Patient Coordinator

NHS; Knottingley; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 30,000

Job description

Ash Grove Medical Centre are committed to providing excellent service to our patients. We are seeking two highly motivated and enthusiastic patient coordinators to join our team at Ash Grove Medical Centre.

You will work closely with our team members to provide our patients with the highest standards of care. Flexibility is essential for this role and the successful applicants will be expected to cover their fair share of annual leave and sickness within the team.

Patient Coordinator Role: 33 hours per week

Schedule:

1. Monday 08:00-18:00
2. Tuesday 08:00 - 13:00
3. Wednesday 08:00-18:00 (1/2 hour unpaid lunch)
4. Thursday 08:00 - 18:30 (1 hour unpaid lunch)

Interviews will take place on Wednesday 9th April.

Main Duties of the Job

Duties include:

• Receiving incoming calls, online requests via PATCHS and monitoring the reception email.
• Greeting patients at the reception front desk.
• Care navigation is an essential part of the role, ensuring patients are navigated to the most appropriate service.
• To act as a focal point for patients, establishing working relationships with colleagues, primary health care teams, and visitors.

About Us

Ash Grove Medical Centre is CQC rated 'Good' across all five areas. We are a large GP Practice with 13,000 patients based in Knottingley with a branch surgery in Eggborough.

Ash Grove Medical Centre is led by four GP Partners working alongside the Practice Manager. Our clinical team is supported by a Salaried GP, three Advanced Clinical Practitioners, three Practice Nurses, and three Health Care Assistants. We have a large non-clinical team of patient coordinators, administrative, and prescription administrators.

Job Responsibilities

The patient coordinator will be the focal point of communication between the patients, doctors, and other clinical and non-clinical staff. This encompasses dealing with incoming calls from external organisations, the general public, and patients; dealing with queries, appointments, and reception desk cover. The role also has responsibility for dealing with prescriptions, GP liaison, and instructions.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Ensure that confidentiality is maintained at all times.
• Receive incoming calls, emails, and online requests from patients; deal with enquiries.
• Care navigation of patients to the most appropriate service, book appointments, and record in patient notes any messages and pass on to the appropriate doctor.
• Take requests for home visits.
• Contact patients via telephone, text, email, and letter to arrange any follow-ups as requested by the clinicians or management.
• Receive patients at the reception front desk, marking their arrival on the computer, make appointments as requested, hand out prescriptions, pathology forms, and deal with any queries that may arise.
• Carry out the partners' instructions and requests.
• All staff are required to cover their colleagues and provide cover for annual leave and sickness.
• Accept specimen samples at the reception desk.
• Register new patients and temporary patients on the system.
• Maintain a smart appearance and be helpful whenever possible.
• All staff should be conversant with and adhere to all written guidelines and protocols provided and available in particular: The health and safety manual, the in-house complaints procedure, the fire alarm procedure, and all protocols that relate to their specific role.

Extra Duties and Responsibilities

• Booking in patient long-term condition reviews.
• Target outstanding QOF and arrange for this to be completed.
• Liaise with colleagues and ensure handover is carried out.
• Retrieve and file patient records as requested.
• Ensure the reception front desk and waiting area is clean and tidy at all times.
• All patient identifiable data is locked away at the end of the day.

Organisational and Statutory Requirements

The post holder must be aware of the responsibility placed on him/her under the Health & Safety Act 1974 and ensure that agreed safety procedures are carried out in order to maintain a safe environment for employees, patients, and visitors.

All employees should understand that it is their personal responsibility to comply with all other organisational and statutory requirements e.g. Confidentiality, Equal Opportunities, Child Protection, the in-house Complaints procedure, fire alarm protocols, and all protocols that relate to their specific role etc.

Other Information

• Overtime to cover annual leave and sickness is an essential part of the role and will be expected.
• Enrolment into the NHS Pension Scheme.

Confidentiality

In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with or allow us to gather sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.

In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff, and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.

Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare professionals, or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & Safety

The post holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others' health, safety, and security as defined in the practice health and safety policy, the practice health and safety manual, and the practice Infection control policy and published procedures. This will include:

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.
• Actively reporting health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised.
• Keeping own work areas and general/patient areas clean, assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the job holder's role.
• Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually).
• Reporting potential risks identified.

Equality and Diversity

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity, and rights of patients, carers, and colleagues to include:

• Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people's rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies and current legislation.
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs, and beliefs of patients, carers, and colleagues.
• Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and respectful of the individual, is non-judgmental, and respects their circumstances, feelings, priorities, and rights.

Personal/Professional Development

The post holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development.
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning, and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.
• Mandatory training must be completed when due and certificates produced for HR file.

Quality

The post holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions either directly or under supervision.
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities, making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team's performance.
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients' needs.
• Effectively manage own time, workload, and resources.

Communication

The post holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members.
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers.
• Recognise people's needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.

Contribution to the Implementation of Services

The post holder will:

• Apply practice policies, standards, and guidance.
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards, and guidelines will affect own work.
• Participate in audit where appropriate.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• GCSE grade 9-4 (A-C) in English and Maths.
• Business/Administrative Qualification.

Experience

• Experience of working within a team.
• Experience of working in a GP Practice.
• Knowledge of primary care.

Knowledge and Skills

• Polite, confident, flexible, and cooperative.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Motivated and forward thinker.
• Ability to be self-motivated.
• Experience of SystmOne/Ardens.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such 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.