Outpatients Clerk

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust; Stevenage; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in the UK is looking for an Outpatients Clerk to join their team. In this dynamic role, you will manage the appointment system and support patient care by coordinating outpatient services. The ideal candidate will have strong communication skills and previous clerical experience, along with a commitment to confidentiality and data protection. This position offers the opportunity to contribute directly to patient care in a busy healthcare environment.

Benefits

Flexible working patterns

Continuous personal development opportunities

Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE level or equivalent, including English and Maths (A-C / 9-4).
• Previous clerical / administrative experience in a busy office environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Ensure referrals are entered accurately onto relevant systems.
• Book and reschedule appointments as necessary.
• Handle sensitive outpatient queries professionally.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Proficient in Microsoft Office

Education

GCSE including English and Maths

NVQ Level 2 or 3 in Business Administration or Customer Service

Tools

Excel

Outlook

Job description

Job overview

We are recruiting for a Outpatients Clerk who share s our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.

Are you looking for a dynamic and fast-paced role where you can make a meaningful impact? We are seeking motivated individuals to join our Outpatients Appointment Centre as Outpatients Clerks. This role offers variety, challenge, and the opportunity to contribute directly to patient care by ensuring the smooth and efficient coordination of outpatient services.

As an Outpatients Clerk you will play a vital role in facilitating the patient journey from referral to clinic appointment. You will be responsible for booking, cancelling and rescheduling appointments along with responding to appointment-related queries via telephone, email, letter using a range of specialised healthcare IT systems.

At the heart of everything we do are our core values : Include,Respect, andImprove. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.

Main duties of the job

The Outpatients Clerk will ensure that referrals are entered accurately onto the relevant systems to enable clinical triage. The post holder will book appointments in adherence to the Trust Access Policy and service instructions including rescheduling of appointments and processing of hospital initiated cancellations as appropriate.

Assist with complex and / or sensitive outpatient queries from the patient and / or their accompanying friends / relatives, Consultants, Nursing Staff and GP’s in a polite and courteous manner that are not able to be resolved by the contact centre.

Provision of an efficient administrative support service to all aspects of the Outpatients service and to liaise with medical, nursing and other specialty staff on administration enquiries as required.

Use Excel spreadsheets and the Trust’s appointment system to review and / or book, cancel, reschedule appointments.

Working for our organisation

At East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.

We run the following hospitals :

• The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
• New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
• Hertford County, Hertford
• Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood

We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.

We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Applicant information pack for further detailed information regarding this role.

Person specification

Qualifications / Training

Essential criteria

• Educated to GCSE level or equivalent, including English and Maths (A-C / 9-4)
• Demonstrable evidence of continuous personal development

Desirable criteria

• NVQ Level 2 or 3 in Business Administration or Customer Service
• Training in NHS systems (e.g., Lorenzo, Patient Contact Centre)

Previous Experience

Essential criteria

• Previous clerical / administrative experience in a busy office environment
• Experience in customer service roles, especially handling telephone queries

Desirable criteria

• Previous NHS or healthcare administrative experience
• Experience of working with confidential and sensitive information

Skills & Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Understanding of the importance of patient confidentiality and data protection
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (verbal and written)
• Ability to remain calm under pressure and diffuse challenging situations professionally
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
• Competent in the use of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and Outlook
• Ability to prioritise workload and manage time effectively
• Ability to input and retrieve data from electronic systems accurately

Desirable criteria

• Familiarity with outpatient appointment booking procedures
• Knowledge of NHS access targets and RTT (Referral to Treatment) pathways
• Ability to adapt communication for patients with additional needs or non-English speakers
• Ability to generate simple reports and spreadsheets

Other Requirements

Essential criteria

• Understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion
• Role model our Trust values every day