Receptionist in City of London

Earl's Court Medical Centre has an exciting opportunity for a Medical Receptionist to join our welcoming and forward-thinking Practice team on a part-time basis. Your normal pattern of working will be Monday - Friday, within the hours of 8am-6:30pm (5 hours per day). Interested applicants must have primary care and SystmOne experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Greeting and assisting patients at the reception desk
• Managing appointments, cancellations and patient enquiries
• Answering telephone calls and directing queries appropriately
• Processing repeat prescription requests
• Supporting the administrative and clinical team with day-to-day tasks
• Maintaining confidentiality and ensuring accurate record-keeping
• Processing ingoing and outgoing patient records
• Ensuring an effective and efficient reception service is provided to patients and any other visitors to the Practice
• Dealing with all general enquiries, explaining procedures and making new and follow-up appointments
• Using your own judgment and communication skills to ensure that patients with no prior appointment but who need urgent consultation are seen in a logical and non-disruptive manner
• Explaining Practice arrangements and formal requirements to new patients and those seeking temporary cover and ensuring procedures are completed
• Receiving and making telephone calls as required
• Diverting calls and taking messages, ensuring accuracy of detail and prompt appropriate delivery
• Entering requests for home visits into the home visits book, ensuring careful recording of all relevant details and where necessary referring to Duty Doctor
• Actioning repeat prescription requests and ensuring that they are ready for collection by the patient within 72 hours, in line with Practice protocol
• Taking action on clinicians' requests for further information/patient contact information etc., ensuring completion of all associated paperwork
• Advising patients of relevant charges for private (non-General Medical Services) services, accepting payment and issuing receipts
• Entering patient information onto the computer as required
• Preparing clinical rooms for surgeries, supplying prescription forms and recording numbers in use and ensuring adequate supplies of consumables

Premises

• Opening up premises at the start of the day when first to arrive, de-activating alarm and making all necessary preparations to receive patients
• When last to leave at the end of the day, ensuring that the building is totally secured, internal lights are off and the alarm activated
• Ensuring that all new patients are registered onto the computer system promptly and accurately
• Making and serving refreshments for meetings, ensuring the kitchen is kept clean and tidy and air and tidy the waiting room in turn with other staff
• Covering colleagues' holiday and sick cover as required
• Processing incoming and outgoing mail according to practice protocols
• Recording actions taken in patient records where appropriate or in accordance with practice protocols
• Completing other Daily/Weekly and Monthly core tasks to support the smooth running of the reception area
• Any other administration duties as necessitated by the needs of the practice

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. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.

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 & Safety Policy, to 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
• Reporting potential risks identified
• Acting as Chaperone when requested by clinician and in accordance with the Chaperone policy

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 the Practice policies and procedures, and current legislation
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
• Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to 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 their own personal and/or professional development
• Taking responsibility for their own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work

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 and 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