Clinical Services Receptionist

Whitstable Medical Practice is seeking an enthusiastic, motivated and patient focused Clinical Services Receptionist to join our friendly and supportive team based at Estuary View Medical Practice.

This role will support both our busy reception team and wider Clinical Services department helping ensure patients receive a professional welcoming and efficient service at all times. The successful candidate will liaise with patients and healthcare professionals, managing appointment bookings via telephone and face to face as well as undertaking a range of administrative duties to support the smooth running of clinics and services.

The role is for 29.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday, working the following shifts:

• Monday 08:00 - 16:00
• Thursday 12:00 - 17:30
• Friday 08:00 - 16:00

The starting hourly rate of pay is £12.71 per hour rising to £13.15 per hour after a successful probationary period of 6 months.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will have previous receptionist and/or administrative experience gained within a Primary Care setting or the NHS. They will possess excellent communication, organisational and IT skills, with the ability to provide a professional and compassionate service to patients and colleagues alike.

A high level of attention to detail, a proactive approach and the ability to work effectively as part of a busy team are essential for this role. The ideal candidate will be adaptable, able to learn new tasks quickly and confidently manage a varied workload within a fast-paced environment.

The post holder will also demonstrate strong problem solving abilities, use initiative appropriately and be capable of prioritising and completing tasks efficiently and accurately within required timescales.

Job responsibilities

• Primarily dealing with patient enquiries over the telephone and face to face. Booking appointments for in house clinics and ensuring the smooth day to day running of all clinics.
• Managing the day to day running of the busy services by ensuring that all referrals are actioned and booked into available clinics.
• Liaising with a variety of clinicians and solving any issues they face to ensure the best possible patient experience throughout the day.
• Managing the appointment screen and filling any empty/cancellation slots wherever possible.
• Preparing the clinic rooms each morning for clinicians, ensuring they have the necessary paperwork to carry out their clinic on the day.
• Sending reports to external practices following clinics to ensure the patients registered GP is informed of the appointment outcome in a timely manner.
• Assisting patients with tubing and maintenance of hearing aids where possible.
• Ensuring the theatre and clinic rooms are clean and tidy following the departure of the clinician.
• Retrieving information from the E Referral booking system, booking appointments for a number of clinics and downloading referral letters.
• Taking delivery of various items of stock and storing them in the fridges or appropriate secure environment.
• Managing any patient related tasks forwarded to the clinical services reception team by clinicians.
• Working with various clinical IT databases.
• Monitoring the clinical services team email inbox to ensure any incoming referrals to in house clinics are actioned promptly.
• Acting on ad hoc tasks and helping with projects set by the Clinical Services Manager to meet the needs of the ever changing NHS initiatives.
• Pulling and filing notes for patients seen within our cataract service over the weekend.
• Moving equipment to facilitate clinics.
• Collecting the post each morning and afternoon.
• Be familiar with Whitstable Medical Practice protocols and take part in their regular updating.
• Other duties as per doctors' instructions as dictated by changes in the nature of the Whitstable Medical Practice.

Safeguarding

Whitstable Medical Practice is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff are expected to:

• Understand and fulfil safeguarding responsibilities.
• Maintain safeguarding training requirements.
• Identify and escape safeguarding concerns in accordance with Practice policy.

Qualifications

• Good general education including minimum Grade C GCSE or equivalent in English Language and Maths or equivalent qualification.

Experience

• Previous experience of working in a primary care setting or NHS.
• Previous experience of reception and administration work.
• Experience of working in a customer service environment.
• Experience of working as part of a team.
• Knowledge of EMIS or other clinical systems.

Skills and Abilities

• Accurate, thorough attention to detail.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels by telephone, email and face to face.
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to work to tight deadlines.
• Proven IT skills including the use of Microsoft Office and other software packages.
• Ability to keep calm under pressure.
• Tact, diplomacy and sensitivity.
• Ability to deal with sensitive issues and maintain strict confidentiality.
• Ability to problem solve and use initiative.
• Reliability and flexibility.

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.