Job responsibilities
MEDICAL RECEPTIONIST JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB
TITLE: MEDICAL
RECEPTIONIST/ADMINISTRATOR
REPORTS TO: RECEPTION
MANAGER/PRACTICE MANAGER
HOURS: As
agreed
Job Summary:
Receive, assist
and direct patients in accessing the appropriate service or healthcare
professional in a courteous, efficient and effective way.
Provide 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
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
- To be aware of the Lift being used and empting
its contents on a regular basis ensuring that paperwork is
distributed/dealt with correctly
- 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 advice 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 6 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 home
visit sessions on IPS 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.
- Participate on a daily basis in task
management and Docman tasks and ensure that tasks are kept up to date at
all times.
Actively participate in Practice Training to ensure you
provide a high level of service for the practice. This will mean you need to
attend a training session outside of your normal 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 General Medical Services) 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, ensuring
strict alphabetical order is adhered to
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 Ensure records are kept in good repair with all
necessary information on the outside cover clearly visible.
- Make and serve refreshments, ensure the
kitchen is kept clean and tidy and air and tidy the waiting room in turn
with other staff. If you are on refreshment duty, empty the dishwasher if
it is ready (unless you are required to return to your post very quickly)
- Premises:
o Open up premises at the start of the day when first
to arrive, de-activate alarm and make all necessary preparations to receive
patients. Follow the opening up protocol carefully.
o 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. Follow the closing up protocol carefully.
- Ensure that all new patients are registered
onto the computer system promptly and accurately, this should be on the same
day that they attend the practice to register.
- Undertake any other additional duties
appropriate to the post as requested by the Partners or the Practice
Manager.
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
programe 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,
particularly upon observation of failure by a team member.
- 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.
