Ophthalmology Failsafe Coordinator | Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust; Huddersfield; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust in the United Kingdom is seeking an Ophthalmology Administrative Coordinator. You will be responsible for ensuring efficient patient journeys and managing appointment schedules to prevent avoidable sight loss. The role requires excellent communication skills and proficiency in healthcare administration. This opportunity offers a chance to work in a supportive environment focused on high-quality patient care.

Benefits

Supportive work environment

Opportunities for professional development

Qualifications

• Proficiency in using electronic patient records and Microsoft Office packages.
• Minimum 2 years of experience in a healthcare administrative role preferred.
• Ability to demonstrate understanding of Ophthalmology terminology and patient pathways.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate patient journeys from referral to treatment in Ophthalmology.
• Manage the administration of patient pathways for timely care.
• Escalate outpatient issues and ensure communication among teams.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Conflict management

Administrative support

Education

Experience in healthcare administration

Tools

EPR

Medisight

Microsoft Office

Job description

To co-ordinate and failsafe, the patient journey from referral to treatment including long‑term follow‑up within Ophthalmology, Orthoptics and Optometry sub‑specialties to ensure timely and effective delivery of patient care.

Provide administrative support across a range of Ophthalmology sub‑specialties supporting the department deliver across a range of key performance indicators.

To work with Consultant and Service Lead colleagues to improve sub‑specialty pathway delivery to reduce the risk of avoidable sight loss.

Key Responsibilities

• To be the named pathway and failsafe co‑ordinator for Ophthalmology sub‑specialties ensuring failsafe processes are in place to prevent avoidable sight loss.
• To proactively manage the administration of patient pathways across a number of Ophthalmology sub‑specialties and to resolve appointment queries escalated by the Appointments Centre and other service areas within the Trust and community.
• Work with clinical, Appointment Centre and administration and booking teams to identify capacity and utilisation of Ophthalmology sub‑specialities to ensure timely patient care is delivered.
• Track patients and actively manage patient's clinical pathway to ensure appointments, investigations, MDT discussions and treatments are conducted in a timely manner consistent with their timed clinical pathway and expected appointment scheduling.
• Support service improvement in relation to the administration and delivery of patient pathways across all Ophthalmology sub‑specialties as required.
• As a member of the Ophthalmology Administration and Failsafe Team, to review and manage the clinical rota. Ensure clinic numbers, clinic templates, booking rules and the rotas are reviewed at regular intervals.
• Supporting the department deliver across a range of performance indicators including ASI, holding list, RTT, incomplete outcomes, DNAs and cancellations, complaints and incidents.
• To proactively manage Ophthalmology, Orthoptic, Optometry sub‑specialty pathways to ensure patients receive timely appointments within the expected scheduled time.
• Manage and monitor outpatient scheduling making the best use of capacity.
• Act as a point of escalation to Appointment Centre and booking administration teams.
• Escalate to the Ophthalmology Failsafe & Admin Manager and Consultant sub‑specialty leads if any concerns within clinic capacity or patient care are identified.
• Ensure the correct booking of patient appointments within the sub‑specialty, prioritising urgent patients as requested by clinicians. This includes liaising with the Appointments Centre, ensuring patients who do not attend are followed up appropriately at the direction of the clinician.
• Monitor and action incomplete outcomes making sure clinics are ‘cashed up’ within a timely manner.
• To track patients through Ophthalmology, implementing processes to ensure patients are not lost to follow‑up and ensuring follow‑up appointments as necessary.
• Identify potential capacity issues, calculate and monitor average waiting times, ensure the clinics are blocked for annual leave, audit and study days and liaise with the Ophthalmology Failsafe & Admin Manager.
• Ensure clinic sessions are running with maximum utilisation of capacity (filling cancellation slots as necessary in conjunction with the Appointments Centre) in accordance with the agreed speciality, consultant and clinic protocols.
• To use the 18‑week referral to treatment (RTT) to manage all outpatient sub‑specialty pathways, working in conjunction with Ophthalmic secretaries as appropriate.
• Support the validation of the RTT patient tracking list within sub‑specialties. Investigate and take the appropriate action where pathways are incomplete to ensure that patients are receiving timely treatment, active monitoring or been discharged as appropriate.
• To work closely within the Ophthalmology Administration and Failsafe team to ensure a cohesive service, including providing support, supervision and covering for annual leave and sickness as necessary.
• Ensure a failsafe loop so patients are not lost to follow‑up and the avoidance of delays to follow‑ups – make sure patients at the highest risk of significant avoidable harm receive follow‑up review and/or treatment as scheduled.
• Monitor, elevate and amend pathway appointment bookings, identify:
  • a. Patients not discharged but no review booked or clinically indicated date for review identified.
  • b. Whether or not the timescale planned for patient review has been breached.
  • c. Patients not discharged, and a review booked that is beyond the clinically indicated timescale for review.
  • d. Original appointment cancelled by patient and subsequently rebooked if beyond expected review date.
  • e. Original appointment cancelled by hospital and subsequently rebooked if beyond expected review date.
  • f. Patient did not attend, so the appointment had to be rebooked resulting in beyond expected review date.
• To demonstrate and understand Ophthalmology terminology and the flow through patient pathways within sub‑specialties.
• Escalate any outpatient issues that cannot be directly resolved by the Eye Clinic Sister and Ophthalmology Service Manager.
• To assess the need to contact individual patients and coordinate completion of any outstanding appointments.
• Track new and follow up patients within Ophthalmology sub‑specialties and work in conjunction with the Appointments Centre to provide assurance that appointment letters and text reminders are received and attended within clinically led time frames.
• Escalate any appointment capacity issues or delays to the Ophthalmology Failsafe & Admin Manager.
• Investigate patient DNAs in conjunction with the Appointment Centre teams, communicating the results to the consultants and the operational management team as appropriate.
• Reschedule outpatient clinics as requested and in line with Trust policy.
• Responsibility for checking the quality of data entered onto the failsafe and filing systems, to ensure that all national standards are maintained and reportable.
• To ensure appointments are in line with the trust access policy inclusive of NICE guidelines, highlighting issues and taking corrective action where necessary.
• To work closely with clinical and senior manager colleagues in dealing with patient queries, complaints and incidents in relation to investigation and treatment plans.
• To track all Ophthalmology, suspect Oculoplastic cancer patient pathways to ensure they are seen, diagnosed and treated within the Cancer waiting times targets. Identifying delays in patient pathways which may result in a breach of Cancer Waiting Time targets and take appropriate and best course of action to prevent breaches by communicating with sub‑specialty lead and/or other departments within or outside the Trust.
• To elevate potential breaches in line with Trust escalation policy, immediately to Lead sub‑specialty clinicians, Ophthalmology Failsafe & Admin Manager and Ophthalmology Senior Management team as appropriate.
• To communicate with all levels of staff within the Trust and community partnerships, GPs and patients to obtain or verify relevant information relating to patient care.
• Work with sub‑specialty teams to ensure they are aware of their patients holding list and Appointment Slot Issue Lists, identifying resolution to ensure clinical validation is undertaken.
• Monitor performance indicators using the Trusts Knowledge Portal, working with clinicians and service leads to improve patient pathways within sub‑specialties.
• In partnership with the Ophthalmology Failsafe & Admin Manager, develop and implement Standard Operating Procedures for Failsafe and Administrative functions.
• To contribute to the running of an efficient and tidy administration space, using appropriate administrative systems, taking initiative in establishing office procedures, managing own workload and working unsupervised.
• General office administration & duties as required.
• To deal with concerns and support complaint investigations as appropriate, immediately escalating where necessary to the appropriate direct line of reporting.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to manage conflict, having authentic conversations within a challenging environment.
• To maintain and be responsible for ensuring data quality on Trust systems. To be competent and confident in using EPR, Medisight and Microsoft Office packages and other systems in the department.
• To provide support and cover arrangements to other Failsafe Coordinators and Ophthalmology Administration staff as agreed with Ophthalmology Failsafe & Admin Manager.

About CHFT

CHFT is an integrated Trust of 6,500+ colleagues providing hospital and community services to patients and communities across Calderdale and Kirklees. We are rated as ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission, are a top performing Trust for Elective Recovery, Emergency and Cancer Care and widely acknowledged as a national digital lead when it comes to caring for people across our local and regional systems.

Culture & Values

Our people are at the core of everything we do, hence our commitment to One Culture of Care. Our focus is to care for and support each other in order to provide outstanding compassionate care to our patients. That is why we are looking for an inclusive, collaborative, creative, innovative and compassionate leader to join us in this role.

This advert closes on Friday 21 Nov 2025.