Appointments Co-ordinator, WRH (part time)

Job Summary

This is a wonderful opportunity for someone who likes to manage and organise their own workload and we are looking for a highly motivated, organised individual to join our busy Booking Services team.

You will be responsible for managing waiting lists, organising referrals, scheduling of appointments, selecting patients from the waiting list so that appointments are booked within the required waiting time targets, and co-ordinating rescheduling of appointments.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate a high level of keyboard skills, including specifically Excel, Word and Microsoft Outlook calendar and email. Also, a basic knowledge of the Trust PAS system (AllScripts) will be essential for this role.

Applicants must have experience of managing their own workloads, responding to tight deadlines, the ability to work under pressure and keeping organised when multiple activities are required.

All applicants will be expected to cover reception duties and therefore a professional, approachable and friendly manner is essential. Applicants should have dealt with the general public before.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for organising referrals and selecting patients from the waiting list so that appointments are made within the required waiting time targets. Also, co-ordinate rescheduling of appointments and setting up clinic templates with agreed booking rules.

About Us

Our purpose is simple - Putting Patients First. We are looking for exceptional colleagues who can help us achieve this.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester.

Our workforce is over 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us to achieve our Vision - working in partnership to provide the best healthcare for our communities, leading and supporting our teams to move 4ward. Our 4ward behaviours, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Our Objectives Are Simple:

1. Best services for local people
2. Best experience of care and best outcomes for our patients
3. Best use of resources
4. Best people

Better never stops, and our Clinical Services Strategy provides a clear future vision for our Trust, our hospitals, our services and our role in the wider health and care system.

We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

Date posted
20 February 2025

Pay scheme
Agenda for change

Band
Band 3

Salary
£24,072 to £25,674 a year

Contract
Permanent

Working pattern
Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number
C9365-25-0168

Job locations
Charles Hastings Way, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR5 1DD

Job Description

Job responsibilities

Key Duties:

1. To ensure that referrals are added to the outpatient waiting list and that clinical staff prioritise these within the agreed timescales.
2. To ensure that patients receive an acknowledgement letter or are immediately appointed in line with agreed booking arrangements, administrative procedures and the patient access policy.
3. To ensure that patients are selected from the waiting lists in chronological order and appointed according to the prioritisation given by the medical staff.
4. To administer the waiting lists using the partial booking process, ensuring that all patients are invited, reminded and removed within the correct timescales.
5. To ensure that any patients who request removal following validation are removed and the clinical staff informed.
6. To ensure that systems are in place to monitor utilisation of appointment slots, raising any concerns regarding overbooking / underbooking with the relevant Directorate Manager or clinician.
7. In liaison with the Directorate managers and clinicians, ensure that clinic booking rules are up to date, communicated and adhered to when dealing with referrals and making new or follow-up appointments.
8. To ensure that written and verbal requests for further appointments are actioned promptly in line with booking rules.
9. To action changes to individual appointments whilst ensuring that patients are seen within the agreed clinical priority and that written confirmation is immediately sent.
10. Following Directorate and Booking Services Management approval, set up clinics for new consultants on OASIS, ensuring that templates are designed according to any booking rules provided by the Directorate.
11. To ensure that the CaB system reflects the clinic booking templates.
12. To ensure that the new templates checklist is completed so that all systems are up to date.
13. To ensure that all requests for changes to clinics/rescheduling are actioned promptly. Where less than 6 weeks notice is given, ensure that the approval process is followed.
14. To telephone patients, often at short notice, to offer them appointments or cancel their appointments due to unplanned clinical leave.
15. To escalate to the relevant managers when there is a capacity problem.
16. To complete the required waiting list analysis each week, from the PTL (patient tracking lists) and the OASIS (patient administration database) system.
17. To calculate where there are likely to be potential breaches and ensure that Directorate Managers are informed of potential problems with long wait breaches.
18. To ensure that letter, telephone and face-to-face communication with patients, colleagues and managers is professional, timely and in line with booking services policies and procedures.
19. To respond to any queries and complaints from patients, managers or clinicians regarding clinics, referrals, bookings and waiting times, ensuring that any serious issues are passed on to the appropriate manager.
20. To liaise with GPs, Managers, Clinicians and administrative staff regarding referrals, bookings and waiting times.
21. To ensure that Xerox are provided with appropriate information regarding patients and clinics, in order to carry out their work effectively and safely.
22. To ensure that referrals are prepared ready for scanning into eZ notes (electronic case notes).
23. To provide information from OASIS on a routine and ad-hoc basis to staff throughout the Trust, such as inpatients listings, waiting for review lists, and vacancy summaries.
24. To set up and maintain a work schedule that ensures all work is prioritised and delivered within the required timescales each week, in particular during holiday periods when replacement cover is unlikely to be provided.
25. To ensure that all patients recorded data in manual and computerised systems is dealt with in accordance with agreed policies and procedures.
26. To ensure that all policies and procedures are adhered to and training undertaken where new policies and procedures are implemented, in particular, those for Health Records, confidentiality and information security.
27. To ensure that general administrative work associated with referrals, appointments and waiting lists is undertaken according to booking service standards.
28. To provide cover for colleagues on site and any role within booking services team as and when required.
29. Carry out any other duties, within the grade, as requested by the Booking Services Management Team.

Vision And Values:

The Trust aims to provide local services for local people. It has developed its vision to reflect this commitment.

To continue to be the major provider of acute/specialist services for the people of Worcestershire (and wider) with a strong reputation for providing outstanding, high quality, reliable, accessible and integrated healthcare for local people.

Driving this commitment is a set of Trust-wide values, developed by the Trust's staff:

Patients: Patients at the centre of all we do everyone is entitled to privacy, dignity and compassion.

Respect: Treating everyone patients, colleagues and the public as you would want to be treated yourself.

Improve and Involve: The best patient pathways, thinking innovatively, valuing patients and involving stakeholders.

Dependable: Driving safe, quality care, getting things right first time, learning from mistakes, dependable services with good communication.

Empower: Staff take personal responsibility for their actions, challenging if something is not right.

Standard Clauses:

The purpose of this post should remain constant, but the duties and responsibilities may vary over time within the overall role and level of the post. The post holder may from time to time be asked to undertake other reasonable duties. Any such changes will be made in discussion with the post holder in the light of service needs.

Competence

The post holder is responsible for limiting his / her actions to those which s/he feels competent to undertake. If the post holder has any doubts as to his or her competence during the course of his / her duties then s/he should immediately speak to their line manager or supervisor.

Codes of conduct

All employees of the Trust who are required to be registered with a professional body, to enable them to practise within their profession, are required to comply with their code of conduct and requirements of their professional registration. Those staff that are not required to be registered with a professional body are required to comply with the Trust's codes of conduct.

Confidentiality

The post holder must maintain confidentiality, security and integrity of information relating to patients, staff and other Health Service business.

Records Management

All employees of the Trust are legally responsible for all records that they gather, create or use as part of their work within the Trust (including patient, financial, personnel and administrative), whether paper or computer-based. All such records are considered public records and all employees have a legal duty of confidence to service users. Employees should consult their manager if they have any doubt as to the correct management of records with which they work.

Person Specification

Experience Essential

• Experience in Waiting List Management
• Experience of working with the general public
• Working within deadlines

Knowledge and skills Essential

• Keyboard skills including Excel, Word and Microsoft Outlook.

Desirable

• Knowledge of:
• PAS System
• 18 week pathway
• Cancelled Clinic Database
• Choose and Book
• Vacant slot report
• Patient Access Policy

Qualifications Essential

• 5 GCSE/O-Level in Maths & English or equivalent

Personal qualities Essential

• Ability to manage own workload and work on own initiative
• Organised
• Team player
• Professional, approachable and friendly manner
• Ability to work flexibly/able to cover others for annual leave and sickness

Employer details

Employer name
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Address
Charles Hastings Way
Worcester
Worcestershire
WR5 1DD

Employer's website
https://www.worcsacute.nhs.uk/