Job responsibilities
Job Summary:
To receive, assist and direct patients in accessing the appropriate service or healthcare professional in a courteous, efficient and effective way.
To provide comprehensive general assistance to the practice team and project a positive and friendly image to patients and other visitors, either in person or via the telephone.
To ensure that the working environment is kept tidy and fully operational, Health & Safety compliant and that standards and high attention to detail levels are maintained at all times.
Key Responsibilities:
Administration
- To have a thorough knowledge of all Practice procedures.
- To work in accordance of written protocols
- Pulling and filing notes for patients transferring onto and off our practice list
- Filing post in medical records electronically or hard copy as appropriate
- Scan and photocopy documents as requested
- Open, sort and distribute incoming mail to appropriate members of the practice or other organisations as appropriate
- Registration of new patients computer data entry and medical records
- Process patients change of address computer data and medical records (have knowledge of practice area.
- Process repeat prescription requests in accordance with practice guidelines
- Scan and process incoming mail and allocate to relevant clinicians and staff
- Process outgoing mail ensuring correct packaging, format and postage to reach destination
- Assist Secretaries and Practice Management with ad-hoc administration tasks as required
Reception
- Receiving patients attending for appointments with members of practice team
- Handing completed repeat prescriptions to patients and checking names and addresses
- Be able to cover all other reception duties as necessary
- Process immediate (and emergency) appointment requests and requests for future appointments from patients by telephone and in person
- Deal with requests for home visits
- Answer telephone and deal with all queries resulting from that call.
- Have working knowledge of telephone system, during and after hours.
Other Tasks
- Prepare/Clear rooms before/after surgeries
- Make refreshments for doctors and appropriate visitors
- Any other tasks allocated by managers and/or appropriate to the grade
- Liaison with secondary care (after appropriate training)
- Ensure clinical rooms secure at end of each day with systems appropriately closed down
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, to 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
- 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 recognizes 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 recognize the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:
- Communicate effectively with other team members
- Communicate effectively with patients and carers
- Recognize 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
Planning and Organising:
The post holder will:
- Organise their workload in line with the tasks agreed and required to the agreed standards and comply with additional ad-hoc requests from other sources
- Take responsibility for the achievement of agreed objectives actively seeking advice and training as required