Outpatient booking co-ordinator

Job description

Job responsibilities

1. Assigned to specific Consultant Surgeons but there is an expectation that staff will provide support and cover during periods of leave for colleagues, including other departments.

2. Add patients to the outpatient waiting list from referral, ensuring all information is entered on to the Lorenzo system and where necessary request images. Recognising any Red Flag symptoms and escalating these to consultants.

3. Once trained, individuals to maintain a high knowledge of Lorenzo, E-referral service, Image Exchange System, Electronic Patient Record, Spinal Portal, Bookwise, Internal Patient Waiting Lists, Synapse

4. Communicate with patients to agree a date of appointment according to the relevant waiting times as designated by the appointment type and other factors, providing general advice around their appointment and the location of the Trust and sending out relevant paperwork. Ensuring the relevant appointment is made in due time to ensure any further treatment that may be necessary has enough time to be received.

5. To highlight any referrals that require urgent attention and deal with them promptly; this may involve discussions with the medical/divisional teams directly to arrange where the patient needs to be booked

6. To monitor daily the Patient Tracking Lists (PTL) for the designated specialties by tracking, booking and closing patients episodes and pathways where appropriate, ensuring that all new patients are booked according to current waiting times targets and the PTL is complete by the monthly/weekly deadline

7. To be responsible for authorised over booking where appropriate, ensuing priority of patients is considered through reviewing several databases and consideration a range of options, such as diagnostics, new and old patients and patients in trouble, seeking assistance from the Outpatient Team Leader or Administrative Service Manager when needed.

8. Support patients in trouble by escalating concerns to Consultant colleagues and the safeguarding team as necessary.

9. Ensure all relevant documentation is scanned onto EPR and filed as appropriate.

10. Liaise with Team Leader regularly to receive updates on waiting times and discuss and make recommendations to improve waiting list management.

11. Provide a daily report on the status of the outpatient waiting list for consultants to whom you are assigned.

12. Ensure that patients receive all the relevant documentation pertaining to their appointment.

13. Plan and liaise with consultants regarding appointments to enable prioritisation of work.

14. Whilst arranging appointment dates use knowledge of clinic capacity.

15. To constantly work adhering to the Access Policy, keeping abreast of changes as communicated by Senior Staff.

16. Ensuring Choose and Book appointments are booked correctly, where not, ensuring the appointment is rescheduled appropriately and the patient is informed.

17. Re-arrange or cancel full clinics as directed by the operational team (with and without consultant consultation) where appropriate, ensuring full utilisation of remaining clinics.

18. Re-arrange or cancel clinic appointments as requested by the patient (with and without consultant consultation) where appropriate, ensuring full utilisation of remaining clinics.

19. Provide detailed information for clinicians regarding their waiting lists.

20. Provide a high level of customer care by exchanging information with patients and staff regarding outpatient processes and procedures, such as discussions around individual needs, such as adjustments for patient appointments.

21. Liaise with the Head of Patient Access and Administrative Services Managers to ensure all clinics are utilised and planned efficiently. Notify Consultants of any factors they may need to know resulting in their clinic being affected.

22. To deal with queries from patients, Secretaries, medical and nursing staff in a diplomatic and sympathetic manner, both on the phone and face to face.

23. Ensure all clinic appointments reach outcome correctly from either the clinical outcome form or once the clinic dictation is typed.

24. Communicate with the discharge team to ensure follow-up appointments are booked at a requested point of time, balancing needs and requirements such clinic capacity and Consultant availability.

25. Escalate appropriate issues to Consultants, operational Management, Team Leader &/or Administrative Service Manager.

26. Regularly deal with queries from anxious patients or relatives (gaining appropriate confirmation of patient's permission do so) when giving difficult messages such as delays to appointments which can often be met with high emotion, then requiring staff to utilise empathy and direct as appropriate.

27. Deal with Outpatient teams inboxes daily along with personal email, responding in a prompt and correct manner.

28. Participate in providing training within the Department, making sure the individual training matrix is up to date.

29. Maintain Lorenzo details and update patient details.

30. Liaise with the Outpatient Resource Team: changes, bookings, cancellations. This is to ensure that resources can be appropriately reallocated as necessary.

31. Liaise with other Hospitals to ensure notes and x-rays are forwarded for patients attending clinic.

32. Participate in maintaining physical waiting list filing and general healthcare record filing system.

33. Provide support to the Head of Patient Access Administrative Services Manager, and Team Leader.

34. To participate in general administration duties such as the answer phone, cancellation email, post, date stamping, photocopying, scanning and any other technology that may be introduced to support the Trusts systems and processes

35. To contribute to the ongoing service improvement plans and policies for Outpatients, being open to changes to current practices and offering input into meetings/workshops as required.

36. Participate in mandatory training and induction programmes as well as staff appraisal and objective setting

37. Expected to concentrate for long periods of time (up to 2 hours), undertaking outcomes and analysis of the Patient Target List.

38. Individuals can expect frequent interruptions from patients calling the department and also colleagues requiring urgent support.

39. There will be occasional exposure to verbal aggression whilst communicating unwelcomed news which can be challenging, such as delays to appointments.

40. Ensure all communications and data storage is filed and stored in line with Trust policies and procedures and GDPR.

Person Specification

Qualifications/Training

Essential

• NVQ Level 3 (or demonstrable equivalent level of experience)

Skills

Essential

• High level of verbal and written communication skills
• Able to sort accurately into numerical and alphabetical order
• Ability to utilise electronic patients and other databases

Desirable

• Knowledge of NHS RTT Targets
• Knowledge of outpatient booking systems

Aptitudes and Attributes

Essential

• Good interpersonal skills
• Ability to organise and prioritise own work
• Ability to manage busy workload where accuracy and attention to detail is essential
• Team player / able to work flexibly

Desirable

• Able to use a variety of hospital computer systems, including PAS, SF4 and Bluespier

Experience

Essential

• Experience in an office environment and competent in Microsoft Office

Desirable

• Previous experience of medical records / Patient Access and booking

Values

Essential

• Demonstrates commitment to the Trust's published values

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital

Gobowen

SY10 7AG

Employer's website

https://www.rjah.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)