Medical Receptionist

Heaton Road Surgery; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 24,000; Full time

Job summary

A general practice clinic in Newcastle upon Tyne is seeking a Receptionist to provide crucial administrative support. The role involves greeting patients, managing appointments, and ensuring effective communication within the practice. Ideal candidates will possess excellent customer service skills and be reliable team players. Full training will be provided, making this a great opportunity for individuals looking to start a career in healthcare.

Qualifications

• Experience in booking or appointment systems.
• Experience of working in a Primary Care or NHS setting.
• Conscientious and reliable with a neat appearance.

Responsibilities

• Greet patients and book them into the computer system.
• Direct patients to the waiting room and notify them of delays.
• Answer phones and deal with all enquiries efficiently.
• Take in prescription requests and manage registration.

Skills

Fluency in spoken English

Good written communication skills

Customer care experience

Ability to work under pressure

Team player

Education

English Language O level/GCSE or equivalent

Mathematics O Level/GCSE or equivalent

Computer Literacy (variety of Office software)

ECDL or equivalent

Job description

The main purpose of the job is to provide reception and administrative support to the GP Practice to enable the medical and nursing staff to provide an effective, efficient, and caring service to the practice population.

The reception area at the surgery is currently open 8:00am 6:00pm Monday to Friday each week and has a late surgery until 8:00pm hours on a Tuesday. The medical reception staff have various duties which include manning the reception desk, dealing with queries from both patients and outside agencies and other administration tasks.

The post is essential for the smooth running of the practice and excellent customer service skills are required.

Main duties of the job

• MAIN DUTIES
• Greet patients and book them into the computer system on arrival.
• Direct patients to the waiting room.
• Take in prescription requests whilst on reception.
• Notify patients when clinics are running late.
• Answer the phones & deal with all enquiries.
• Book and amend appointments.
• Deal with enquiries from other healthcare professionals and other agencies as requested in an efficient manner.
• Completion of forms as requested.
• Extract notes and patients' summaries from computer.
• Register new patients following the practice protocol.
• Administration tasks such as completing registrations, deductions, booking interpreters.
• Bring to the attention of the Practice Management team all complaints, comments, and suggestions.
• Report any adverse/untoward incidents to the Team Leader.
• Ensure that any accidents/or near misses are recorded in the accident book and relayed to the Team Leader.
• Deal with emergency calls or take requests for urgent house calls and notify the Team Leader immediately.
• Attend to patients when an emergency arises in the practice & notify Doctor/Nurse immediately.
• Complete a morning and evening checklist such as adding the clinicians' names to their room doors, replacing bed rolls, and turning computers on/off.
• Assist in the induction of a new member of staff / or student.
• Ensure the out of hours message is correct prior to leaving the practice and the phone lines are turned over.

About us

The GP Practice comprises 7 GPs, 1 Pharmacist, 2 Practice Nurses, 1 Health Care Assistant, 2 Practice Managers, 3 Care Coordinators, Social Prescribing Link Worker and an Administration and Secretarial team.

Job responsibilities

SUMMARY

• MAIN DUTIES
• Greet patients and book them into the computer system on arrival.
• Direct patients to waiting rooms.
• Take in prescription requests whilst on reception.
• Notify patients when clinics are running late.
• Answer telephone & deal with all enquiries as they arise.
• Book and amend appointments.
• Deal with enquiries from other healthcare professionals and other agencies as requested in an efficient manner.
• Completion of forms as requested.
• Extract notes and patients' summaries from computer.
• Register new patients following the practice protocol.
• Administration tasks such as completing registrations, deductions, booking interpreters.
• To bring to the attention of the Practice Management team all complaints, comments, and suggestions.
• To report any adverse/untoward incidents to the Team Leader.
• To ensure that any accidents/ or near misses are recorded in the accident book and relayed to the Team Leader.
• Dealing with emergency calls or taking requests for urgent house calls and notifying the Team Leader immediately.
• Attend to patients when an emergency arises in the practice & notify Doctor/Nurse immediately.
• Completing a morning and evening checklist such as adding the clinicians' names to their room doors, replacing bed rolls, and turning computers on/ off.
• Assist in the induction of a new member of staff/or student.
• Ensuring the out of hours message is correct prior to leaving the practice and the phones lines are turned over.

2. FINANCE

• Take in monies from patients for insurance reports/ private medicals etc and record all monies coming into the practice in the receipt book.

3. PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT

• Participate in Practice Development Team Building and action plans.
• Attend courses as agreed with the Management team.
• Comply & keep up to date with the Caldicott guidelines.
• Comply & keep up to date with the Data Protection Act.
• Identify own training needs.
• Undertake training, including statutory and mandatory training and meet personal development needs.
• Co‑operate/participate with research within the practice.

5. PREMISES

• Prepare the premises for opening/closing.
• Ensure safety procedures are carried out to maintain a safe environment for employees, patients and visitors.

General Professional Duties:

• Support training and development of self and other Practice staff.
• Maintain personal professional competency and appropriate development.
• Carry out the duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with Practice policies.
• General housekeeping of the Waiting room and reception areas.
• Required to comply with all relevant national and local, statutory and mandatory requirements including Health & Safety, Infection Control, and prevention of Health Acquired Infections.

The post may involve travel for training purposes. This job description is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities. The post holder will be asked to carry out other duties which are appropriate to the skills of the post holder and grade of the post as the priorities of the service change.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• English Language O level/GCSE or equivalent
• Mathematics O Level/GCSE or equivalent
• Computer Literacy familiar with a variety of Office software systems
• ECDL or equivalent

Experience

• Previous experience in General Practice is not essential as full training would be given.
• Must have:
  • Fluency in spoken English
  • Good written communication skills
  • Conscientious and reliable
  • Diplomacy and discretion
  • Team Player
  • Open and friendly personality
  • Neat appearance
  • Ability to work under pressure
  • Experience in customer care
  • Experience of booking or appointment systems
  • Experience of working in a Primary Care or NHS setting
  • Able to work flexible hours and overtime if needed.

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.