Access Booking Officer in Ormskirk

As an Access Booking Officer at MWL NHS Trust, you will play a vital role in ensuring patients are booked efficiently and appropriately for outpatient appointments and diagnostic procedures. Based within the Access Centre at Ormskirk District General Hospital, you'll be responsible for the day-to-day coordination of outpatient bookings.

You will work closely with team leaders and administrative teams to ensure that patients are scheduled according to clinical priority, waiting times, and procedural requirements. This role demands excellent communication skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment. Your contribution will directly support the Trust's commitment to delivering Five Star Patient Care to a population of over 600,000 people across the Merseyside, West Lancashire, and surrounding areas.

• Patient Access & Coordination
  • Deliver a comprehensive inpatient and outpatient booking service, rotating across all areas of the Access Office to ensure full service coverage.
  • Act as a named point of contact for patients, relatives, carers, and clinical teams, providing clear and timely communication in person, by phone, in writing, or electronically.
  • Add patients accurately to waiting lists, ensuring all relevant clinical and administrative notes are recorded.
  • Provide patients with guidance relating to their admission, including pre‑ and post‑operative information and updates on their waiting‑list position.
  • Liaise with Bed Management teams regarding stand‑by patients or cancellations due to capacity issues.
• Outpatient Booking & Referral Management
  • Manage all outpatient waiting lists and appoint patients from PTLs in line with Trust performance standards.
  • Register referral letters and ensure all referrals (including ERS) are directed to the correct consultant or clinic.
  • Book new and follow‑up appointments in accordance with departmental procedures and agreed timescales.
  • Manage clinic cancellations or reductions on PAS and ERS, ensuring patients are rebooked appropriately.
  • Maintain and update clinic templates in line with changes to medical rotas.
  • Oversee ERS appointments, including patient‑initiated cancellations, ASIs, and capacity escalations.
  • Manage partial booking lists and escalate issues to operational teams when required.
  • Process ward forms to ensure follow‑up appointments are arranged or escalated.
  • Record attendances retrospectively when patients are seen outside of clinic.
• Communication & Patient Support
  • Handle patient enquiries with empathy, professionalism, and confidence, offering reassurance and clear information.
  • Support patients who may face communication barriers due to language, cultural differences, age, or additional needs, using tact and negotiation to agree suitable appointment or procedure dates.
  • Communicate sensitive or unpleasant information in a compassionate and supportive manner.
• Performance, Compliance & Data Quality
  • Monitor waiting lists proactively, identifying and resolving issues that may lead to breaches of access targets.
  • Analyse waiting‑list data regularly and escalate capacity concerns promptly.
  • Ensure full compliance with two‑week‑wait standards for suspected cancer referrals.
  • Maintain high standards of data quality when inputting, extracting, and producing information across Trust systems.
  • Work within established policies, procedures, and escalation processes to support efficient, patient‑centred service delivery.
• Teamwork, Training & Service Support
  • Work flexibly to support colleagues during periods of leave or increased service demand.
  • Assist with the training and induction of new staff, offering ongoing support with workload coordination.
  • Contribute to departmental meetings, providing updates on consultant activity and waiting‑time reductions.
  • Use Trust resources responsibly, ensuring minimal waste and cost‑effective working.
  • Attend weekly operational meetings to discuss capacity, provide updates, and support problem‑solving.
  • Generate and send all relevant letters and information leaflets for both paper and electronic referrals.
  • Manage shared email inboxes and main telephone lines on a rotational basis.
• Professional Development
  • Maintain up‑to‑date mandatory training.
  • Participate in annual appraisal and agree a personal development plan aligned with Trust objectives.
  • Seek support from supervisors if challenges arise in meeting development goals.
  • Engage with opportunities for learning and development provided by the Trust.

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.

• Qualifications
  • Essential criteria: ECDL or equivalent, NVQ 2 customer care or equivalent experience, 5 GCSEs grade C or above.
  • Desirable criteria: NVQ 3 business and admin.
• Knowledge & Experience
  • Essential criteria: Computer literate – experience of using Microsoft packages, working within a multidisciplinary team, experience of working in a customer service environment, excellent communication skills to overcome barriers of understanding, experience of collating data, working in a demanding environment.
  • Desirable criteria: Use of patient administrative systems, experience of scheduling / coordination activities and/or resources.
• Skills
  • Essential criteria: Excellent organisational skills, able to work under pressure & to strict deadlines, flexibility and able to adapt to change, ability to work as a flexible and effective team member.
• Other
  • Essential criteria: To frequently sit and concentrate in a restricted position for a substantial proportion of the working time due to continuous exposure to VDU equipment, inputting information via a keyboard and using a telephone headset. To multi-task between activities with frequent interruptions and a need to leave one task immediately. Reprioritise your workload to resolve any unexpected issues.