Duty Manager at Avenue Healthcare

Job Purpose

The Duty Manager is responsible for providing overall operational leadership and coordination of hospital services during assigned shifts. The role ensures the delivery of safe, high-quality, patient-centred care through effective management of clinical and non-clinical operations, resource utilization, risk mitigation, staff supervision, emergency response, and regulatory compliance. The Duty Manager serves as the hospital’s senior operational representative during assigned shifts and acts as the escalation point for operational, clinical, patient, and staff-related matters.

Key Responsibilities

Hospital Operations Management

• Provide overall leadership and coordination of hospital operations during assigned shifts.
• Ensure seamless delivery of clinical and non-clinical services across all departments.
• Monitor hospital activity, patient flow, admissions, transfers, discharges, and bed occupancy to optimize capacity utilization.
• Conduct regular operational rounds to assess service delivery standards, patient experience, environmental safety, and departmental readiness.
• Ensure compliance with organizational policies, statutory regulations, accreditation standards, and professional practice guidelines.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for operational challenges and coordinate timely resolution.
• Ensure uninterrupted service delivery and continuity of care throughout the shift.
• Coordinate interdepartmental activities to support efficient patient care and service delivery.

 Patient Safety and Quality Management

• Promote a culture of patient safety and quality improvement across the hospital.
• Monitor adherence to patient safety goals, infection prevention and control measures, medication safety practices, and clinical protocols.
• Ensure prompt identification, management, reporting, and escalation of adverse events, near misses, complaints, and clinical incidents.
• Lead initial investigations of incidents occurring during the shift and facilitate implementation of immediate corrective actions.
• Participate in Root Cause Analysis (RCA) processes and follow-up of quality improvement initiatives.
• Ensure timely escalation of high-risk, VIP, vulnerable, medico-legal, and sentinel event cases to senior management.
• Monitor compliance with quality indicators and service standards.

 Clinical Governance and Patient Care Coordination

• Support clinical teams in delivering safe, evidence-based, and patient-centered care.
• Collaborate with physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and support services to address patient care concerns.
• Coordinate timely referrals, transfers, admissions, and discharge processes.
• Ensure critical patient care issues are promptly escalated and managed appropriately.
• Facilitate continuity of care across departments and shifts.
• Support management of deteriorating patients and coordinate escalation to specialist teams where required.

Emergency Preparedness and Response

• Act as Incident Commander during emergencies occurring within assigned shifts until relieved by senior leadership.
• Coordinate responses to medical emergencies, mass casualty incidents, fire incidents, security threats, utility failures, and disaster situations.
• Ensure emergency protocols, codes, and contingency plans are activated and executed effectively.
• Coordinate communication with relevant internal and external stakeholders during emergencies.
• Participate in emergency preparedness drills and evaluate response effectiveness.

Staff Leadership and Workforce Management

• Provide visible leadership and managerial support to all staff during assigned shifts.
• Supervise and coordinate nursing, clinical support, administrative, and ancillary teams.
• Assess staffing adequacy and deploy resources appropriately based on patient acuity and operational demands.
• Manage shift attendance, punctuality, and workforce discipline issues.
• Support employee engagement, staff wellbeing, conflict resolution, and team cohesion.
• Conduct mentorship, coaching, bedside teaching, and performance feedback sessions.
• Escalate staffing concerns and workforce risks to the Nursing Services Manager and Human Resources as appropriate.

Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure implementation of enterprise risk management frameworks across hospital operations.
• Identify, assess, mitigate, and escalate operational, clinical, environmental, financial, and reputational risks.
• Ensure compliance with licensing requirements, regulatory standards, infection control requirements, occupational health and safety regulations, and hospital policies.
• Conduct environmental safety rounds and address identified hazards.
• Ensure accurate documentation and timely reporting of incidents and operational occurrences.

Resource and Asset Management

• Monitor availability and utilization of clinical and non-clinical resources.
• Ensure adequate stock levels of medications, consumables, blood products, medical gases, and critical supplies.
• Coordinate timely replenishment of supplies to prevent service disruptions.
• Ensure availability, functionality, and optimal utilization of medical equipment and hospital infrastructure.
• Escalate equipment failures and coordinate timely corrective action with Biomedical Engineering and relevant departments.
• Support cost-conscious resource utilization while maintaining quality of care.

Customer Experience and Service Excellence

• Promote exceptional patient and family experiences through responsive service delivery.
• Manage patient, family, and visitor concerns promptly and professionally.
• Resolve complaints occurring during assigned shifts and ensure appropriate documentation and escalation.
• Monitor service standards and implement immediate interventions to address identified gaps.
• Champion patient-centered care and service excellence initiatives.

Communication and Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the key communication link between frontline teams, department managers, consultants, executive leadership, and external stakeholders.
• Ensure effective shift handovers and dissemination of critical operational information.
• Coordinate communication regarding incidents, emergencies, service disruptions, and high-risk situations.
• Foster collaboration among multidisciplinary teams to achieve organizational goals.

Reporting and Documentation

• Prepare comprehensive shift reports highlighting operational performance, incidents, patient safety concerns, staffing issues, equipment downtime, and significant events.
• Maintain accurate records of incidents, investigations, escalations, and corrective actions.
• Generate timely reports required by hospital management and regulatory authorities.
• Monitor and report key operational and quality indicators.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Patient Safety Incident Reporting and Closure Rate
• Patient Satisfaction Scores [NPS 85%]
• Hospital Service Availability/Uptime (>99%)
• Clinical Equipment Uptime (>99%)
• Incident Response and Escalation Timeliness
• Compliance with Quality and Regulatory Standards
• Staff Productivity and Shift Coverage
• Infection Prevention and Control Compliance
• Bed Occupancy and Patient Flow Efficiency [Bed tun-over 30 mins]
• Timely Resolution of Operational Issues

Person Specification

• Academic and Professional Qualifications
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) – Mandatory.
• Valid Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) License.
• Current certification in BLS and ACLS (ATLS will be an added advantage).
• Training in Leadership, Healthcare Management, Quality Improvement, Patient Safety, or Hospital Operations Management will be an added advantage.
• Experience
• Minimum of five (5) years’ clinical nursing experience, with at least three (3) years in a supervisory or management role.
• Demonstrated experience managing multidisciplinary teams in a hospital setting.
• Experience in incident management, patient safety, quality improvement, and operational coordination.
• Experience in emergency response and crisis management within healthcare environments.

Competencies

• Strong leadership and decision-making skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Sound clinical judgment and problem-solving ability.
• Operational planning and organizational skills.
• Conflict resolution and negotiation skills.
• Customer-focused and service-oriented.
• Strong risk management and quality improvement mindset.
• High level of integrity, accountability, and professionalism.
• Ability to remain calm and effective under pressure.
• Results-oriented with strong attention to detail.
• Proficient in hospital information systems and Microsoft Office applications.

Personal Attributes

• Ethical and reliable.
• Resilient and adaptable.
• Team player with collaborative leadership style.
• Professional demeanour and emotional intelligence.
• Committed to continuous learning and service