Job responsibilities
Job Responsibilities:
Ensure an effective and efficient reception service is provided to patients and any other visitors to the practice. Acknowledge a patients arrival at the desk within 2-3 minutes of arriving, if the situation is unmanageable at the time due to the amount of patients waiting then advise the patients in the queue you will be with them as soon as possible and call for assistance.
Deal with all general enquiries, explain procedures and make new and follow-up appointments. This requires a helpful attitude even when experiencing negative, unresponsive and sometimes verbally abusive behaviour from patients. Never lose your temper with patients; refer to your line manager if you feel unable to help.
Communicate test results using taught skills and ensuring accuracy
Alert Management on patients records
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.
Be aware of your surroundings and of the patients in the waiting room. Be aware of which doctors and nurses are currently working in the building and whether they have arrived for their clinics. Observe clinics running late and advise patients waiting and offer apologies.
Explain practice arrangements and formal requirements to new patients and those seeking temporary cover and ensure procedures are completed.
Receive and make telephone calls as required. Phones must be answered within 3 rings and no more. Divert calls and take messages, ensuring accuracy of detail and prompt appropriate delivery. Be polite and helpful at ALL times. If a patients behaviour becomes unacceptably abusive refer the call to your line manager. Do not shout or respond in a rude manner to the patient.
Keep your working environment clean, tidy and free from clutter at all times.
Ensure that you provide an efficient, professional and detailed handover to the member of staff taking over from you before you leave your duty.
Enter requests for home visits onto the triage or messages screen on SystmOne ensuring careful recording of all relevant details and where necessary refer to Duty Doctor.
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 that the admin duties allocated to you for that day on the admin rota are completed. If this is not possible, inform your line manager immediately.
Log and deal with insurance form requests accurately and within the correct timeframe.
Book interpreters for patients as required.
Book emergency and non-urgent transport for patients at the request of clinicians.
Actively participate in Practice Training to ensure you provide a high level of service for the practice. This will mean you may need to attend training sessions outside of your normal working hours as well as within your working hours. You will be expected to do this to ensure that the safety of patients and the Practices adherence to the NHS Contract is achieved.
Advise patients of relevant charges for private (non NHS) services, accept payment and issue receipts for same.
Enter patient information on to the computer as required and as appropriate and within the correct time frame for safety of receipt of the information
Patient notes and correspondence:
o Retrieve and re-file records as required
o Ensure correspondence, reports, results/scanned etc are filed promptly and in the correct records, ensuring that all recent correspondence is available when patients are seen.
o Scan / workflow notes when necessary
o Open the post when necessary
Empty the contents of the blue bag weekly, ensuring that paperwork is distributed/dealt with correctly
Ensure shared areas as well as your own working area is kept tidy; kitchen, waiting rooms
Premises:
o Open up premises at the start of the day when first to arrive and make all necessary preparations to receive patients. Follow the opening up procedure carefully.
o When last to leave at the end of the day, ensure that the building is totally secured, internal lights are off, windows closed and locked, computers shut down. Follow the closing up procedure carefully.
Ensure that all new patients are registered onto the computer system promptly and accurately, this should be within 48 hours that they attended the practice to register.
For out of area registrations, follow the correct protocol and complete these within 21 days as per protocol.
Responsibility for a QOF area (in conjunction with the nursing team)
Practice champion for agreed area i.e. Carers, smoking cessation, PPG
Attend reception and staff meetings
Reply to emails within 1 week, unless they are marked urgent or have a deadline in which case respond within 24 48 hours
Notify your line manager or a Partner of any untoward incidents or near misses. These need to be dealt with using the significant event process.
Signpost patients to other services as required.
Undertake any other additional duties appropriate to the post as requested by the Partners or the Practice Manager.
