Outpatient Administration Assistant

To provide support to an efficient, effective, professional and confidential administrative service to a designated team. The post holder will provide administrative support to the team including management of appointment system, maintaining records; both paper and electronic in accordance with Trust policy. To work closely with other administrative staff to ensure continuity of administration support and mutual assistance within the Service. It will be expected that the post holder will need to provide cover for team members in times of absence such as annual leave, sickness and additionally where the workload of the team requires it.

Main duties of the job

• To provide and receive routine information requiring tact or persuasive skills; communicating work procedures within own team and other departments.
• You will handle queries from staff and external callers, dealing with day to day queries via telephone; email or face to face.
• Greeting patients who may be anxious or worried, visitors and staff visiting the Outpatient department in a consistently polite, courteous and friendly manner.
• Ensure that patient demographics are correct and up-to-date on EPR when dealing with a patient booking.
• Ensure that appointment outcomes are recorded immediately after the clinic appointment has taken place and any issues are escalated accordingly.
• Allocate follow-up appointments in a timely and prioritised manner, to ensure all local and national targets are met.
• Where there may be potential breaches of these targets to escape to the relevant supervisor immediately.
• Book interpreters, transport and reimbursing patients bus fares as and when required following the Trust's procedures.
• Ensure appropriate appointment letters are sent to patients.
• Send out information leaflets to patients with the letters for specialist clinics as required.

About us

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides specialist mental health, learning disability, and community healthcare services for the population of the Black Country. Across the whole of the region we provide: Adult and older adult mental health services, Specialist learning disability services, CAMHS. Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was formed on 1 April 2020, after NHS England and NHS Improvement approved the merger of Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Combining resources, strategies and talented workforce enables us to deliver a wider variety of outstanding services that are based on best practice and are continually improving. We currently employ over 3,000 members of staff and just like the population we serve, we are made up of diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Job responsibilities

• To ensure that standard operating procedures are in place and adhered to, working with the Team Administrator to prioritise workload to ensure that all administrative activities are executed with maximum efficiency and effectiveness, with emphasis upon accuracy and timeliness.
• To use initiative when dealing with enquiries to resolve problems; referring to the current policies and procedures whilst seeking further guidance from the Team Administrator.
• To participate in the PDR process; identify training needs and courses that are relevant to own job.
• To train new employees in the use of IT and other equipment as required by the new worker.
• To undertake any other duties of a similar nature consistent with the responsibilities of this post in order to provide a quality outpatient service.

Person Specification

• Qualifications: NVQ or Level 2 qualification in Business Administration
• Skills: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, Effective handling of highly confidential information
• Knowledge: A knowledge of confidentiality and handling sensitive data and how this relates to patients, Experience of working with vulnerable people or challenging patient environments

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.