Access to Health Clerical Officer

Job description

Job responsibilities

Responsible for processing Subject Access Requests with the trust. This will include;

* Receipt and recording of requests for medical Information from solicitors, patient, Government organisations, other NHS organisations and the police according to the Data Protection Act 2018, Access to Health Records Act 1990 and common law duty of confidentiality within the legal deadline.

* Responsible for accurately recording all requests onto the Trust Safeguard Ulysses System in relation to Access to Health requests, updates, response times and audit trails in a timely and accurate manner.

* Ensuring the appropriate ID checks have been carried out or that a signed and dated consent form has been received, or action the same to ensure compliance with confidentiality and data protection. When the ID provided is deemed sufficient to process the subject access request, the requestors ID must be destroyed in line with GDPR.

* Identify clinical teams involved with service users by interrogating various clinical systems.

* Responsible for all consents and identification check processes are consistent, transparent and legally compliant.

* Liaising with all relevant consultants and medical staff involved in a patients care to gain authority to release the information. If a consultant has left the trust authority to release the medical records must be gained from the lead consultant in that speciality. Cascade to the Reception/Overseas Manager or Patient Access Operational Manager regarding any concerns raised regarding the release of copies of healthcare records. If authorisations cannot be obtained, liaise with the Caldicott Guardian to gain permission to release the records.

* Undertake a full search of paper and electronic records to ensure the full healthcare record is identified and copied when dealing with requests for access from Trust Patient Administrations Systems, for example Cerner Millenium, CITO, Auditbase, Medisoft, Systm One, GUM, Podiatry, Physiotherapy, and PACs

* Collating the relevant information from several NHS systems taking into account the circumstances of the request and deciding whether the information is relevant to the request. Liaise with the x-ray department to request a disc containing any radiology that is required.

* Collecting, printing and photocopying documentation for release. Daily monitoring of outstanding requests in order to comply with the Data Protection Act legal timescales of processing data subject access requests.

* Responsible for removal of third party information for every subject access request completed. There are often large volumes of records to go through, this requires an extremely high level of concentration.

* Redaction for police requests for medical information and medical statements is often required quickly to ensure that an arrest can be made and a potential perpetrator is not released. You will be reading through the medical records of victims of crimes.

* Dealing with court orders from the council producing medical records which will be used in safeguarding court cases and medical statements. This includes family court cases. You will also need to redact childrens safeguarding information which is often distressing and sensitive information

* The nature of this job requires the post holder to read records that contain emotional, sensitive and distressing circumstances such as abuse and self harm, including graphic images. For these reasons it is necessary for the post holder to have a high degree of emotional resilience.

* Adhering to a strict timescale when processing requests to ensure that the trusts best practice policy of processing all requests within 21 days of receipt. This will ensure that the trust should always stay within the GDPR guidelines of a month to process requests and should avoid breaches that incur financial penalties

* Daily monitoring of outstanding requests on the breach report to comply with Data Protection Act.

* Maintain accurate and timely audit trails that describe a chronology of events and decisions made. These audit trails are used in complaint investigations, e.g. complaints made to the Information Commissioner for requests that the requester may not be satisfied with the process.

* Re-barcoding of patient documents for scanning if they have been returned from the external scanning bureau due to incorrect barcoding by other departments.

* Re-indexing of documents within CITO to ensure they are filed in the correct folder and patient record if incorrectly electronically filed.

* Processing requests for right to erasure, the right to rectification and the right to restriction.

* Dealing with queries regarding location of documents within CITO

* Liaise with wards and departments within the Trust in relation to data subject access requests and CITO.

* Overcoming any barriers that may occur as will be communicating with cultural and language differences.

* Answer service user queries on access to their health records. Contact is usually by telephone, email or letter but a limited amount of face to face contact may be required, for example if an individual wants to personally collect copies of their records.

* Dealing with distressed patients and relatives of deceased patients and some patients who may lack mental capacity while remaining calm, polite, empathetic and compassionate whilst being assertive where necessary.

* Autonomously organise and prioritise own work load according to the variable demands of the department, adjusting the priorities throughout the day as further work is emailed into the department or when processing more complex requests.

* Support all new members of staff through the induction programme and orientation ensuring they complete work based training successfully.

* Provide training, advice and guidance to other Trust staff on the process for providing copies of healthcare records.

Person Specification

Special Skills & Knowledge

Essential

• Excellent keyboard skills and proficient in all Microsoft Packages.
• Experience of using computerised databases and paper based filing systems.
• Knowledge of Data Protection Act 2018 and awareness of the requirement to maintain confidentiality.
• Highly organised and self-motivated, with the ability to prioritise own workload while dealing with frequent interruptions.
• Ability to work autonomously with minimal supervision, able to deal with conflict and have the ability to make decisions and use own judgement to deal with queries or escalate where necessary.
• Ability to work as part of a team, supporting and encouraging enthusiastic team work and ability allocate work within and between team members.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Excellent communication skills at all levels with the ability to communicate effectively with other staff members and outside organisations via telephone e-mail and in person.
• Ability to communicate clearly and sensitively with a wide range of patients, where there may be barriers to understanding (e.g. language difficulties, anxious or distressed patients or relatives).
• Ability to maintain calmness while working well under pressure with unpredictable workload demands.
• Experience of working to tight deadlines while maintaining concentration at all times.
• Ability to handle sensitive information and communicating in a kind and compassionate manner.
• Ability to manage significant exposure to sensitive, distressing or emotional circumstances, text and images.
• Able to provide training to new colleagues within the department.
• Experience of problem solving and resolving issues as they arise.
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality.

Desirable

• Knowledge of NHS Patient.
• Interrogating bespoke NHS Patient Administration Systems.

Special Requirements

Essential

• Able to travel across Trust sites to meet the requirements of the post.

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to 2 x A Levels/NVQ Level 3 in Customer Care or Business Administration or equivalent experience.

Experience

Essential

• Working in a busy office environment.

Desirable

• Working in a large complex organisation.

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

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Shotley Bridge Hospital

Shotley Bridge

Consett

County Durham

DH8 0NB

Employer's website

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