Job summary
- Main area
- Surgery
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 6
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 179-7563521-S
- Employer
- West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Town
- Bury St Edmunds
- Salary
- £38,682 - £46,580 Per Annum, Pro Rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 13/11/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Deputy Clinical Flow Manager
NHS AfC: Band 6
Job overview
Are you a driven and organised healthcare professional with a passion for surgical services and operational excellence? We are seeking a proactive Deputy Surgical Clinical Flow Manager to support the smooth running of patient flow across our surgical pathways.
Working closely with the Surgical Clinical Flow Manager and multidisciplinary teams, you will play a key role in managing elective and emergency surgical admissions, coordinating theatre utilisation, and ensuring timely discharge planning. This is a fast-paced role that demands strong leadership, clinical insight, and a commitment to improving patient outcomes.
Main duties of the job
Key Responsibilities
- Coordinate daily surgical flow across ED, inpatient wards, theatres, and recovery areas
- Lead escalation meetings focused on surgical capacity and throughput
- Collaborate with surgical teams, anaesthetics, and bed management to optimise patient placement
- Support discharge planning and reduce delays through proactive liaison with clinical teams
- Monitor real-time data to identify bottlenecks and implement responsive solutions
- Contribute to service improvement initiatives and surgical flow transformation projects
Working for our organisation
#BeKnown at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. By us. By our patients. By our community
We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.
The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services (emergency department, maternity and neonatal services, day surgery unit, eye treatment centre, Macmillan unit and children's ward). It has 500+ beds and is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge.
Adult and paediatric community services, provided in collaboration with West Suffolk Alliance partners, include a range of nursing, therapy, specialist, and ongoing temporary care and rehabilitation, some at our Newmarket Community Hospital.
We do our utmost to achieve outstanding clinical outcomes for patients and our values of fairness, inclusivity, respect, safety and team work guide how we work and behave as a team.
With nearly 5,000 staff, from all over the world, we strive to make our organisation a great place to work. Whatever your role or ambition, we want to help you be the best you can be.
We promote a diverse and inclusive community where everyones voice counts and you can #BeKnown for whoever you are.
Join us. What will you #BeKnown for?
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
About You
- Registered healthcare professional with surgical or acute care experience
- Strong understanding of surgical pathways, theatre scheduling, and patient flow principles
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and decision-making skills
- Able to work under pressure and manage competing priorities with confidence
- Previous experience in a leadership or coordination role is desirable.
Please see job description attached to view main responsibilities and duties of role.
Person specification
Education and qualifications
Essential criteria
- • Nursing & Midwifery Council Part 1 of the Register
- Evidence of post basic continuing professional development
Desirable criteria
- • Management Qualification
Experience and knowledge
Essential criteria
- • Understanding of Band 6 role
- • MDT Working
- • Audit experience
- • Ability to create an excellent learning environment
- • Ability to offer professional guidance to staff
Desirable criteria
- • Knowledge of Surgical Pathways both elective and Emergency
- • Knowledge of SSDEC / SAU
- • Involvement in clinical audit initiatives
- • Change management
- • Experience in a variety of healthcare settings
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
- • Vision for the development of this post IT literate
- • Ability to influence and enhance patient care
- • Prioritisation and problem solving skills
- • Ability to develop positive interpersonal relationships with staff at all levels
- • High professional standards and understanding of professional issues
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
- • Occupational health clearance to carry out duties of role.
- • Able to use initiative
- • Able to prioritise workload
- • Strong communication skills
- • Flexible approach to working hours and duties
- • Adaptable approach to change
- • Ambitious
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable people and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Michelle Bennett
- Job title
- Surgical Clinical Flow Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
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