Receptionist and Referral Officer

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 30,000; Part time

Job summary

An integrated healthcare provider is seeking a dedicated individual to join their team at the Birmingham Midland Eye Centre. This role offers the chance to be the first point of contact for patients, ensuring a smooth and welcoming experience. You will be responsible for clerking patients, managing appointments, and supporting the referral process in a busy environment. With a commitment to staff wellbeing and development, this organization values its people and offers opportunities for growth. If you are passionate about healthcare and customer service, this position is an exciting opportunity to make a difference in the community.

Benefits

Health & Wellbeing Support

Bespoke Training and Development Programmes

Real Living Wage

Flexible Work Options

Qualifications

• Experience in general administration or reception in a healthcare setting.
• Willingness to undertake customer care training.

Responsibilities

• Clerking and registering patients at the Eye Centre.
• Booking follow-up appointments and managing referrals.

Skills

Communication Skills

Organizational Skills

Windows-based IT Skills

Customer Care

Education

GCSE Grade C or above in English

NVQ Level II in Customer Care/Service

Tools

Patient Information Systems

Standard Keyboard Skills

Job description

Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust is a friendly, integrated healthcare provider focused on improving the life chances and health outcomes of our diverse population.

We have three strategic objectives:

1. People: To cultivate and sustain happy, productive and engaged staff;
2. Patients: To be good or outstanding at everything we do;
3. Population: To work seamlessly with partners to improve lives;

We run services from Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis Hospitals, Birmingham & Midland Eye Centre, Birmingham Treatment Centre, the Lyng and Leasowes Intermediate Care Centre. Our GP practices and community teams provide care in schools, healthcare centres and at home.

Our next milestone is opening the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH), a once in a career opportunity to shape care transformation within and beyond the hospital walls.

Developing and caring for our People is fundamental. We were one of the first Trusts to provide the Real Living Wage, as well as a Live and Work scheme to support people at risk of homelessness into paid work and training. We offer a range of staff benefits, health & wellbeing support and will help you to bring your ambition to life through our bespoke training and development programmes. As “People” is one of our three strategic objectives, we make a continued commitment to prioritise support for all our colleagues.

Healthcare services have a significant impact on the environment. We are committed to embedding sustainable practices. We expect all colleagues to support the delivery of our Green Strategic Plan and to drive positive changes in their department.

Job overview

Monday and Wednesday - 8.30 - 18.30

Tuesday - 8.45 -19.15

Sunday - 08.30 - 17.30

Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre is one of the largest facilities of its kind in Europe. Based at City Hospital in Birmingham, our facility receives referrals from hospitals and GPs across the region. We offer a comprehensive set of services including ophthalmology A&E, diagnostics, day surgery and outpatients, as well as housing administrative and educational facilities.

We would welcome applications from candidates who do not hold Level 3 Business Administrator qualification, as this could be offered during employment.

Main duties of the job

The role will involve working on a rotational basis on the Ophthalmology ED reception desk, Outpatient reception desk and the Referral Office.

It will involve greeting patients as the first point of call for the Birmingham Midland Eye Centre. Clerking and registering patients that have come to the Eye Centre to be seen as an emergency. Clerking in patients that have come for an outpatient appointment. Booking follow-up appointments for emergency follow-up patients. Working in the Referral office and registering all referrals for Ophthalmology within the 48 hours target period. Sending these for triage and authorizing all confirmed referrals to enable the booking team to book all new appointments. The part-time role will involve working in our visual function department which will involve clerking patients in and walking patients in. Booking patients into clinics and providing general administration support.

The successful candidate will have good communication skills, able to speak to patients and staff in a polite and professional manner. Have an organized approach to work and have a drive to work in a busy environment and work well as a team player.

Working for our organisation

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust (SWBT) is an integrated care organisation with a budget of approximately £600 million and over 7,000 staff. Diversity and social care is at the core of what we do as the Trust provides Community and Acute Services to over half a million people in an urban centre that demands massive regeneration and has substantial premature mortality.

Our new acute hospital, the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH), opens in 2024 and will provide care to our local population from first class, purpose-built premises. As a result, the base of this role may change to MMUH from 2024 (or beyond). If this is applicable to your role, you will be informed during the recruitment process and continuing your application with this understanding. The development of the new hospital will play an important role in the regeneration of the wider area and in improving the lives of local people and reducing health inequalities.

We have three newly emerging strategic objectives:

• Our People – to cultivate and sustain happy, productive and engaged staff
• Our Patients – to be good or outstanding in everything we do
• Our Population – to work seamlessly with our partners to improve lives

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details on what this role entails.

Person specification

Experience

• Previous general administration and or reception environment to include experience within a health care setting.
• Windows based IT skills (including use of patient information systems) standard keyboard skills.
• Previous experience of dealing within a customer focused environment including dealing with face-to-face inquiries from the general public.
• Previous working experience in a hospital emergency department or assessment unit.

Qualifications

• GCSE Grade C or above (or equivalent) in English.
• Evidence of customer care training or willingness to undertake.
• NVQ Level II in Customer Care/Service (or equivalent).

As a major employer in the Black Country and West Birmingham region we are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work-life balance. We want the Black Country and West Birmingham region to be the best place to work and as such will consider all requests to work flexibly taking into account personal and individual circumstances alongside the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the Recruiting Manager as part of the on-boarding process.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.