Job summary
- Main area
- Administration
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 3
- Contract
- Permanent: 2 x 37.5 Hour Position, 1 x 35.5 Hour Position, 1x 30 Hour Position and 1 x 22.5 Hour Position
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Job ref
- 409-6559092-B
- Employer
- Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- St Helens Hospital
- Town
- St Helens
- Salary
- £24,071 - £25,674 Per Annum, Pro Rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 09/03/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Appointments/Call Centre Officer
NHS AfC: Band 3
After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
Job overview
We have Part Time/Full Time vacancies on offer
Are you enthusiastic, hardworking and self-motivated?
An exciting and challenging opportunity has become available for an Appointments / Call Centre Officer within Patient Booking Services.
The post holder will be responsible for providing clerical and administrative support to the department. You will work closely with a wide range of staff across the Organisation, including other hospitals, GP services and mainly, our patients.
Interview Date - To Be Confirmed
Main duties of the job
- You must have excellent telephone communication skills as you are very often the first contact with the Trust. A pleasant and courteous disposition is essential.
- You will have a flexible approach to the demands of this post and there will be an expectation that you can work autonomously or as part of a team to ensure we deliver the highest standard of care to our patients
- To co-ordinate the booking of outpatient appointments for Medical/Surgical specialties across MWL Teaching Hospital NHS Trust. To schedule appointments ensuring that an efficient, timely and patient focussed service is provided and the clinical needs of patients are met in accordance with the current operating framework and the NHS constitution
- The Appointments Department provides an operational service for MWL NHS Trust and other external Trusts. The Appointments department co-ordinates the outpatient appointment bookings for all specialties. This data is captured on a variety of computerised systems.
Working for our organisation
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our Services
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
KEY DUTIES
- Enter tertiary referral letter details accurately onto the Patient Administration System (PAS) on a daily basis adhering to the timescales within the Trust Patient Access Policy and ensuring the outpatient entry is attached to the correct 18 week pathway with appropriate referral/pathway/referral source code.
- To deal with pending elective appointments and cancellations, liaising with all relevant staff (including Consultants, Outpatient Managers, Directorate Managers and clinical support staff). Escalating any issues/breaches to the Team Leader/Administration Services Co-ordinator.
- Meet/liaise with Consultant’s on a regular basis in order to manage outpatient clinics lists effectively whilst working within the Department of Health guidelines. Be responsible for the updating and accuracy on electronic systems.
- Independently compile clinic status lists 6 weeks in advance, taking into account the composition of lists to include, clinical urgency, diagnostic investigations, therapeutic investigations, complex procedures and 18 week referral to treatment target. Inputting information on to PAS and NHS e-referral.
- Liaise with Team Leader/Outpatient Manager and/or Directorate Manager’s to ensure clinic sessions are utilised when Consultants are on leave. If Consultants are on annual leave/professional leave ensure that Registrar/Staff Grade cover is in place prior to booking patients into clinic session.
- Book appointments using the PAS/NHS e-referral system and identify the type of outpatient appointment required. Obtain relevant reports/ information and request HRS/case notes. Update clinic of list changes due to cancellations/alterations. Frequently negotiate with nursing staff to provide additional outpatient clinics.
- Update the PAS system and NHS e-referral with all information following patient referral triage with all special requirements.
- To ensure management of all clinic requests/reductions/cancellations/clinic changes/patient requests are managed within sostenuto independently
- Order interpreters for patients attending outpatient clinics by e-mail.
- To arrange patient appointments by telephone/letter ensuring that patients are offered choice of date with reasonable notice in accordance with the current operating framework and the NHS constitution.
- Order all necessary equipment for appointments via Outpatient Managers by e-mail.
- Responsible for informing the Radiology/Cardio-Respiratory Department of additional clinics arranged.
- Take into account daily cancellations and alterations, contacting patients by telephone explaining in a polite and courteous manner reasons for cancellation. To follow the correct procedures and processes for all cancelled appointments and DNA’s to ensure dates are re-booked and/or removed according to the Trust Patient Access Policy, escalating any issues.
- Manage Netcall reminder report ensuring outpatient slots are backfilled maximising outpatient capacity.
- Advise patients of all available options with empathy and discretion particularly when dealing with aggrieved patient’s regarding outpatient waiting list enquires. Significant conversations including outcomes are to be recorded on PAS.
- Monthly validation of 18 week (PTL) for each speciality to maintain 18 weeks, ensure patient availability and/or still require appointment.
- Monitor and maintain the Outpatient waiting list reports for individual specialities ensuring that all patients are booked in accordance with Multi-Disciplinary Team guidelines and Department of Health guidelines.
- Book linked appointments foe ENT and Ophthalmology prior to appointment date.
- Complete data checks on computerised systems (PAS, NHS e-referral, EDMS) amending any changes e.g. appointment procedures, patient details, patient/hospital cancellations or time changes due to allergy risks etc.
- Complete Netcall cancellation report, slot availability reort within ers, sostenuto, net account on a daily basis.
- ASI report managed independently within DOH guidelines for Paper Switch Off Compliance
- Management of pas admin reports, clinic changes/amendments for all specialty clinics and directorates
- Set up and amendments of clinic schedules on PAS system
- Training/mentoring of staff on all roles within the Appointments Department
- To ensure that all two week rule referrals/upgrades are managed independently within DOH guidelines on PAS and NHS e-referral system.
- To ensure all case notes are requested and available for appointments in line with local standards and protocols. Ensure that any documentation in relation to the patient is sent to the Health Records Department to be scanned onto EDMS (Electronic Document Management System). To file all correspondence and documents, as required, thereby maintaining an effective filing system.
- Organise and order stationary items as appropriate.
- Deal appropriately with concerns from staff in line with Trust policy.
- To provide cover for colleagues during periods of annual leave and sickness. Mentor and train relevant staff as required by the Team Leaders or Administrative Services Co-ordinator.
- Participate in call centre rotation.
- Liaise with other hospitals both NHS and private, GP’s, secretarial, clerical, wards, and cancer services.
- Following PTL meeting, complete actions for individual specialities and update capacity for Directorate Managers.
- To work in a flexible manner in accordance with the Trust policy.
- Any other duties required by Line Manager.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Educated to GCSE level and/or equivalent qualification and/or equivalent experience
- NVQ Level 2 in Business Administration and working towards Level 3 and/or equivalent knowledge through formal training and/or experience
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Call Centre experience
- Excellent IT skills with knowledge and experience of Microsoft office products
- Previous clerical experience
Desirable criteria
- Previous NHS experience
- Knowledge of medical terminology
- Experience of mentoring and training staff
Skills
Essential criteria
- Word Processing Skills
- Self-motivated and able to work with limited supervision
- Ability to use own initiative and respond to new challenges
- Ability to manage/prioritise own workload
- Excellent communication skills
- Ability to accurately maintain computerise and manual systems
- Ability to work as part of a team
Desirable criteria
- Ability to mentor and train staff
- Excellent time management skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Mike Davies
- Job title
- Appointments Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01744 646189
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