Telephone/Appointment Clerk

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Summary:

The purpose of the role is to:

Work alongside existing reception and dispensary staff to provide a sensitive, efficient and confidential service to patients

Offer general assistance to the practice team and project a positive and friendly image to patients and other visitors, via the telephone

Receive, assist and direct patients in accessing the appropriate service or healthcare professional in a courteous, efficient and effective way

Facilitate effective communication between patients, members the primary health care team, secondary care and other associated healthcare agencies.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The duties and responsibilities to be undertaken by members of the practice telephone/appointment team may include any or all of the items in the following list. Duties may be varied from time to time under the direction of the Practice Manager, dependent on current and evolving practice workload and staffing levels:

• Answer incoming phone calls, transferring calls or dealing with the callers request appropriately
• Deal with requests for visits and telephone consultations and ensuring callers are directed to the appropriate healthcare professional
• Taking messages and passing on information
• Booking Ambulances at the patients/doctors request
• Initiating contact with and responding to requests from patients, other team member and associated healthcare agencies and providers
• Input data into the patients healthcare records as necessary
• Any other tasks which may be considered appropriate to the post of Telephone/Appointment Clerk

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 implement and lead on a full range of promotion and management their own and others health and safety and infection control as defined in the practice Health & Safety Policy and the practice Infection Control policy and published procedures. This will include (but will not be limited to):

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
• Awareness of national standards of infection control and cleanliness and regulatory / contractual / professional requirements, and good practice guidelines
• Correct use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Use and monitoring of the correct use of standard operating procedures for cleaning and infection control
• Responsible for correct hand hygiene of self and others
• Ownership of infection control and clinically based patient care protocols, and implementation of those protocols within the team
• Active observation of current working practices across the team in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related activities, ensuring that procedures are followed and weaknesses / training needs are identified, escalating issues as appropriate
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks across clinical and patient process
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills, and initiate and manage the training of others across the full range of infection control and patient processes
• Monitoring practice facilities and equipment in relation to infection control, ensuring that provision of hand cleansing facilities, wipes etc are sufficient to ensure a good clinical working environment. Lack of facilities to be escalated as appropriate.
• Safe management of sharps procedures including training, use, storage and disposal
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy, clean and sterile, and safe way, free from hazards. Initiation of remedial / corrective action where needed or escalation to responsible management
• Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
• Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards / risks in relation to other work areas within the business, and assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate) with other sector managers
• Undertaking periodic infection control training
• Routine management of own team / team areas, and maintenance of work space standards
• Waste management including collection, handling, segregation, container management, storage and collection
• Spillage control procedures, management and training
• Decontamination control procedures, management and training, and equipment maintenance
• Maintenance of sterile environments

• Demonstrate due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

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 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

Essential

• Good standard of general education
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
• Good IT skills
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Ability to work as a team member
• Good interpersonal skills
• Ability to follow policy and procedure
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• Effective time management (planning and organising)
• Polite and confident
• Felxible and co-operative
• Motivated
• High levels of integrity and loyalty
• Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
• Ability to work under pressure

Desirable

• Experience of working in a healthcare setting
• Broad knowledge of General Practice
• Experience working with general public/patients
• Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
• SystmOne user skills

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

Ayton & Snainton Medical Practice

Address

53 Pickering Road

West Ayton

Scarborough

North Yorkshire

YO13 9JF

Employer's website

https://ayton-snainton.co.uk (Opens in a new tab)