Receptionist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Reception Duties

Undertake the rota of reception duties as attached

Greeting and directing patients and visitors to the surgery in a pleasant and helpful manner

Register new patients and process paperwork accordingly

Dealing with requests for appointments

Accepting and handing out prescriptions, letters, forms and specimen bottles, etc.

Receiving and processing visit requests

Explain practice procedures and arrangements to new patients and those seeking temporary cover, ensuring any procedures are completed

Advise patients of relevant charges for non-NHS services, accept payment and issue receipts

Respond appropriately to queries and requests from patients and visitors

Ensure the doctors rotas are known by all staff

Prepare lists and notes for all surgeries and clinics held, ensuring completion of all associated paperwork where required

Ensure actions requested by doctors are undertaken in a timely and accurate manner

Action repeat prescription requests and ensure that they are ready for collection by the patient within 48 hours, either on the computer or manually

Ensure mail is posted daily

Ensure the specimens are ready for collection for the courier on a daily basis

Telephone and Reception Duties

Process and effectively signpost patients to the appropriate healthcare professional depending on the presenting condition

Answer incoming phone calls, transferring calls or dealing with the callers requests appropriately

Process patient requests for appointments

Receiving calls, taking messages and dealing with them in an appropriate and accurate manner

Making telephone calls as requested, including ordering ambulances

Follow the procedure to divert the telephone system as and when necessary

Divert calls and take messages, ensuring accuracy of detail and prompt appropriate delivery

Enter requests for home visits into the visit book, ensuring careful recording of all relevant details and where necessary refer to Duty Doctor

Using your own judgment and communication skills ensure that patients with no prior appointment but who need urgent consultation are seen in a logical and non-disruptive manner.

Patient notes and correspondence

Retrieve and re-file records as required, ensuring strict alphabetical order is adhered to

Ensure correspondence, reports, results etc. are filed electronically and promptly and in the correct records, ensuring that all recent correspondence is available when patients are seen

Ensure records are kept in good repair with all necessary information on the outside cover clearly visible

Premises

Open up premises at the start of the day when first to arrive and make all necessary preparations to receive patients

When last to leave at the end of the day, ensure that the building is totally secured, internal lights are off and the alarm activated.

Extract medical records for appointments, visits, clinics or as requested

To be available to the clinical staff during surgery hours to ensure the smooth running of surgery

Filing of medical records, letters, reports

Operation of computer for appointments system, etc.

Maintaining tidiness and general maintenance of reception, consulting, waiting areas and immediate garden areas

Computer Duties

Ensure all prescriptions are processed accurately and available to doctors to check and sign prior to and on completion of surgery

Ensure all tasks identified by Clinical staff and Practice Managers are processed accurately

Ensure all referrals are entered onto the system in an accurate manner including the scanning of mail and other related paperwork

To report IT and telephone faults and rectify as appropriate

To use the choose and book process to book hospital appointments for patients

Confidentiality:

In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately

In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential

Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data

Health & safety

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health & Safety Policy, the practice Health & Safety manual, and the practice Infection Control policy and published procedures. This will include:

Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines

Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks

Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills

Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards

Actively reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised

Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the job holders role

Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually)

Reporting potential risks identified

Equality and diversity:

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Personal/Professional development:

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development

Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:

Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk

Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision

Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance

Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs

Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Communication:

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

Communicate effectively with other team members

Communicate effectively with patients and carers

Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

Contribution to the implementation of services:

The post-holder will:

Apply practice policies, standards and guidance

Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work

Participate in audit where appropriate

Person Specification

Qualifications

Desirable

• Computer Qualification (ECDL)
• Customer service qualification or equivalent.

Experience

Essential

• Previous experience of working in a public reception environment.
• Previous customer service experience of dealing with the general public face to face and via the telephone.
• IT literate, previous experience of Microsoft Office software.
• Ability to use own judgement, resourcefulness and common sense.
• Ability to work without direct supervision and determine own workload priorities.
• Ability to work as part of an integrated, multi-skilled team.
• Pleasant and articulate with the ability to work under pressure in a rapidly changing environment.
• Excellent communications skills.
• An understanding, acceptance and adherence to the need for strict confidentiality.

Desirable

• A knowledge of medical terminolgy.

Motivation

Essential

• Flexibility in working hours.
• Enthusiasm and determination in achieving goals.
• A positive wish to work as part of a team.
• An interest in the work of a primary health care team.
• Willing to learn.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Self-reliant, helpful.
• Open and approachable disposition.
• Common sense and initiative.
• Reliable and dependable attitude.
• Sense of humour.

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.

Employer details

Employer name

The Crown Surgery

Address

23 High Street

Eccleshall

Stafford

ST21 6BW

Employer's website

https://www.crownsurgery.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)