County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Receptionist

The closing date is 16 December 2025

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen within our Reception Team based at University Hospital North Durham.

Working 16 hours per week as part of our reception team, you will be responsible for the provision of a high standard reception service within the outpatient departments.

You will be educated to 5 GCSE Level or NVQ Level 2 in Business & Administration or Customer Service and have relevant experience within a busy office environment. Previous NHS experience and knowledge of Patient Administration Systems would be advantageous but is not essential.

The ability to work under pressure both individually and as part of a team is important to ensure that deadlines are met. Good organisational and interpersonal skills are essential in order to be able to achieve this. Excellent customer service skills are essential for this role.

The successful candidate will be based at University Hospital North Durham and may be required to work at other sites within the Trust, if necessary.

Main duties of the job

You will be responsible for the reception of patients and visitors to the Outpatient Department. This includes arriving patients for their appointments, arranging any future appointments taking in to account clinic rules, urgent/routine ratios and working with clinical staff to achieve patient satisfaction. You will also liaise with GP's, hospital staff and other professional bodies to ensure smooth running of the department.

To ensure that any enquiries are dealt with in a prompt, responsive and courteous manner at all times to ensure patients are satisfied with the service provided by the Reception Team and to ensure the Trust is portrayed in a positive manner

You will be required to work weekends and bank holidays on a rota system to cover adhoc clinics

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

Over reliance on AI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances of success.

For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

From April 9th 2025 - Healthcare assistants - You must have been employed for a minimum of two years of as a HCA within the NHS for the Trust to consider sponsorship (we will only consider sponsorship if you meet this criteria and have a current visa expiring within 3 months).

Date posted

02 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 2

Salary

£24,465 a year pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

C9439-2526-1207

Job locations

University Hospital Of North Durham

North Road

Durham

DH1 5TW

Job description

Job responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsible for the reception of patients and visitors to the Outpatients Department and all reception duties concerned e.g. sorting post / filing / stock monitoring / photocopying / delivery checks.

Responsible for the timely and accurate clinic management of appointments & waiting list on the Patient Administration System, implement time surveys on the waiting times of clinics as required and have a basic knowledge of medical terminology to allow further appointments to be arranged

Responsible for registering new patients on the computerised Patient Administration System ensuring data is retrieved and recorded accurately as the information is fed to other systems within the hospital.

Ensure patients, relatives; employers of and visitors to the Trust are greeted courteously and promptly upon arrival at the Trusts reception desk.

Responsibility for checking the location of patients using the Trusts computerised Patient Administration System

Liaise with all departments within the Trust to resolve queries from visitors or telephone calls

To generate and send out letters to patients inviting them to contact the department to make an outpatient appointment (Partial Booking), taking account of clinic rules, urgent/routine ratios, cancelled clinics and specified return timescales for review patients and if no response a letter is sent to the patients GP and the referral is cancelled from the Patient Administrative System to allow best utilization of outpatient clinic appointment slots and ensure no wasted capacity if patients do not respond.

To receive telephone calls from patients in response to invitations sent by the department, booking appointments in accordance with consultant directives/clinic rules, timescales etc. and send Out Patient appointment letter to confirm these arrangements to allow patients to choose a date/time of appointment at their convenience (as per national guidance).

To ensure that all appointments which require cancelling or amending are reallocated for patients.

Booking of transport for patients, where medically necessary, for future attendance.

Identifying potential overseas visitors on arrival for outpatient appointments or admissions and inform overseas patient interviewer to ensure appropriate action is taken.

Ability to work weekends and bank holidays on a rota system to cover fracture clinics and additional ad hoc clinics.

To ensure that patients calling the Reception Departments are dealt with in a prompt, responsive and courteous manner at all times in order that patients are satisfied with the service provided by the Reception Team to ensure the Trust is portrayed in a positive manner.

To liaise effectively with patients, general practitioners, hospital staff and other professional bodies to ensure the smooth running of the department.

Collate and report weekly any patients who cannot be booked within timescale per specialty.

To ensure patient satisfaction and confidentiality is maintained throughout.

To deal with distressed, abusive and/or complaining customers face to face and via the telephone.

Ensure all patients are provided with the family and friends questionnaire.

To provide a service to patients and secretaries regarding requests/queries.

To have a flexible approach to the department demands and to assist where appropriate in the provision of cover for other colleagues during sickness and holidays.

To assist supervisor in the mentorship, training and development of new members of staff.

Able to work under pressure both supervised and unsupervised carrying out duties in accordance with departments Policies and Procedures ensuring quality standards are adhered to.

Ensure all clinic attendances are completed on the Trust PAS System ensuring accurate recording or attendance outcome to facilitate tracking of 18 week RTT pathway.

Record any day case activity which takes place in an outpatient setting on the Trust PAS system to facilitate tracking of 18 week RTT pathway.

Ensure all procedures undertaken in outpatient clinic are accurately recorded to maximise income to the Trust.

Ensure all demographic information is collected and updated.

Manage day case waiting lists.