Qualified Senior Clinical Coder (NHS AfC: Band 4) - Clinical Coding - Mersey and West Lancashir[...]

Merseywestlancs; Liverpool City Region; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

Merseywestlancs is hiring an experienced Clinical Coder to join a dedicated team, focusing on accuracy in clinical coding processes. Role includes training and support to enhance coding skills in a professional environment with flexible working options. This position offers a challenging opportunity within a forward-thinking NHS Trust.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Generous pension scheme

27 days annual leave on commencement

Employee of the month recognition

Access to NHS discounts

Qualifications

• Experience in coding multiple specialties using ICD-10 and OPCS-4.
• Ability to maintain coding accuracy under deadlines.
• Strong grounding in medical terminology and anatomy.

Responsibilities

• Ensure accuracy and completeness of clinical coding.
• Participate in training and mentorship of junior coders.
• Communicate effectively with clinicians and managers.

Skills

Attention to detail

Organizational skills

Communication

Education

GCSEs (A-C) or equivalent qualification

Accredited Clinical Coding Qualification (NCCQ) or equivalent

Clinical Coding Standards Course (UK)

Job description

We want talented and enthusiastic people from all backgrounds to join #TeamMWL, with us you can learn, grow and develop yourself and your career, realising your true ambitions and aspirations.

Whatever you’re looking for in your career, you’ll find it here at MWL.

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Job overview

We have a vacancy for an experienced Clinical Coder to join our highly professional team.

You will benefit from a detailed personalised training plan to ensure that you attain and maintain high standards of clinical coding quality. You will benefit from gaining skills and experience across a wide range of specialties.

We are a forward-thinking Clinical Coding Department who are dedicated to personal staff development, we can offer working from home (to be discussed at interview) and also offer family friendly, flexible working hours. As an experienced Clinical Coder, you must have clinical coding experience in a number of specialties.

You are required to demonstrate the current correct application of the rules and conventions of clinical coding, supplemented with a good understanding of medical terminology, clinical terms and anatomy and physiology.

Please note, interviews may include assessment tasks. Interviews will be held to be confirmed.

Interview Date - To Be Confirmed

Main duties of the job

You should be enthusiastic about the challenges of a busy working and a constantly changing environment. You must possess the ability to remain calm under pressure and be able to work as part of a dynamic team. You should have a proven ability to prioritise, plan and organise work on a daily basis. The post holder will ensure patient activity data is fully and accurately coded within prescribed timescales, whilst adhering to national and local standards and to realistic productivity targets.

In return, the successful applicant can expect full support to enhance and develop their clinical coding skills. On-going training will be delivered by our training team at Whiston Hospital. You can also expect to benefit from a supportive team structure and will be given opportunities to develop your career with support from a friendly team of experienced, qualified and dedicated senior staff.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our Services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018

• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)

• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

KEY DUTIES

• Ensure accuracy and completeness of clinical coding which underpins the Payment by Results framework and national clinical coding requirements.
• Abstraction of clinical information from the health record and translation of that medical terminology using ICD-10 (diagnostic codes) and OPCS 4 (procedure codes) into a form that can be tabulated, aggregated and sorted for statistical analysis and to support the Payment by Results agenda applying national rules and conventions to agreed standards.
• Demonstrate effective organisational and time management skills with the ability to work independently and as part of a team. Be highly motivated and lead by example to motivate other team members.
• Carry out clinical coding to the highest level of specificity using the three dimensions to coding accuracy thus giving complete and accurate data of a high quality that is consistently recorded.
• Routinely extract pathology/histology/radiology information and use for more accurate clinical coding in a timely fashion in accordance with the clinical coding deadlines.
• Work on own initiative in collecting information by whatever means required. This could include entering very specific areas of the Trust.Exercise diplomacy and confidentiality in pursuit of collecting this data.
• Participate in the training and mentorship of less experienced coders and advise Novice and Junior Clinical Coding Officers on coding issues.
• To work towards gaining experience in other clinical coding areas that fall outside the standard clinical coding processes such as Burns & Plastics, Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Oncology.
• To act as first line enquiry for requests for information either in person, by email or via the telephone.
• Promote and implement clinical coding policies and procedures and national guidelines
• Assist the Clinical Coding Manager to identify any complex issues in clinical information contained in the medical record and electronic systems that contradicts clinical coding guidelines.
• Assist Clinical Coding Manager to identify discrepancies in computer/hard copy information ensuring accurate data quality.
• Monitor data quality and clinical coding standards in line with local and national guidelines. Report any complex coding issues as directed for verification and/or send to the Clinical Coding Classification Service help desk. Share all responses with relevant staff.
• Remove or amend clinical codes to Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) as directed by the Clinical Coding Manager or Information Services Department. Re-input clinical codes as necessary.
• Communicate effectively with clinicians, managers, information, finance and other staff members to ensure high quality of coded data. Possess the ability to provide complex clinical coding advice and information to colleagues within the NHS.
• Liaise with clinicians, researchers and healthcare professionals on a regular basis to provide and help with information as required. Be able to explain the requirements of the classifications and how to implement them.
• Be prepared to attend multidisciplinary meetings when required to promote clinical coding, the rules and conventions that surround them and raise awareness of the importance of accurate data
• Promote a thorough knowledge and understanding of the rules and conventions that surround the Classifications of Diseases and Healthcare Related problems, tenth revision (ICD-10) and Office of Population Census and Surveys fourth revision (OPCS-4) to all levels of staff within the Trust.
• Further develop a team approach within the service leading by example in all areas of clinical coding

CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• To take every reasonable opportunity to maintain and improve your professional knowledge and competence.
• To participate in personal objective setting and review, including the creation of a personal development plan.
• Maintain an excellent knowledge of Medical Terminology and Anatomy and Physiology.
• To attend regular relevant training/workshop sessions.
• Maintain a high level of competency in the recording of clinical codes and completion of assessments as and when required to measure accuracy and quality of the coded data.
• Keep up to date of the regular updates and amendments to ICD-10 and OPCS

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

• To validate the hospital admission details on the PAS system against the information in the case notes. To report any details found to be incorrect to the Data Quality Team and to highlight areas of concern with information in the case notes

TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSBILITIES

• To continue to update clinical coding skills attending mandatory clinical coding specialty workshops and refresher courses.

Person specification

Qualifications

• GCSEs (A-C) or equivalent qualification and/ or equivalent experience
• Clinical Coding Standards Course (UK) or equivalent qualification
• Accredited Clinical Coding Qualification (NCCQ) or equivalent qualification

Knowledge

• Experience of working in an office environment
• Planning, organising workload to meet deadlines
• Transferring coding skills and knowledge to others
• Experience in coding a number of specialties gained using ICD-10 Diagnostic and OPCS Procedure classifications
• Experience of working with clinicians and/or senior clinical staff
• Experience of mentoring junior members of the clinical coding team

Skills

• Firm grounding in medical terminology and anatomy & physiology
• Knowledge of Payment by Results Framework
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of clinical coding rules and conventions
• Effective interpersonal skills
• Excellent concentration skills with attention to detail
• Knowledge of data protection legislation, Caldicott and other relevant guidance
• Knowledge of SNOMET CT

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader , we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [e-mail]

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

· All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.

· There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.

· Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here .

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.