Practice Support Team Leader - Brook Square Surgery in Scarborough

IntraHealth are recruiting for a PST Team Leader for our Brook Square Surgery. To lead, manage and mentor the Practice Support Team in day-to-day reception and admin duties. Support and encourage a motivated team to work together to deliver a high-quality service to our patients and to our colleagues, doctors and external organisations. To promote Practices guidelines and policies, communicating clear deadlines to the team, therefore ensuring the Practice operates efficiently. To continually improve performance of the team and adhere to Care Quality Commission standards. To work with and support by the Senior PST role.

Our ideal candidate will have experience of primary care and secretarial work but training will be given and there must be a willingness to play a leading role in the development of patient centred services. You will be enthusiastic, committed individuals who will be expected to work as part of the practice team with good communication and interpersonal skills.

Main duties of the job

• Line-Management of Practice Support Team, including:
• Maintain self and team professionalism.
• Promote a healthy attitude to work and act as role model.
• Involvement in staff recruitment and induction promote the Practice ethos of teamwork in a calm working environment.
• Continually review and update PST induction training.
• Encourage and support personal development of PST members.
• Carry out PST Appraisal and Development Reviews.
• Performance manage members of the team when required.
• Manage workload and workflow for PST members, ensuring adequate staffing levels within budget, including finalising the staffing rota and managing annual leave requests in-line with Practice policy.
• Review workload and workflow.
• Oversee S1 appointments and monitor availability optimise use of clinical appointments and raise issues of availability or underuse with the Extended Management Team.
• Review PST procedures and make recommendations to the Assistant Practice Manager.
• Continual improvement of processes linked to PST.
• Hold regular meetings with the team; and 1:1 staff meetings, as follows: new staff weekly for the first month and then re-assess frequency; for existing/experienced staff meet at least 6 weekly but aim for monthly.
• Disseminate information from other meetings to the team.
• Delegate duties to PST member as appropriate monitor and review progress.

Job responsibilities

• Ensure appropriate staff are trained and organise minuting taking at meetings.
• Attend and contribute to Practice Management meetings, Clinical meetings, Practice Meetings and Medicine Management Meetings.
• Involvement in training events, including recommendations for future training needs.
• Update staff with changes to processes and arrange training for PST on new systems or changes to systems.
• Provide support to the GPs as appropriate to the role.
• Act as ambassador for the Practice within the internal organisation and when representing the Practice at meetings, training courses and external visits.
• Manage the Patient Participation Group meetings, newsletters and keep the wider Practice team updated with PPG related matters.
• Oversee the Senior PST role and continue to develop their roles.
• Monitor performance, this may include reviewing the phone performance and usage reports and call recording for training and development.
• Running and evaluating audits to improve the team's performance.
• Understand NHS contracts and PST's contribution to the Practice's success e.g. QoF, Enhanced Services key performance indicators and a plan to meet these targets.
• Operational management of the PST operating systems, including:
• Understand the telephone, franking machine and security systems act as first point of contact for these system providers and liaise with the providers as appropriate.

The PST Leader will oversee informal complaints directly coming into the Practice at the front desk, on the phones or online access firstly the postholder, or delegated to a Senior PST member, will defuse the complaint, or help with patient's concerns. If there is a formal complaint through the Complaints Procedure, the PST Leader will investigate complaints involving PST staff or PST processes; and draft the complaint response and to liaise with the Assistant Practice Manager on the Learning Events and any training needs.

Equality and Diversity

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

• Acting in a way that recognizes the importance of peoples 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 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 including:

• Participation in an annual individual Appraisal and Development 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.
• This role is considered to be a developmental position and the jobholder will be encouraged to develop personal and business skills.

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 teams performance.
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs.
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

Communication:

The post-holder should recognize the importance of effective communication within the team and will:

• Communicate effectively and respectfully with colleagues, patients and carers.
• Recognize peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.
• External communication will be with patients NHS bodies, and other GP practices and service providers.

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 workers 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

Carry out any other duties as reasonably required by the Practice Manager and Assistant Practice Manager. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of responsibilities, and it is expected that you will participate in a wide range of activities.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience working in a receptionist/administrative role.
• Experience working on Clinical Computer systems.

Skills and Abilities

• Effective communicator, with the ability to liaise appropriately at all levels.
• Proficient in the use of computerised systems (Microsoft Word and Excel) to a level to enable the production of high standard of work.
• Demonstrable team working skills.
• Very good interpersonal skills.
• Process management.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the data protection act and patient confidentiality, clinical and information governance and Caldicott requirements.
• Capacity to work calmly under pressure and to deadlines.
• Flexible and proactive attitude.
• Enthusiasm for the role.
• Flexible approach to work, in line with the needs of the service such as evening or weekend working as necessary.
• Able to work as part of a team.

Qualifications

• Good level of general education or experience.

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.