Job responsibilities
The
purpose of the role is to provide
high quality administrative and secretarial support that enables the effective
delivery of patient care within the practice. This includes ensuring referrals,
clinical documentation, and patient records are processed accurately;
maintaining efficient communication between patients, clinicians, and external
services; and supporting the smooth day to day running of the practice through
reliable, organised administrative work.
The duties and responsibilities to be undertaken by members of the GP Assistant 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 members line management, dependent on current and evolving practice workload and staffing levels:
Provide an efficient word-processing service for GP's and Health Professionals, including letters, reports and referrals ensuring accuracy and high quality.
Produce and process referral documentation using electronic referral systems such as RSS, Gateway, and SystmOne.
Send Advice and Guidance requests to consultants via the RSS and Gateway portals.
Liaising with external agencies such as hospitals and community services, ensuring referrals are processed efficiently.
Manage all incoming and outgoing telephone calls, taking accurate messages and handling enquiries professionally and promptly.
Process and distribute incoming emails and mail, ensuring appropriate follow up actions.
Administrative duties related to Cervical Screening using the Cervical Screening Management electronic system.
Ordering patient blood tests through the ICE system within SystmOne.
Processing requests through the Medical Examiner Service.
Filing pathology results, ensuring accurate processing and appropriate escalation.
Carry out general clerical and administrative duties to support the GP's, Health Professionals and wider clinical team.
Provide administrative cover for colleagues during periods of annual leave or sickness.
Maintain a clean, tidy, and efficient working environment at all times.
Undertake any other administrative tasks relevant to the role as requested by management.
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
- 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 patient's 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.
Policy and Service Development Implementation
- Comply with practice policies and procedures as defined within the staff handbook and Practice Index.
Responsibilities for Financial and Physical Resources
- Undertake to manage the private fees process for patients, being aware of the procedure to undertake and administrating this procedure as requested.
- Liaising with IT support services relevant to post and equipment used to instigate repair.
Responsibilities for Human Resources
- Assist with training of new staff as required.
- Provide annual leave / sickness cover as necessary.
- Attend all mandatory training sessions and undertake any additional training required to fulfil the requirements of the role.
Freedom to Act
- Follow standard operating procedures and guidelines.
- This job description contains the principal duties of the post, and a range of other duties is implicit in these. The duties may be amended from time to time to reflect any changes in the needs of the service in discussion with the post holder.
Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults
- To ensure awareness and be alert to, the signs and symptoms of abuse in children through regular participation in mandatory and refresher child protection training.
- To be familiar with all relevant Safeguarding Children & Young People, policies and procedures and contact points, taking the appropriate action when there is knowledge or suspicion of a child who has been subject to abuse.
- To be familiar with all relevant Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults, policies and procedures and contact points, taking the appropriate action when there is knowledge or suspicion of a child who has been subject to abuse.