Failsafe Officer - Ophthalmology, Band 4

NHS; Cheltenham; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS Pension

Flexible working

Generous leave

Job summary

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a permanent Failsafe Officer in Ophthalmology to manage patient wait times and ensure adherence to national standards. The post includes line management of a small admin team and close collaboration with consultants, patients, and clinical staff.

The role requires proactive problem solving, autonomous working, and resilience in a large NHS organisation. Close attention to confidentiality and data handling is essential.

Qualifications

• GCSE grade C or above in literacy.
• NVQ level three in administration or equivalent.
• Excellent IT skills; good working knowledge of MS Office (Word & Excel).
• Good working knowledge of Hospital EPR systems, BI Hub & other systems.
• Good working knowledge of RTT.

Responsibilities

• Proactively manage waiting times to national standards for new and follow-up patients.
• Line manage a small administration team.
• Coordinate hospital appointments and ensure waiting times are met.
• Liaise with consultants, patients, and staff to optimise patient pathways.
• Provide information to key staff regarding patient waits and appointments.
• Support service improvement initiatives to streamline the patient journey.

Skills

IT skills

MS Office

Communication skills

Multitasking

Confidentiality

Waiting List Management

Education

GCSE literacy

NVQ Level 3 in administration

Waiting List Management Course

Tools

TrakCare

BI Hub

MS Access

Job description

Failsafe Officer - Ophthalmology, Band 4

The closing date is 30 September 2026

A second opportunity has arisen for a permanent Failsafe Officer within Ophthalmology at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust. The roles involves proactively managing patient wait times within the Ophthalmology Department to nationally agreed wait times for both new and follow-up patients. This will involve close liaison with consultants, patients, medical and nursing staff, patient access, appointments, support services and service managers and line management of a small administration team.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be required to provide dedicated work on patient wait times within the Ophthalmology Department to nationally agreed wait times for both new and follow-up patients. This will involve close liaison with consultants, patients, medical and nursing staff, patient access, appointments, support services and service managers.

The post holder will also be required to line manage a small administration team.

The role will proactively manage patients on our follow-up waiting lists and will range from coordinating hospital appointments and ensuring non-admitted and admitted wait times are adhered to. The successful candidate will also be required to assist with the management of the New and 2WW patients.

The post holder will be expected to work without direct supervision and be able to work autonomously and may be required to make decisions under pressure. They will be expected to liaise and communicate as appropriate. As such, the post holder will need a flexible approach to ensure processes are implemented, adhered to, maintained and improved.

The successful applicant will need to be able to cope with the ever-changing demands of such a position in a large organisation and have a positive and proactive approach.

About us

We take pride in placing people at the centre of everything we do, working together as a united team. Driven by a shared ambition to continually grow, develop, and learn, we recognise and value every contribution. By combining our experience and skills, we not only support our vibrant, diverse communities, but also support one another.

With a team of over 9,000 employees, we are proud to be the largest employer in Gloucestershire and rank among the top 10 largest Trusts in the South West region. By joining our Trust, you will benefit from an excellent package that includes exclusive benefits, flexible working opportunities and the chance to gain valuable experience in one or both of our innovative hospitals.

As well as generous annual leave allowance, you will have access to the excellent NHS pension scheme, competitive bank rates, discounts at local shops and restaurants, access to two on-site nurseries, discounted public transport, reward and recognition and a range of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Proactively manage waiting times for individual patients to ensure national standards are not breached. Negotiate patient management arrangements with key staff.

Ensure the patients journey (both new and follow up) are processed in a timely and efficient manner and pro-actively escape issues in the patients pathway so that potential delays are resolved at the earliest opportunity.

Liaise with the central booking office, pre-operative assessment and the patient access team where necessary to ensure patient wait times are met.

To communicate effectively and empathetically with patients and their relatives.

To work closely with surgeons, nursing and other departmental colleagues to ensure capacity is maximised.

To work closely with the Ophthalmology Coordinator to help maintain clinical rotas where required and cover duties when the Coordinator is on leave.

If appropriate, to manage a nominated team of administration & clerical staff.

To provide relevant information to key staff regarding patient waits and appointments.

To monitor and validate RTT PTLs, highlighting concerns or issues to the Lead Coordinator, Assistant General Manager and General Manager.

To liaise closely with the Validation team to support patient tracking from referral to treatment and for follow up, providing updates regarding admission and alerting him/her of any problems that may result in a delay in the patients treatment.

To lead the departments response at regular Check and Challenge meetings, providing key information on patient waits.

To liaise with support services to ensure timely investigations are carried out and ensure results are communicated to clinicians at the earliest opportunity.

To highlight bottlenecks within the process, communicating regularly with the Lead Coordinator, Assistant General Manager and General Manager and where possible, suggesting and implementing solutions.

To work with the Lead Coordinator, Assistant General Manager and General Manager and clinical teams to support service improvement initiatives which help streamline the patient journey and improve the quality of care and service provision.

Additional Responsibilities

The post holder must at all times respect patient confidentiality in line with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and abide by all Statutory and Trust policies and procedures

As the post holder will manage a small administration team, they must complete mandatory training courses and participate in regular staff appraisal processes

The post holder will be required to undertake any other duties according to the needs of the service. This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of activities, but rather an outline of the main areas of responsibility. Any reasonable changes will be discussed and agreed with the post holder before variations to the job description.

Key Knowledge and Experience

• - Educated to GCSE grade C or above (or equivalent) in literacy and numeracy or
• - NVQ level three in administration or equivalent substantial experience in an NHS hospital.
• - Excellent IT skills; good working knowledge of MS Office to include Word & Excel.
• -Good working knowledge of Hospital EPR systems, BI Hub & other related systems.
• -Good working knowledge of RTT.
• - Good attention to detail with ability to multitask.
• - Ability to work well under pressure and prioritise workload effectively.
• - Excellent communication / interpersonal skills for dealing with people internal and external to the organization.
• - Ability to produce accurate work and meet deadlines.
• - Ability to work on own initiative and without close supervision.
• - Good understanding of confidentiality.
• - Capacity to understand information in data format and interpret this.
• - Management of waiting lists and booking experience.

Person Specification

Qualification and Training

• GCSE grade C or above (or equivalent) in literacy
• NVQ level three in administration
• Waiting List Management Course by NHS QI learning

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent IT skills; good working knowledge of MS Office to include Word, Access & Excel
• Knowledge of Trakcare, BI Hub & other related systems
• Knowledge of RTT

Experience

• Substantial experience in an NHS hospital
• Moderate knowledge of Ophthalmology Specialty

Personal Atributes

• Good attention to detail with ability to multitask, produce accurate work and meet deadlines
• Ability to work well under pressure and prioritise workload effectively
• Excellent communication / interpersonal skills for dealing with people internally and external to the organisation.
• Good understanding of confidentiality
• Capacity to understand and interpret information in data format

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 name

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

£28,392 to £31,157 a year(pa, pro rata if part-time)