Receptionist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Main Responsibilities

Front Desk

• Tend to the front desk ensuring to greet patients and visitors on their arrival to the practice in a welcoming manner.

• Ensure all patients and visitors to the practice are signed in and directed to the relevant waiting area.

• Inform the relevant host, for example the GP, Nurse or Practice Manager of any patients or visitors arrival.

• Book ambulances/appropriate transport for patients according to protocols.

• Assist patients with requests for Blood Forms, Urine Forms and Xray forms, printing where necessary.

• Keep the reception area, noticeboards, and leaflet dispensers clean, tidy and free from obstructions and clutter.

• Support in ensuring the reception area remains a calm environment for all. Politely and safely addressing any disruptive behaviours, escalating to management where appropriate.

Registrations and Appointments

• Process registrations both regular and temporary ensuring complete information and appropriate ID.

• Assess and analyse patient needs to ensure an appointment is required and if so, booked with the correct and appropriate healthcare professional.

• Book, amend and cancel general (GP/Nurse), clinic (Flu) and third party (Physio) patient appointments in line with practice appointment procedures, ensuring coding is completed where necessary and optimum efficiency of the appointment system.

• Monitor the 111 clinical screen and directing as appropriate.

• Ensure that patients without appointments but who need 'urgent consultations are booked into appropriate slots and referred to a GP where necessary.

• Receive and accurately record requests for home visits, assessing urgency in accordance with the Practices protocols.

• Once trained, chaperone patients to their GP appointment as and when requested.

Prescriptions and Certificates

• Receive and process prescription requests in the absence of the Prescription Clerk accurately and in accordance with practice guidelines.

• Raise any prescription queries with the Prescription Clerk and/or Clinical Lead including status check of whether it has been issued and where it is.

Advice and guidance

• Provide advice (non-medical) and contact details of third-party services to patients as required. For example, suggesting a patient contact the Urgent Mental Health Team.

• Respond to and/or redirect all general enquiries, explaining procedures where necessary and processing paperwork where required.

• Monitor the practice websites for Church Lane Surgery, Martello Health Centre and Orchard House Surgery ensuring registrations, complaints and prescription queries are handled in a timely manner.

• Process referrals for the District Nurse

• Action EMIS tasks and DOCMAN workflow in a timely manner

Communication

• Answer incoming telephone calls in a timely and professional manner, ensuring calls are documented and actioned and/or redirected as appropriate.

• Communicate with GPs, Nurses, and the Clinical Team as necessary including passing information across to be processed, chasing documentation, results, and appointment information.

• Communicate in writing (letters and electronically) and verbally with a wide range of providers and users of services, including patients, carers; voluntary; social; primary and secondary care providers.

• Liaising with GP/Clinicians, forwarding concerns, chasing for samples, letters, prescriptions and other paperwork

• Monitor the reception email account and action any requests needed, raising any urgent enquiries to your line manager where relevant.

• Process any outgoing mail created by the surgeries.

Data Handling

• Monitor the home visiting service, ensuring all documents are downloaded and filed in a timely manner.

• Document information received from patients or third-party agencies, accurately on EMIS. For example, urgent blood results from path labs, patients home blood pressure readings and any urgent referral advise provided to them.

• Undertake manual and electronic filing and retrieving of paperwork ensuring up-to-date maintenance of both computerised and manual filing systems (i.e. patient notes).

• Computer data entry/data allocation and collation; processing and recording information in accordance with practice procedures.

• When required, access the server, changing the tape and checking back up has been successful, reporting to IT if any issues are identified.

Equipment and Stock Control

• Efficient filling of sample pots, testing kits, appointment cards, registration paperwork and other necessary aids.

• Clearing and re-stocking stationery items in work areas as required, ensuring low stock levels are reported to the relevant leads and ensuring a clear desk policy.

• Safely accept and record receipt of any vaccine/medication deliveries, ensuring safe storage of items and informing relevant departments.

Miscellaneous

• Opening and locking up of practice premises (where needed) and maintaining security in accordance with practice protocols at all times.

• Keep up to date with any new guidance and changes within the team.

• Supporting in the training of new reception team members.

• Supporting the team by covering staff absences where possible.

General Duties

• To work collaboratively and professionally with colleagues across Invicta Health, building and maintaining relationships.

• To contribute to the development of services, including processes, templates and principles.

• To take part in any statutory and mandatory training or other training and development programmes as requested.

• Any other reasonable duties as directed by your line manager.

Person Specification

Key Skills

Essential

• Ability to assess and analyse patient requirements appropriately.
• Able to communicate effectively and collaboratively across varied disciplines.
• Able to work in a well-organised and professional manner, maintaining concentration and accuracy
• Able to manage conflicting priorities
• Possess an aptitude for dealing with potentially difficult or demanding situations.
• Good telephone manner

Experience

Essential

• Understand the importance of maintaining patient and data confidentiality.
• Able to use judgement and experience in helping to determine the relevant urgency of requests for information received from patients and other external organisations.
• Experience of setting up and maintaining effective administrative filling systems
• Experience of work involving regular and accurate data inputting

Desirable

• Knowledge of office management systems and procedures
• Experience of working with Microsoft packages including, word, excel and power point
• Experience of working with EMIS and DOCMAN
• Previous administration experience within a medical environment
• Knowledge and understanding of the National Health Service

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Willingness to learn and adapt to change
• Highly customer focused
• Understanding and approachable
• Strives for excellence.
• Honest and fair.
• Leads by example.
• Positive can do attitude.

Qualifications

Essential

• Good level of education including competent levels of numeracy and literacy

Desirable

• Chaperone training

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

Invicta Health CIC

Address

Martello Health Centre

20 Chapel Road

Dymchurch

Romney Marsh

Kent

TN29 0TD

Employer's website

https://invictahealth.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)