Head of Bed Management

Overview

Post Title:

Head of Bed Management

Post Status:

Permanent

Department:

Bed Management Department

Location:

Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland.

Reports to:

Chief Operations Officer

Salary:

Appointment will be made on Grade VIII salary payscale (€83,911 - €101,207) at a point in line with Government Pay Policy

Hours of work:

Full time, 35 hours per week

Closing Date:

Wednesday 29th July, 2026

(interviews will take place the week of August 3rd 2026)

Position Summary

The Head of Bed Management is responsible for the leadership, management and continuous development of the Bed Management Department, incorporating bed management, patient flow, off-site management and delayed transfer of care (DTOC) services. Reporting to the Chief Operations Officer, the post holder is responsible for ensuring the department delivers safe, efficient and effective patient flow across Beaumont Hospital through strategic planning, service improvement, performance management and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Working closely with the Assistant Director of Nursing (Bed Management) the post holder provides leadership for the department while ensuring the effective delivery of operational bed management services. The role works collaboratively with the Head of Medical & Emergency Operations, the Head of Surgical Operations, Clinical Directorates and multidisciplinary teams to improve patient flow across scheduled and unscheduled care pathways.

The post holder will lead the development of hospital flow strategies, monitor organisational performance against key access and flow indicators and support service redesign to maximise hospital capacity, improve patient experience and reduce unnecessary delays in care.

Head of Bed Management Priorities:

• Provide overall leadership and management of the Bed Management Department, including Bed Management, Patient Flow, Off-site Management and Delayed Transfer of Care services.
• Develop and implement strategies that optimise patient flow across scheduled and unscheduled care pathways.
• Ensure effective governance, policies and standard operating procedures for bed management and patient flow.
• Lead the development of performance monitoring systems and regular reporting on key patient flow metrics.
• Work collaboratively with clinical directorates to identify barriers to flow and implement sustainable improvement initiatives.
• Support hospital-wide capacity planning through demand and capacity analysis, forecasting and service redesign.
• Develop and strengthen relationships with community services and regional partners to improve discharge pathways and reduce delayed transfers of care.
• Promote best practice in patient flow management through innovation, continuous quality improvement and the use of data to inform decision making.
• Participate on the Senior Executive Call Rota

Responsibilities

A. Operational Management

• Responsible for the overall management and development of the Bed Management Department, ensuring that appropriate governance, systems, processes and resources are in place to support the effective operational delivery of bed management, patient flow, off-site management and delayed transfer of care services.

B. Service Planning

• Lead the ongoing development of the Bed Management Department.
• Develop new patient flow pathways across specialties.
• Identify opportunities to improve capacity utilisation.
• Support implementation of national patient flow initiatives.
• Develop business cases for service improvements.
• Lead departmental quality improvement projects.
• Work with clinical teams to redesign pathways that improve patient flow.

C. Performance Management.

• Monitoring organisational performance against patient flow KPIs.
• Producing regular performance reports for the COO and senior management.
• Analysing trends and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Leading improvement programmes where performance falls below target.
• Benchmarking against national metrics.

D. HR Management and Organisational Development

• Provide effective leadership and management of the Bed Management Department, fostering a culture of professionalism, accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Develop and maintain a high-performing, engaged and motivated multidisciplinary team through effective communication, coaching, performance management and recognition.
• Promote a positive learning environment that supports continuing professional development, succession planning and the acquisition of knowledge and skills required to meet current and future service needs.
• Ensure departmental staffing establishments, skill mix and roster arrangements are planned and managed to provide safe, effective and responsive services that meet the operational requirements of the hospital seven days per week.
• Ensure workforce resources are deployed flexibly to respond to changing patterns of demand, service pressures and organisational priorities while maintaining safe patient care.
• Lead workforce planning for the department, identifying future staffing requirements and supporting recruitment, retention and succession planning in collaboration with Human Resources.
• Ensure all staff have clearly defined roles, responsibilities and performance objectives, with regular performance review and development planning in line with hospital policy.
• Foster a culture of innovation, empowerment and continuous quality improvement, encouraging staff to identify opportunities to improve patient flow, departmental performance and patient experience.
• Promote collaborative working across clinical directorates and operational departments, ensuring the Bed Management Department is recognised as an integrated partner in achieving organisational objectives.
• Ensure compliance with all Human Resource policies and procedures, including attendance management, mandatory training, health and safety, equality, dignity at work and organisational values.

E. Quality Assurance and Risk Management

• Participate in relevant risk management and quality assurance processes as required
• Take responsibility for enquiries and parliamentary questions relating to the bed management department

The job description indicates the main functions and responsibilities of the post and is subject to review and amendment. Other specific work not covered in this job description may also be assigned by the Director of Nursing from time to time.

Qualifications

Selection Criteria:

Selection criteria outline the qualifications, skills, knowledge and/or experience that the successful candidate would need to demonstrate for successful discharge of the responsibilities of the post.

Applications will be assessed on the basis of how well candidates satisfy these criteria.

Mandatory:

• Clinical background in Nursing or Health and Social Care profession.
• Level 8 degree qualification.
• Have a minimum of 5 years' experience in an acute hospital setting in the last 8 year
• A minimum of 3 years senior management experience
• Indept knowledge of Acute hospitals and Operations
• Experience reporting departmental performance

Informal Enquiries to

Name:

Claire Noonan

Title:

Chief Operations Officer

Email address:

[email protected]