Ward Clerk - Acute Stroke Unit

EAST LANCASHIRE HOSPITALS NHS TRUST; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Part time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in the United Kingdom is seeking a ward clerk for the Acute Stroke Unit. This role involves providing clerical and administrative support to the medical staff while ensuring the smooth operation of patient management. Candidates must be compassionate and supportive, with strong organizational skills. The position is part-time, requiring 30 hours per week, and involves delivering essential communication among patients, staff, and families.

Qualifications

• Must be kind, compassionate, and supportive.
• Work closely with the ward manager to provide administrative support.
• Communicate effectively with patients, relatives, and team members.

Responsibilities

• Assist in the reception of patients and relatives.
• Maintain case notes and input patient information.
• Handle telephone calls and relay messages.

Skills

Compassionate

Approachable

Organizational skills

Job description

Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work on the Acute Stroke Unit as a ward clerk. The unit has 26 beds and admits stroke patients directly from the emergency department. The successful applicant will work jointly with another ward clerk and various members of the multidisciplinary team and will provide clerical and administrative support to nursing and medical staff in the ward area. They will ensure the efficient management of patients' medical records and deal with telephone calls, dealing with any queries where possible and relay messages as needed.

The job is for 30 hours a week, working mainly long days but may be required to work early and late shifts. The ward clerk is an integral part of the team and is often the first person with whom relatives meet or speak to on the telephone to find out how their loved one is.

A ward clerk needs to be kind, compassionate and supportive. They must always be approachable and offer support not only to the patients and their families but to members of the ward team, including wider multidisciplinary team members who may visit the ward. The ward clerk must work closely with the ward manager to provide administrative support such as inputting monthly ward audits and maintaining the archiving system.

Responsibilities

• Assist in the reception of patients and relatives to the unit.
• Clerical duties associated with the admission, transfer and discharge of patients.
• Enter patient information on a computerised system and obtain relevant electronic wristband and patient identification labels.
• Communicate with patients, visitors and colleagues by telephone, face‑to‑face or in writing to further the effective running of the unit.
• Ensure case notes are efficiently maintained, including filing episodic clinical and nursing notes, filing investigation reports and then sending for coding.
• Work closely with the ward coordinator and assist in booking scans both inpatient and outpatient, and making follow‑up appointments for patients when necessary.
• Communicate and consult with other departments, internal and external to the Trust (e.g., Patient Services, Community Matrons, Social Workers, and Ambulance service).
• Collect and distribute mail for patients and staff.
• General office duties such as filing, photocopying and general errands.
• Work collaboratively with various members of the stroke multidisciplinary team.
• Provide clerical and administrative support and ensure efficient management of patient medical records.
• Handle telephone calls, relay messages and deal with any queries where possible.
• Maintain the archiving system.

Working for our organisation

The Medicine for Older People and Stroke directorate's primary focus is to provide care for patients who may have multiple comorbidities and require complex care. We provide a comprehensive service including Stroke, Frailty, Dementia and specialist care of older persons. We have eight wards in total which includes seven acute wards on the Royal Blackburn Hospital site and one specialist stroke rehabilitation ward at Pendle Community Hospital.

Application Process

Dear Potential Applicant,

• Salary advertised is for full‑time hours. If this post is less than 37.5 hours per week, the salary will be pro‑rata. For posts on Agenda for Change pay‑scales, new entrants to the NHS will normally commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.
• This vacancy may close before the closing date if the recruiting manager deems sufficient applications have been received. Therefore it is advised to complete your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
• Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
• Shortlisting is completed anonymously with candidates being assessed against the essential criteria for the post. Therefore only applicants who can clearly demonstrate how they meet our person specification criteria in their application will be short‑listed.

Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS)

If the role you are applying for is identified as either controlled or regulated activity as defined in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, any offer of employment is provisional upon a satisfactory DBS check being obtained. The healthcare sector is exempted from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. In line with other NHS organisations in the North West Region, the Trust now passes the charge for undertaking a DBS check on to candidates if they are successfully appointed. Candidates can choose whether to pay this over 1–3 months as a deduction from the monthly salary. However, if you are applying for a post as a BANK worker, the payment must be made in full at the time of employment checks. By applying for this vacancy you are agreeing to this undertaking if you are successfully appointed. The cost of an Enhanced Disclosure will be £55.38 and for a Standard Disclosure will be £27.38. This cost is not applicable for a Volunteer post.

At East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust our vision is to be widely recognised for providing safe, personal and effective care. We currently provide high quality services and treat over 600,000 people across East Lancashire and the surrounding area. We employ over 9,500 staff, many of whom are internationally renowned and have won awards for their work.

The Trust is an equal opportunities employer, committed to improving the working lives of our staff and operates a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment. We aim to protect children and vulnerable adults by providing a first‑class service to the recruitment of people into positions of trust.

We aim to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone irrespective of ethnic origin, gender, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability or social background. We especially welcome applications from members of our Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, as we have identified that ELHT has an under‑representation of BAME employees. Appointments will be made on merit.