Outpatient Appointment Centre Administrator - B3

As a leading healthcare organisation, we aim to deliver a first class patient experience from first referral through to clinical treatment.

Responsible for day to day administration processes supporting the Booking Coordinators and Supervisors within the Outpatient Appointment Centre. Previous administration experience is essential and knowledge of hospital Cerner PAS and eRS systems would be desirable.

The department works in line with a number of the government targets around patient waiting times. You will be responsible for delivering an excellent customer service to patients. You will need to be able to work in a calm, logical and methodical way but be able to multi task whilst dealing with frequent interruptions, and you must possess effective communication skills whilst always maintaining patient confidentiality.

The hours for this post are to be worked Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00 on a rostered basis.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will support the Outpatients Appointments Centre in the administration duties associated with booking and rescheduling outpatient appointments, and managing reception desks.

The administration role will involve working across multiple systems E.g. Email, E-Referrals, PAS, call reminders, mailing systems to manage patient appointments in accordance with local procedures and national policies.

The role will include participating on the telephone rota in receiving incoming telephone calls and managing reception desks in a patient facing role assisting patients and visitors with their enquires.

• Recording patient demographic and referral information accurately.
• Being polite, professional and empathetic when speaking to patients on the telephone or face to face.
• Using initiative to problem solve and answer queries as they arise, using digital means of communication, telephone or face to face.

Job responsibilities

• To support Outpatient Supervisors and Booking Co ordinators for booking, cancelling and rescheduling appointments in accordance with SBU guidance.
• To communicate appointment details with patients written, verbal or other E.g. text in regards to managing SBU clinic templates.
• Record referral information accurately, update, manage and retrieve patient information on Cerner and e Referrals Service in a timely manner.
• To support Outpatient Supervisors and Booking Co ordinators to deliver high levels of Outpatient Clinic utilisation.
• Meet departmental targets relating to the work completed that is accurate.
• Act as a point of contact for internal and external enquires.
• Deal with patients in a mature manner when speaking to them on the phone. This may sometimes involve dealing with distressed patients and a sensitive and reassuring manner is required in difficult situations. Patient confidentiality should be maintained at all times.
• Highlight any referrals which require urgent attention and deal with them promptly, this can sometimes involve discussions with the medical team directly to arrange where the patient needs to be booked.
• The post holder requires referrals knowledge to recognise inaccuracies in referrals including ERS and act appropriately. The post holder will need to maintain working knowledge of eRS in an environment where change is constant.
• Operate in a large team and will be monitored against set performance targets and KPIs.
• Provide a front of house service to the Trust, greeting patients, visitors and carers and offering an excellent standard of customer service when they arrive at the Trust. The post holder will play an important role as they will be the first point of contact for many visitors, some of whom may not have previously attended the hospital.
• Assist and direct all enquires in a friendly and polite manner in the Reception areas.
• Be flexible and able to prioritise the workload of the department and adjust workload plans on a daily basis. There is a high level of changeability of daily workload and many disruptive elements which can impact on daily plans.
• Have a proactive approach to ensure that patients are treated within specified NHS timescales and that national targets E.g. RTT are met.
• Have an understanding of the contracts that the CCGs have with the trust. This will involve reading the referral letters and having an understanding of medical terminology.
• Provide cover for colleagues during annual leave, sickness and busy periods.
• Develop working relationships across the trust including medical secretaries, SBU managers and the medical teams.
• Be conversant with the Quality and contractual targets of the Trust and aim to meet these, with input from senior staff.
• Be fully competent in the features of the hospital computer system and undergo further training when systems are updated and as the job requires.

Person Specification Qualifications

• NVQ Level 3 or equivalent level of knowledge.

Knowledge

• Previous experience within an administration environment.
• Previous experience of dealing with the general public.
• In depth knowledge of Cerner & eRS.
• Working in an office environment.

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.

£27,106 to £28,850 a year, per annum including HCAS High Cost Area Supplement.