Deputy Patient Access Manager

NHS; Brighton; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare provider in Brighton seeks a Deputy Patient Access Manager to oversee outpatient services. This role involves managing a team, ensuring efficient patient flow, and maintaining compliance with cancer treatment targets. The ideal candidate will have NHS outpatient booking experience and strong leadership and communication skills. A commitment to diversity and inclusion is also essential in this role. This position offers a full-time, permanent contract with a salary range of £31,049 to £37,796 per annum.

Qualifications

• NHS outpatient booking experience required.
• Effective leadership skills needed.
• Strong IT and communication skills necessary.

Responsibilities

• Oversee outpatient services to ensure efficient patient flow.
• Manage patient access clerks and allocate workloads.
• Support the achievement of cancer treatment targets.

Skills

IT skills

Effective communication

Organisational skills

Leadership skills

Tools

Careflow PAS

Job description

Job Summary

The Sussex Cancer Centre is seeking a Deputy Patient Access Manager to help deliver a high-quality, flexible administrative service within our busy oncology unit. This key role supports the Patient Access Manager in achieving Patient Access and Cancer Treatment targets.

You will oversee the day-to-day running of outpatient services, ensuring efficient patient flow and timely appointments. The role includes managing peaks in activity, supervising the Patient Access Clerks team, allocating workloads, conducting appraisals, and handling HR matters in line with Trust policy.

We're looking for someone with extensive experience in booking procedures, a strong understanding of cancer targets and the 18-week referral-to-treatment pathway, plus a proven track record in change management and team leadership. Excellent organisational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work under pressure are essential. You should be confident in managing your own workload, multitasking, and adapting to changing service demands.

Main duties of the job

• Collaborate with the Operational Manager and Patient Access Manager across all Oncology sites to manage operational processes and address capacity/demand pressures.
• Line manage Patient Access Clerks in the First Contact Oncology Booking Hub, including workload allocation, training, appraisals, recruitment, and HR compliance.
• Advise outpatient and inpatient admin teams on complex patient access, diagnosis, and treatment issues.
• Support delivery of national cancer waiting time standards, including 18 weeks and 2-week wait targets.
• Collect and provide data for statistical reports and performance monitoring.
• Identify and resolve capacity issues affecting cancer waiting times and RTT standards.
• Manage outpatient waiting lists, prevent backlogs, and coordinate additional clinics during peak activity.
• Act as escalation point for patient, relative, and GP queries; investigate complaints and escalating unresolved issues.
• Ensure accurate PAS data entry for cancer waiting times and RTT status.
• Work with clinical teams to ensure compliance with Patient Access Policy.
• Validate cancer waiting times and support RTT and cancer recovery plans.
• Provide information to assist operational and clinical leads in managing demand and capacity.
• Coordinate clinician leave, clinic cancellations, and patient rescheduling.
• Attend PTL and RTT meetings as required.
• Deliver a flexible, efficient admin and reception service supporting patients and clinical teams.

About us

Working for UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always deliver Excellent Care Everywhere, as shown in our Outstanding for Caring CQC rating. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of staff networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 3) and a Veteran Aware Trust.

Candidate Pack

Details Date posted

30 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

279-7610689-DEC25

Job locations

Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, BN2 5BE

Job description

Please note: This role does not meet the minimum criteria for visa sponsorship under the current UK immigration rules, which set specific salary and skill thresholds. As such, we are unable to provide sponsorship for this post. Applicants will therefore need to already have the right to work in the UK to be considered. We include this information at the outset to provide clarity and avoid unnecessary inconvenience for applicants.

Person Specification

Experience/Qualifications Essential

• NHS outpatient booking experience
• Contact and/or visit prior to shortlisting application

Experience/Qualifications Desirable

• Working knowledge of Careflow PAS
• Knowledge of Patient Access Policy

Skills Essential

• IT skills
• Effective communication across a variety of platforms
• Organisational skills
• Ability to establish and maintain working relationships with professionals within the service

Skills Desirable

• Knowledge of UHSx IT systems

People Management Essential

• Effective leadership skills with the ability to manage and direct people

People Management Desirable

• Experience of undertaking performance and development reviews

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Essential

• Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues
• Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles (as appropriate to role)

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

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (279)

Address

Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, BN2 5BE

Employer's website

https://www.uhsussex.nhs.uk/