Outpatient Receptionist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Duties and Responsibilities Patient Reception & Customer Service

• Act as the first point of contact for patients, relatives, and carers, greeting all visitors in a friendly, professional and helpful manner.

• Provide timely support to patients waiting in clinics, ensuring they are informed of any delays and communicating closely with clinical and administrative colleagues.

• Handle face-to-face and telephone enquiries, resolving issues where possible and escalating to the Operations or Service Manager when appropriate.

• Liaise with the PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) team when necessary to ensure informal complaints or unexpected patient arrivals are managed appropriately.

• Maintain patient confidentiality, ensure fair and equitable treatment of all patients, and support a positive patient experience at all times.

• Ensure outpatient clinic appointments are booked accurately in line with patient pathways and Trust policies.

• Ensure all clinic outcome sheets are available daily to relevant staff.

• Record clinic outcomes accurately each day (e.g., patients added to waiting lists, discharged, follow-up arrangements) and raise any queries with clinicians or their secretarial teams.

• Support the upkeep of departmental clinical information, filing, and patient correspondence.

• Maintain accuracy and completeness of electronic patient records.

• Follow all policies and procedures for recording data on hospital computer systems.

• Accurately track records to support the Trusts commitment to data quality and confidentiality.

• Ensure the reception and waiting areas remain clean, tidy, and safe at all times.

• Take responsibility for identifying and reporting any health and safety issues, contributing to a safe working environment for patients and staff.

• Maintain effective working relationships with colleagues, reception team members, clinical teams, and other departments within the hospital.

• Communicate efficiently with external healthcare providers associated with the Consultant and their team to support smooth patient pathways.

• Ensure a prompt and effective communication system is upheld within the service.

• Provide clerical support to the department as required.

• Demonstrate knowledge of the 18-week Referral to Treatment (RTT) pathway and adhere to all national and Trust access policies.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• GCSE or equivalent in English and maths

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills especially demonstrating tact and diplomacy
• Experience in dealing with patients/relatives/carers where there may be barriers to understanding eg language/emotional barriers.
• Excellent keyboard skills and effective use of IT systems ensuring accuracy and attention to detail
• Ability to prioritise workload and meet deadlines
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to use own initiative
• Experience in using Microsoft systems

Desirable

• Previous experience in customer care
• Previous experience in a receptionist role and knowledge of procedures and practice
• Previous experience of working in a hospital and use of hospital computer systems such as Allscripts

Governance

Essential

• Appropriate use and management of confidential information
• Upholds and models the Trust Values

Desirable

• Knowledge of Trust values and how these can be applied

Personal/Professional Attributes

Essential

• Great interpersonal skills demonstrating empathy, warmth and understanding and a genuine desire to help others.
• Ability to remain calm in a busy environment whilst working under pressure.

Desirable

• Previous experience of a similar role in a clinical environment

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

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

William Harvey Hospital

Kennington Road

Ashford

TN24 0LZ

Employer's website

https://www.ekhuft.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/ (Opens in a new tab)