Job vacancy: Senior Clinical Coder, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 317 Regent Point

Job summary

Main area

317 Clinical Coding - Corporate

Grade

Band 5/4/3

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time
Flexible working
Home or remote working

37.5 hours per week

Job ref

317-2024-17-14-DR

Employer: The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Regent Point
Town: 317 Regent Point
Salary: £22,816 - £34,581 per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 05/05/2024 23:59
Interview date: 15/05/2024

Senior Clinical Coder

Band 5/4/3

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest, largest and most successful teaching NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 16,000 staff and an annual income of £1 billion.

We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.

We’re also proud to be the second largest provider of specialised services in the country. This means we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

Our staff oversee around 1.84 million patients ‘contacts’ each year, delivering high standards of healthcare.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To be responsible for extracting highly complex clinical information from both paper and electronic health records, to translate relevant medical terminology using international and national classifications
Is required to produce consistent, accurate, complete and timely coded clinical data in accordance with all national standards, local clinical coding policies and commissioner deadlines.
Requirement to consistently deliver against demanding deadlines and
accountable for maintaining accuracy and compliance with frequently changing national standards and clinical coding conventions.
Ensure targets are consistently achieved for both throughput and accuracy of clinical coded data.
To work autonomously without direct instruction or supervision when self-allocating work and achievement of daily coding targets.
Ensure compliance with all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) applicable to the clinical coding service.
To be proactive and flexible in moving towards an electronic way of working within a clinical coding setting, as the Trust develops its electronic patient record and achieves its strategic objective of becoming a ‘paper-lite’ organisation.
To act as mentor to less experienced clinical coders.

Our department delivers effective leadership, career progression and excellent benefits in one of the most advanced teaching NHS Foundation Trusts in the country. We also have a clear, structured career progression pathway and with senior clinical coders having the opportunity to progress into team leaders, auditors, trainers and management positions throughout the Trust.

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

Person specification

Band 5

Essential criteria

Detailed knowledge of national coding rules and conventions
In depth knowledge of OPCS4 and ICD10
Extensive knowledge of medical terminology and human anatomy and physiology
A working knowledge and understanding of local clinical coding policies and their application.
Knowledge of Clinical Coding audit processes
Knowledge of encoding software products
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Effective organisation and time management skills
Mentoring skills
Ability to work to strict and changeable deadlines
Ability to work autonomously or as part of a team
IT skills
Extensive practical coding experience
Extensive experience in coding across multiple specialties
Experience in using both paper and electronic records to extract clinical information
Experience in using e-Record – Cerner Millennium and other IT systems
Experience of Medical Records process
Experience in use of encoding software products
Experience of working within the NHS
Experience of coding a wide range of specialities
National Clinical Coding Qualification (NCCQ)
Clinical Coding Standards Course Certification
A level or equivalent qualifications

Desirable criteria

Knowledge of Department of Health initiatives
Knowledge of Trust policies and procedures
Understanding of Health and Safety requirements
A working knowledge and understanding of local clinical coding policies and their application
Understanding of the NHS recent reforms: o Caldecott Guardians o Freedom of Information act o Data Protection act
Ability to train and mentor less experienced staff
Experience of working in major teaching NHS Foundation Trust
Health Informatics Qualification
Degree level education

Band 4

Essential criteria

Knowledge of coding rules and convention
In depth knowledge of OPCS4 and ICD10
Extensive knowledge of medical terminology and anatomy and physiology
Encoding software and medical records knowledge
Excellent communications and interpersonal skills
Effective organisation and time management skills
Ability to work to strict deadlines
Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team
IT skills
Flexible approach to work
Previous practical coding experience in an acute hospital setting
Experience of working within the NHS
Experience of working to targets and key performance indicators
Experience of using both paper and electronic records
Clinical Coding Standards Course Certificate
A level or equivalent experience
Working towards sitting the National Clinical Coding Qualification

Desirable criteria

Knowledge of Department of Health initiatives
Knowledge of Trust policies and procedures
Understanding of Health and Safety requirements
Knowledge of audit process
Ability to train and mentor less experienced staff
Experience of working in a major teaching hospital
Degree level of education
Clinical Coding Standards Refresher Course Certificate

Band 3

Essential criteria

Basic knowledge of ICD10 and OPCS4 classifications
Basic knowledge of human anatomy and medical terminology
Excellent communications and interpersonal skills
Effective organisation and time management skills
Ability to work to strict deadlines
Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team
IT skills
Flexible approach to work
Experience of working in an administrative role
Experience of working to targets and key performance indicators
A level or equivalent qualifications
To study for NCCQ within 2 years of commencement in post

Desirable criteria

Knowledge of Medical Records and patient administration systems
Knowledge of Department of Health initiatives
Knowledge of trust policies and procedures
Mentoring/coaching skills
NHS experience
Degree level of education

Important note on completion of reference section of Application Form

All references from current and previous employers will be sought and must cover a minimum of 3 years employment. Therefore, when completing the reference section of your application form, please give the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current/previous line managers that cover 3 years employment. Failure to complete this section may result in your application not being processed.

Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail. You should check your SPAM folders as well as your inbox. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you should assume your application has been unsuccessful

Newcastle Hospitals encourages all staff and volunteers who are appointed to join the Trust to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.