Job summary
We are seeking a highly organised, proactive, and detail-oriented Outpatient Appointment Coordinator to join our dynamic Therapies department at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
This is a full-time (37.5 hours per week) position that will be based at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. There will be a requirement for the successful applicant to work across all 3 of the Trusts sites; this includes Kidderminster Hospital and Alexandra Hospital, Redditch.
This vital role is designed to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our outpatient services, ensuring that patients receive timely and appropriate care.
The successful candidate will be instrumental in optimising appointment utilisation, effectively recycling cancelled appointments, reducing Did Not Attend (DNA) rates, and meticulously monitoring and reporting on key performance indicators.
This position is central to maintaining and improving the high standards of patient care provided by our busy, multidisciplinary therapy team.
UK Visa and Immigration Sponsorship: Please note that we do not offer UKVI sponsorship for these posts, and so all applicants require a current right to work in the UK.
Main duties of the job
- Appointment Coordination: Efficiently coordinate and schedule outpatient appointments for a range of therapies, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and other related services.
- Cancelled Appointment Management: Implement robust strategies to recycle cancelled appointments promptly, ensuring these slots are reallocated to other patients efficiently to minimise wasted clinic time.
- DNA Rate Reduction: Analyse DNA rates and develop targeted interventions, such as automated reminders, follow-up calls, and educational materials, to reduce missed appointments.
- Performance Monitoring and Reporting:Regularly track and report on performance metrics related to appointment utilisation and other relevant indicators, providing actionable insights to the therapy team and management.
- Patient Communication:Maintain clear, compassionate, and professional communication with patients and their families, ensuring they are well-informed about appointment details and any necessary changes.
- Collaboration:Work closely with therapists and other healthcare professionals to ensure seamless clinic operations, efficient patient flow, and a cohesive approach to patient care.
- Waiting List Management:Monitor and manage waiting lists to ensure patients are seen in a timely manner.
- Compliance:Adhere to all NHS policies, procedures, and guidelines, ensuring the highest standards of confidentiality and data protection.
About us
Our purpose is simple - Putting Patients First. We are looking for exceptional colleagues who can help us achieve this.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.
The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester
Our workforce is over 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.
We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us to achieve our Vision - working in partnership to provide the best healthcare for our communities, leading and supporting our teams to move 4ward. Our 4ward behaviours, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.
Our objectives are simple:
- Best services for local people
- Best experience of care and best outcomes for our patients
- Best use of resources
- Best people
Better never stops, and our Clinical Services Strategy provides a clear future vision for our Trust, our hospitals, our services and our role in the wider health and care system.
We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the attached Job Description document for full job details.
- Monitor clinic schedules, patient appointments, and
resource allocation to ensure optimal utilisation of clinic time.
- Identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies in
appointment scheduling and resource allocation.
- Develop and implement strategies for filling
cancelled appointments. Collaborate with front-line staff to quickly reassign
cancelled slots.
- Utilise reminder systems and patient outreach to
minimise appointment cancellations.
- Analyse the data to identify trends and patterns in
DNA and UTAs
- Implement measures to reduce DNAs, such as
appointment reminders, patient education, or rescheduling options and ensuring
patient information is accessible to all.
- To deal with the day
to day incoming referrals. To ensure that all referrals contain the required
information to allow pathways to be linked and clock status to be corrected.
- To ensure that
referrals are added to the appropriate outpatient waiting list by speciality
for clinical staff to prioritise them within the agreed timescales.
- To ensure
that patients receive an acknowledgement letter or are immediately
accepted/appointed in line with agreed booking processes, administrative
procedures and the patient access policy.
- To ensure that all patients receive the
correct instructions and correspondence related to their appointment.
- To work with the team lead / clinical lead in
required changes to letter templates.
- To ensure clinical diaries on PAS are outcomed
at the end of each day.
- To cancel and reschedule patients or whole
clinics in the event of sickness / unforeseen circumstances requiring last
minute changes.
- To regularly review the therapy outpatient waiting
lists to ensure that it is accurate and up to date, identifying any potential referral-to-treatment
RTT clock breaches, incorrect clock data and ratify the unoutcomed
appointments on a weekly basis informing the appropriate Team Leader of any
issues.
- To regularly review the therapy waiting list
to update the appropriate Team Leaders in Outpatients, with regards the waiting times for treatment.
- On a monthly basis validate any patients that
are showing as having waited longer than an agreed timeframe so that waiting
time information submitted is accurate.
- To make new appointments as appropriate from
the partial booking system for all patients referred to the outpatient therapy
services.
- To action changes to individual appointments
whilst ensuring the patients are seen within the agreed clinical priority and
that written confirmation is immediately sent. This involves the managing of
messages received by digital platforms e.g. trust SMS text message system.
- To maintain an accurate filing system for
patient records to facilitate retrieval as necessary.
- To manage telephone enquiries from patients,
relatives, Medical Practitioners and Consultants ensuring that the appropriate
action is taken including messages for therapy staff.
- To telephone patients, sometimes at short
notice, to offer them appointments or reschedule appointments.
- To ensure that letter, telephone and face to
face communication with patients, colleagues and managers is professional,
timely in line with health records policies and procedures.
- To respond to any queries and complaints from
patients, managers or clinicians regarding clinics, referrals, bookings and
waiting times, ensuring that any serious issues are passed to the appropriate
team leader.
- To monitor all outpatient clinics to ensure
that all clinic slots are utilised to the maximum and where necessary fill any
vacant slots and also to prevent overbooking of clinics.
- To supervise and develop junior administrative
staff.
- To liaise with colleagues to ensure that there
is adequate cover during holiday periods and where possible sickness.
- To ensure that all policies and procedures are
adhered to and training undertaken where new policies and procedures are
implemented. In particular, those for
Health Records, confidentiality and information security.
- To participate in yearly appraisals.
- To make notes available to the legal
department as required.
- To report any maintenance problems to
appropriate agencies.
- To do other clerical duties to facilitate the
smooth running of the outpatient department eg maintenance of equipment loan
records.
- To ensure that general administrative work
associated with referrals, appointments and waiting lists is undertaken
according to the expected medical records standards.
- Provide adhoc cover for the therapy reception
teams during periods of high activity and/or prolonged absence.
- To carry out any other duties, within the
grade, as requested by other members of your team, Team Leaders, or Therapy Managers.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the attached Job Description document for full job details.
- Monitor clinic schedules, patient appointments, and
resource allocation to ensure optimal utilisation of clinic time.
- Identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies in
appointment scheduling and resource allocation.
- Develop and implement strategies for filling
cancelled appointments. Collaborate with front-line staff to quickly reassign
cancelled slots.
- Utilise reminder systems and patient outreach to
minimise appointment cancellations.
- Analyse the data to identify trends and patterns in
DNA and UTAs
- Implement measures to reduce DNAs, such as
appointment reminders, patient education, or rescheduling options and ensuring
patient information is accessible to all.
- To deal with the day
to day incoming referrals. To ensure that all referrals contain the required
information to allow pathways to be linked and clock status to be corrected.
- To ensure that
referrals are added to the appropriate outpatient waiting list by speciality
for clinical staff to prioritise them within the agreed timescales.
- To ensure
that patients receive an acknowledgement letter or are immediately
accepted/appointed in line with agreed booking processes, administrative
procedures and the patient access policy.
- To ensure that all patients receive the
correct instructions and correspondence related to their appointment.
- To work with the team lead / clinical lead in
required changes to letter templates.
- To ensure clinical diaries on PAS are outcomed
at the end of each day.
- To cancel and reschedule patients or whole
clinics in the event of sickness / unforeseen circumstances requiring last
minute changes.
- To regularly review the therapy outpatient waiting
lists to ensure that it is accurate and up to date, identifying any potential referral-to-treatment
RTT clock breaches, incorrect clock data and ratify the unoutcomed
appointments on a weekly basis informing the appropriate Team Leader of any
issues.
- To regularly review the therapy waiting list
to update the appropriate Team Leaders in Outpatients, with regards the waiting times for treatment.
- On a monthly basis validate any patients that
are showing as having waited longer than an agreed timeframe so that waiting
time information submitted is accurate.
- To make new appointments as appropriate from
the partial booking system for all patients referred to the outpatient therapy
services.
- To action changes to individual appointments
whilst ensuring the patients are seen within the agreed clinical priority and
that written confirmation is immediately sent. This involves the managing of
messages received by digital platforms e.g. trust SMS text message system.
- To maintain an accurate filing system for
patient records to facilitate retrieval as necessary.
- To manage telephone enquiries from patients,
relatives, Medical Practitioners and Consultants ensuring that the appropriate
action is taken including messages for therapy staff.
- To telephone patients, sometimes at short
notice, to offer them appointments or reschedule appointments.
- To ensure that letter, telephone and face to
face communication with patients, colleagues and managers is professional,
timely in line with health records policies and procedures.
- To respond to any queries and complaints from
patients, managers or clinicians regarding clinics, referrals, bookings and
waiting times, ensuring that any serious issues are passed to the appropriate
team leader.
- To monitor all outpatient clinics to ensure
that all clinic slots are utilised to the maximum and where necessary fill any
vacant slots and also to prevent overbooking of clinics.
- To supervise and develop junior administrative
staff.
- To liaise with colleagues to ensure that there
is adequate cover during holiday periods and where possible sickness.
- To ensure that all policies and procedures are
adhered to and training undertaken where new policies and procedures are
implemented. In particular, those for
Health Records, confidentiality and information security.
- To participate in yearly appraisals.
- To make notes available to the legal
department as required.
- To report any maintenance problems to
appropriate agencies.
- To do other clerical duties to facilitate the
smooth running of the outpatient department eg maintenance of equipment loan
records.
- To ensure that general administrative work
associated with referrals, appointments and waiting lists is undertaken
according to the expected medical records standards.
- Provide adhoc cover for the therapy reception
teams during periods of high activity and/or prolonged absence.
- To carry out any other duties, within the
grade, as requested by other members of your team, Team Leaders, or Therapy Managers.
Person Specification
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Ability to work in busy environment.
- To be adaptable and work well under pressure.
- To have a good telephone manner.
- Able to work effectively as part of a team.
- To be able to establish a good rapport with colleagues and
- patients.
- To have a flexible approach to working pattern and duties.
- To possess good communication skills -verbal and written.
Other Job Requirements
Essential
- Ability to undertake the manual handling aspects of the role on a daily basis.
- Willing to undertake in-house courses.
- Awareness of Confidentiality and Information Governance.
- Able to work hours/days required.
Desirable
- Ability to travel / work across sites.
- General understanding of relevant therapy store.
Qualifications
Essential
- GCSEs, grade C or above or equivalent in Maths and English.
- RSA II or equivalent qualification or experience.
Desirable
- Formal customer care training or equivalent qualification or experience
Skills & Knowledge
Essential
- Proven ability to organise and prioritise workload.
- Proven ability to respond to enquiries appropriately in a timely manner.
- Able to maintain and organise departmental records.
Experience
Essential
- Evidence of previous clerical experience.
- Good knowledge of computerised systems.
- Good typing/word processing.
- Familiar with Windows packages.
- Experience of manual and digital filing systems.
Desirable
- Reception experience.
- Experience of using Sunrise PAS or other hospital patient systems.
- Previous NHS experience.
- Previous experience of arranging appointments.
Person Specification
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Ability to work in busy environment.
- To be adaptable and work well under pressure.
- To have a good telephone manner.
- Able to work effectively as part of a team.
- To be able to establish a good rapport with colleagues and
- patients.
- To have a flexible approach to working pattern and duties.
- To possess good communication skills -verbal and written.
Other Job Requirements
Essential
- Ability to undertake the manual handling aspects of the role on a daily basis.
- Willing to undertake in-house courses.
- Awareness of Confidentiality and Information Governance.
- Able to work hours/days required.
Desirable
- Ability to travel / work across sites.
- General understanding of relevant therapy store.
Qualifications
Essential
- GCSEs, grade C or above or equivalent in Maths and English.
- RSA II or equivalent qualification or experience.
Desirable
- Formal customer care training or equivalent qualification or experience
Skills & Knowledge
Essential
- Proven ability to organise and prioritise workload.
- Proven ability to respond to enquiries appropriately in a timely manner.
- Able to maintain and organise departmental records.
Experience
Essential
- Evidence of previous clerical experience.
- Good knowledge of computerised systems.
- Good typing/word processing.
- Familiar with Windows packages.
- Experience of manual and digital filing systems.
Desirable
- Reception experience.
- Experience of using Sunrise PAS or other hospital patient systems.
- Previous NHS experience.
- Previous experience of arranging appointments.
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.
