Renal Dialysis Access Administrator

Job overview

As a Renal Dialysis Access Administrator, you'll play a key role in supporting the access team to provide safe, timely and compassionate care for renal patients. This is a varied and rewarding administrative role at the heart of the Sussex Kidney Unit, where you'll help ensure that patients receive the right appointments, procedures and information at the right time.

You'll manage and coordinate bookings for renal theatre activity and outpatient clinics, keep patient information accurate and up to date, and handle enquiries from GPs, patients and colleagues. This is a busy, people focused role where excellent communication, attention to detail and the ability to multitask are essential.

You'll work closely with specialist nurses, patient access teams, clinicians and other hospital departments, becoming a valued member of a team dedicated to delivering excellent care everywhere.

Main duties of the job

• Coordinate theatre and clinic bookings for the renal vascular access team, using your strong organisational skills to ensure patients receive timely and accurate appointments.
• Manage patient information on Trust systems such as CareFlow, keeping records accurate and up to date.
• Handle enquiries from patients, relatives, GPs and colleagues, using clear communication, tact and professionalism-especially when discussing sensitive or complex information.
• Support patients with appointment changes, cancellations and queries, showing patience, empathy and the ability to manage challenging conversations.
• Work closely with the vascular access nursing team, demonstrating teamwork, reliability and the ability to follow clinical booking priorities.
• Maintain an efficient telephone service, ensuring calls are answered promptly and resolved effectively through confident problem solving and multitasking.
• Monitor waiting lists and booking processes, ensuring compliance with Trust policies and national standards through strong organisational and planning skills.
• Use booking and transport systems to arrange transport for patients when required, showing flexibility and quick learning with digital systems.
• Ensure patient cancellations are updated on CareFlow, and the reason for the cancellation recorded immediately within the notes field.
• Keep the Patient Tracking List (PTL) and other booking process tools up to date in line with cancellation, waiting list management or booking management policies.
• Assist in recording of any additional activity carried out by the vascular access team using CareFlow.
• Assist the renal vascular access nursing team with booking patient transport when required for ad hoc appointments, theatre slots, and vascular access clinics.
• Communicate relevant information to clinical staff and clinic reception teams as appropriate.
• Maintain an audit trail for all referrals entering the department.
• Ensure standards are met for patients receiving notification or acknowledgement of their procedures.
• Accurately record workload and monitor individual progress towards the targets set.
• Work under pressure, demonstrating the ability to multitask, complete in depth problem solving, record data and information accurately, maintain excellent time keeping, and always behave in a professional manner with both patients and colleagues.

Communication

• Answer complex enquiries both in person and on the telephone from people who may have varying levels of ability to understand or whose first language is not English, providing support via the interpretation service.
• Provide and receive complicated and sensitive information to patients about their in patient or out patient appointment, giving explanations and instructions clearly and concisely where barriers to communication may exist, including challenging behaviour, learning disability and recent bereavement.
• Use empathy, tact and diplomacy in dealing with patients who may be hostile or antagonistic, often when their expectations are not met (e.g. waiting times to procedure dates, cancelled procedures).
• Answer internal and external telephone enquiries efficiently, from other staff, other departments, patients/relatives, GPs and other hospitals.
• Welcome visitors to the department and direct them to the appropriate member of staff.

Service delivery and improvement

• Follow department policies and procedures and contribute to procedural and process changes which improve departmental effectiveness.
• Work closely with the team to review working practices, identify new improved ways of working and find solutions to problems.
• Recommend changes to policies, procedures and department environment to enhance the department's ability to provide optimum service to all customers.

People management and development

• Maintain up to date knowledge and skill levels in own area of work to ensure provision of the highest quality services.
• Contribute to an effective learning environment for the training and professional development of self, responsible for maintaining, updating and improving own skills, knowledge and competencies, identifying education needs with the line manager through appraisal, ensuring that those needs are addressed and completed.
• Patients are treated courteously, with empathy and respect.
• Patients' referrals are processed in line with agreed standards, in order of receipt and clinical priority.
• Outpatient appointments and day case treatments will be booked within internal and national targets.
• The Patient Access Policy will be followed at all times.

Key objectives

• Be a key point of contact for renal patients in relation to their vascular access.
• Introduce a patient focused booking programme.
• Have a comprehensive knowledge of all renal theatre procedures and utilisation of such knowledge to ensure patients are scheduled to the correct theatre slots.
• Ensure the renal vascular access waiting list is accurately updated and maintained.
• Ensure an efficient telephone service is maintained.
• Optimise theatre slot capacity.

Person specification Experience / Qualifications

• 5 GCSEs (A C) or equivalent, including English and Maths.
• Keyboard skills to RSA level 3 or equivalent.

Skills

• Demonstrated knowledge and awareness of booking procedures and systems.
• Good level of literacy and numerical skills to read and record patient details and a range of information.
• Knowledge and awareness of confidentiality issues relating to the Data Protection Act.
• Experience working in a booking team.
• Experience working in a hospital environment.

People Management and Development

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and oral.
• Able to act with tact and diplomacy with patients and staff of all levels.
• Able to communicate sensitive and complex information, taking consideration for barriers.
• Able to analyse and resolve problems with office equipment, including photocopiers, printers and fax machines.

Specific Requirements

• Able to plan work, set priorities, administer office systems and processes and deal with problems in a proactive fashion.
• Able to prioritise and manage a range of tasks and duties with competing demands.
• Able to work unsupervised.
• Able to assess facts to make judgements regarding telephone enquiries from the public or other departments; use own judgement to independently assess enquiries as the first point of contact, considering a range of facts and situations.

Freedom to Act

• Works autonomously under supervision and follows standard procedures and practices.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles (as appropriate to role).
• Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues.