Capacity and Flow Manager – Acute and Urgent Care

About the role

The Capacity and Flow Manager will lead operational management of patient flow and capacity across NHS Lanarkshire’s acute and urgent care services. Working closely with emergency, elective, critical care and discharge teams, the role ensures timely bed allocation, efficient discharge processes and safe patient transfers.

Key responsibilities

• Ensure emergency admissions are assessed and allocated to a bed within four hours.
• Allocate beds for elective patients post‑procedure in day surgery or inpatient areas.
• Oversee discharge processes to achieve 40% of expected discharges in line with KPIs.
• Manage safe, planned transfers to partner health boards, community hospitals and nursing homes.
• Provide day‑to‑day operational support to the Service Manager.
• Lead patient flow coordinators and call‑handling services.
• Advise senior clinical staff and act as a professional resource for the unit.

Required profile

• Proven experience in operational management of patient flow and capacity within a hospital setting.
• Ability to work collaboratively with clinical teams across emergency, elective and critical care specialties.
• Strong decision‑making authority and responsibility for implementing flow improvement programmes.
• Eligibility for a 12‑month fixed‑term appointment, with required line‑manager agreement for secondments.

Required skills

What we offer

• Opportunity to influence patient flow across a large NHS organisation serving 655,000 people.
• Experience working within a multidisciplinary clinical environment.
• Fixed‑term contract with potential for professional development.