Job responsibilities
Post: Medical Receptionist
Accountable to: GP Partners, Practice Manager, Reception Manager
Specific Duties:Greeting patients politely and ensuring that the appointment system is running efficiently, monitor the flow of patients to and from consulting rooms, managing queues through telephone and face to face interaction.
Ensure patients are informed if a clinician is running late or called out.
Ensure urgent extras are monitored with appropriate guidance.
Advise patients of relevant charges for non-NHS services, accept payments and issue receipts.
Explain practice arrangement and requirements for new and temporary patients.
Accept registration forms from prospective patients ensuring adherence to practice policies.
Respond to all queries and requests for assistance from patients and other visitors to the practice as appropriate.
Enter requests for home visits including all relevant information.
Deal efficiently with emergency situations.
Maintain a supply of relevant bags, bottles and stationary to keep consulting rooms stocked; ensure rooms have adequate supplies.
Keep reception area clean and tidy.
Handle specimens as per practice protocol.
Management of Appointment System
Maintain working knowledge of the appointment systems, ie, times of all clinics, duration of appointments , knowledge of computer system, doctor rotas, procedures for booking routine and emergency appointments.
Book appointments accurately and appropriately.
Monitor daily available appointments and report any overload to the Reception Manager/Supervisor as appropriate. Ensure sufficient appointments are blocked off for urgent and triage appointments.
Management of Medical Records and Administration
Ensure medical records are kept accurately in alphabetical order, in easily retrievable fashion and kept tidy.
Retrieve and re-file records as required by clinical staff.
Carry out scanning of clinical documents as per written procedures, ensuring accuracy of appending to electronic patient records.
Ensure efficient storage of scanned letters for confidential destruction.
Operation of Telephone System.
Receive and make calls as required. Divert calls and take messages as appropriate, recording information for clinicians to action (home visits, phone calls, etc.)
Ensure phones are accurately transferred too and from night duty service and report any faults to the Reception Manager/telephone provider.
Patient Liaison
Provide non clinical patient care, dealing with requests for information, test results, requests to speak to clinical staff, ensuring confidentiality and privacy for patients.
Ensure patients have access to any relevant leaflets, support groups, carers association etc.
Information Technology and Audit Duties
Maintain working knowledge of computer/clinical systems, reporting any problems to the Reception Manager.
Adhere to practice policies regarding security and confidentiality, records management roles and responsibilities and computer skills.
Building
Report any maintenance matters to the Reception Manager.
Confidentiality and Data Protection
Where it is a requirement of the job for the post-holder to use computers or other information technology, they will be required to ensure that security procedures are followed as appropriate and that confidential information, for example, passwords, are not communicated to unauthorised individuals.
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 staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.
In the performance of the duties outlined in the job description, the post -holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. The pos6t-holder may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any sour5ce 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
All employees are required by section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts and omissions. The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and other health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health and Safety policy, to include;
- Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
- Identify the risks involved in work activities and undertake 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 recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation.
- Respecting their privacy, dignity and needs and the beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
- Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings, priorities and rights.
Personal /Professional Development
The post-holder will participate in any training/personal development programme implemented by the practice as part of its employment to include:
- Participation in annual individual performance reviews, 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
- Completing all mandatory training in the timeframes agreed as per the practice mandatory training matrix.
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 their 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 h0ow policies, standards and guidelines will affect own and others work.
- Participate in audits where appropriate.
General Clause
This job description is not intended to be exhaustive but to indicate the main responsibilities of the post and may be amended from time to time after consultation with the post-holder to reflect the needs of the service.