the senior therapy representative within discharge planning processes, working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to facilitate timely, safe and effective discharge decisions whilst ensuring the patient remains at the centre of all decision making.

Main duties of the job
The post holder will undertake highly specialised assessments and interventions for patients with complex clinical, functional and social needs. Working autonomously within professional standards and scope of practice, they will demonstrate advanced clinical reasoning, positive risk management and expert decision making to support discharge planning and optimise patient outcomes.

The post holder will provide leadership, advice and support to therapy colleagues and the wider multidisciplinary team, helping to resolve barriers to discharge, promote evidence-based practice and maintain high standards of care. They will contribute to service development, quality improvement and education activities across Therapies.

The post holder will work across traditional professional and organisational boundaries, supporting operational priorities whilst ensuring safe, effective and person-centred care.

The post holder will be responsible for team leadership of the Therapies complex discharge team including day to day operational management, as well as responsibility for data collection and reporting on the impact of the service to Therapies management and the wider trust when requested.

The role includes participation in seven-day services and, where appropriate, professional on-call rotas. The post holder will lead on service development, audit and quality improvement, acting as a role model for professional standards, patient-centred care and collaborative working across UHN.

About us
Please submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close adverts once sufficient applications have been received.

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.

Details
Date posted: 21 September 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year
Per Annum pro rata
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 4 months
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working
Reference number: 264-8270230-CSS
Job locations: University Hospitals of Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, Kettering, NN16 8UZ, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Please see attached job description and personal specification for full details of the role and responsibilities.

Person Specification
Education, training and qualifications
Essential

• Degree in Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy
• Registered with Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC)
• Evidence of continuing professional development through maintenance of a portfolio.

Desirable

• Member of Royal College of Occupational Therapist or Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
• Management skills or leadership training
• Post Graduate course relevant to this speciality

Knowledge and Skills
Essential

• Ability to work across 7 day service
• Relevant experience working within the NHS environment
• Evidence of experience and advanced skills in completing Acute Medicine Assessments, rehabilitation and interventions and working within a Multidisciplinary Team.
• Knowledge of current Health and Health & Social Care initiatives and their potential impact on stake holders
• Education of other MDT members.
• Practice Educator experience
• Experience of MDT goal planning, development of care pathways and using outcome measures.
• Supervision of and delegation of work to others.
• Knowledge of community-based therapy services and services that external partners offer.

Skills
Essential

• Ability to carry out in-depth Therapy assessment of patients with complex needs.
• Ability to work effectively, efficiently and safely within clinical boundaries, in clinical areas, to deliver high standards of care for acute medicine patients.
• Ability to present information both written and verbally in a clear and logical manner.
• Evidence of people management and leadership skills
• Ability to use standardised assessments appropriate to the client group
• Ability to plan, implement and evaluate treatment
• Advanced communication skills with patients, carers and colleagues.
• Problem Solving and Advanced Clinical Reasoning skills
• Ability to make sound judgements and reliable decisions in a variety of demanding situations.
• Ability to work across professional boundaries and at all levels
• A thorough understanding of the social care system and complex discharge needs regarding Urgent Care and Acute Medicine patients.
• Reflective and open to new learning, challenges and change.
• Able to work flexibly according to the needs and demands of the service.
• Be a car driver or able to travel between trusts and where appropriate respond within 45 minutes when responding to oncalls (24 hours)
• Ability to demonstrate resilience.
• Able to lead, motivate and inspire others.
• Ability to analyse activity and outcome data accurately and objectively.
• Willingness to share skills, knowledge and experience with other members of the MDT.
• Clear vision of role and commitment to speciality.
• Able to comprehend and work within the Trust's policies of data protection, equal opportunities and Health and Safety.
• Ability to organise and prioritise own workload
• Ability to work independently and as part of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency team
• Ability to keep accurate and legible documentation

Desirable

• Evidence of using Clinical Governance Framework to monitor and improve quality of patient care.

Key Competencies, Personal Qualities and Attributes
Essential

• Passionate and committed to bring our Dedicated to Excellence values to life, improving the way we work with each other, particularly focusing on empowerment, equality diversity and inclusion of our staff, patients and service users
• Flexibility and adaptable; able to respond effectively to service demands
• Compassionate and empathetic; with a strong commitment to person centred care
• Self-motivated, proactive and able to work independently with minimal supervision
• Self-motivated, proactive and able to work independently with minimal supervision Resilient, with the ability to manage pressure and challenging situation constructively

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).