Clerical Officer

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust; Plymouth; Hybrid; GBP 20,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider in Plymouth is seeking a Clerical Officer for the Outpatient Appointment Centre. The role involves managing calls from patients to assist with booking outpatient appointments and handling related administrative tasks. Ideal candidates should have GCSE qualifications and experience in administrative roles, along with strong organisational and interpersonal skills. This position offers flexible working arrangements, including some remote work options.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Opportunities for career development

Qualifications

• Experience working in an administrative role.
• Ability to handle patient enquiries and maintain confidentiality.
• Demonstrable experience working with the general public.

Responsibilities

• Manage inbound and outbound calls to/from patients efficiently.
• Process referrals and manage appointment bookings.
• Ensure compliance with Access Policies for planned care services.

Skills

Organisational skills

Interpersonal skills

Adaptability

Motivation

Education

GCSE grade C and above or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook)

Job description

We are currently looking for a Clerical Officer to work within the Outpatient Appointment Centre (OAC) with some availability to work from home where appropriate and approved by your line manager.

The role will entail taking calls from patients to assist in booking outpatient appointments and dealing with any patient enquires that result from the calls. There will also be a number of other appointment related tasks that will need to be completed during the course of the working day; therefore the work will be varied and interesting.

Applicants will need to be organised, hardworking, adaptable, committed and motivated individuals to help us provide a patient focused service representing University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.

The posts require someone who can work as part of a busy team and/or on their own initiative. The successful applicant must be reliable, with excellent interpersonal skills, and be prepared to perform a variety of tasks.

The post requires someone who is educated to GCSE grade C and above/equivalent qualification or equivalent demonstrable experience in an administrative role

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as \'Priority\' and \'At Risk\' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.***

Main duties of the job

Job Purpose:

This post is part of a professional team working within the Outpatient Appointment Centre (OAC). The key responsibilities of this role are to work within the Contact Centre and Administration teams. There will be an expectation that the job holder will be required to work in any area of the Contact Centre or Admin Support within the remit of this job description. Responsible for managing inbound and outbound telephone calls to/from patients and various other administrative tasks relating to outpatient appointments.

Key Dimensions:

As a department, the OAC book approximately 368,000 appointments per year.

About us

We are a people business - where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment. We offer all of this in a vibrant, modern city with a historic reputation for adventure. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY. If you have any issues with applying online and need additional support including reasonable adjustments with the application process please contact the recruitment team on 01752 432100. We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants around less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. Please contact the recruiting manager to discuss this prior to your application submission. We commit to giving this full consideration in each case. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply for our roles, as diversity strengthens our teams. It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

Job responsibilities

PRIMARY DUTIES & AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• To receive, process and action all referrals received to the department from all specialties in a timely manner, ensuring each patient is added to the appropriate waiting list and the referral is filed accurately.
• To ensure that all information is entered in a timely and accurate manner, in accordance with the data quality standards and UK Data Protection Act 2018/UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
• To manage inbound and outbound telephone calls to/from patients in an efficient and patient focussed manner. This will be across all specialties within the trust.
• To provide a good level of customer service at all times (calls are monitored to ensure standards are being met).
• To ensure that all appointments are booked in accordance with the Access Policy for Planned Care Services and departmental booking guides for clinics.
• To ensure that patients are given sufficient notification of appointment, as set out in the Access Policy for Planned Care Services.
• To cancel and rearrange appointments as requested by patients or Service Lines as appropriate following the rules as set out in the Access Policy for Planned Care Services.
• To manage and action out of hours reminder requests as appropriate. This will include cancelling and rearranging appointments.
• To ensure that suspected cancer 2-week wait patients are booked within policy guidelines.
• When booking a patients appointment at short notice to ensure that the patient casenotes are requested and the relevant prepping clerk is informed.
• This post requires concentration to ensure patients are booked chronologically and within the times scales provided by National Guidelines.
• To ensure that when a patient or GP cancels a routine appointment and no further appointment is required that the waiting list and referral entries are closed on iPM. In the event of an urgent appointment being cancelled that the relevant Clinician is informed first.
• To communicate regularly with the Service Lines when slots become available due to short notice cancellations.
• The post holder must advise their Team Leader if the clinic capacity is insufficient to accommodate the number of appointments required and ensure the Team Leader is kept informed at all times.
• To ensure that all emails including ASI (Appointment Slot Issues) are actioned in a timely manner.
• The postholder will need to use the different functions on Choose and Book system daily ensuring that referral letters are printed where needed and the appointments are booked or amended as appropriate.
• To prioritise own workload and work without supervision.
• To ensure that all patients who fail to attend appointments (DNAs) are managed in accordance with the Trust DNA policy.
• Be able to handle patient complaints recognising that some patients may be anxious or difficult to communicate with and there may also be language barriers.
• To organise translators/interpreters as required when booking patient appointments.
• The post holder would be trained on the job through a combination of instruction and practice and by attending Access Policy for Planned Care Services, Casenote, Information Governance and iPM training.
• To ensure that a firm understanding is obtained of all administration procedures in the Access Policy and Service Line Agreements.
• To ensure that an Individual Performance Review is obtained from the supervising line manager on an annual basis.
• To undertake other duties within the post holders competence/career development plan as may be necessary from time to time, as determined by OAC Manager/OAC Team Leader or Team Leader
• The post holder will be expected to work remotely and fulfil their duties efficiently. Ensuring clear lines of communication are held with their Team Leader and work colleagues on a regular basis throughout the working day.

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as Priority and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.***

Person Specification

KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE

• Demonstrable experience using Microsoft office packages particularly word, outlook and excel
• Demonstrable experience working with spreadsheets
• Demonstrable experience working with the general public
• Demonstrable experience within acute care setting
• Demonstrable experience using clinical based computerised systems

QUALIFICATIONS

• Educated to GCSE grade C and above/equivalent qualification or equivalent demonstrable experience in an administrative role
• Good communication skills, written and verbal
• Accuracy

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.