Medical Receptionist

Fell Tower Medical Centre; Gateshead; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare practice in Gateshead is seeking a receptionist to manage patient appointments and support clinical staff. The ideal candidate will possess strong communication skills and experience in a healthcare setting, ensuring efficient patient flow and service delivery. Responsibilities will include managing inquiries, maintaining patient records, and providing a comprehensive reception service.

Qualifications

• Experience in a clerical or receptionist role within a healthcare setting is desirable.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks in a busy environment.

Responsibilities

• Manage patient appointments and requests effectively.
• Support clinical staff with necessary documentation for consultations.
• Provide reception services and respond to queries in a polite manner.
• Record and maintain accurate patient details in both manual and electronic systems.

Job description

Overview

The main duties of the role: Dealing with all appointments and patient requests, ensuring surgery time is effectively utilised. Allocating pre-bookable and urgent appointments appropriately and monitoring the flow of patients during surgeries. Deliver active signposting, providing patients with a first point of contact directing them to the most appropriate source of help. Ensuring patients are booked in with the right clinician or service.

Responsibilities

• Carrying out all clerical tasks to prepare for surgery sessions, ensuring clinical staff have the patient documentation necessary to undertake consultations and procedures efficiently.
• Providing a comprehensive reception service, responding to a range of enquiries in a polite, caring and efficient manner.
• Adherence to Practice protocols and dealing with difficult situations in a calm and controlled manner.
• Dealing with telephone requests and enquiries in a courteous manner, referring callers to the appropriate personnel and ensuring messages are relayed in a timely manner, especially those of an urgent nature.
• Taking comprehensive details for patients requesting home visits and ensuring these are recorded in accordance with the protocol to allow steps to be taken for triage.
• Dealing with prescribing requests, ensuring that prescriptions are approved, prepared, signed and ready for issue within agreed timescales.
• Arranging appropriate follow-up for patients who need to be seen.
• Undertaking and ensuring all aspects of patient registration are carried out in a timely way.
• Promoting services and educating patients to improve their experience - Patient Partner, Online Access, eConsult, Extra Care service etc.
• Maintaining manual patient records in a tidy, accurate and up to date condition (both own staff files and overall filing system).
• Tracking missing files and documents required by clinical staff.
• Ensuring that changes in patients details and circumstances are recorded accurately and actioned on both the manual and electronic record system.
• Undertaking a variety of clerical tasks in support of patients service activity, including interpreter bookings, insurance and benefit documentation, vaccinations, breast screening etc.
• Explaining Practice arrangements and requirements for new patients seeking care, ensuring all documentation is completed.
• Participating in extended hours rota, providing clerical support to the appointment surgery and working alongside the Doctor on call.
• Taking payments for some services.
• Attending Practice and Primary Care training sessions as required.