Lead Receptionist in Musselburgh

Riverside Medical Practice is based in Musselburgh, close to both Edinburgh city centre and the beaches of East Lothian. We’re a busy surgery with 20,000 patients, located in an area with significant health inequality. This is an exciting time to join our stable, 50-strong team, whose aim is providing the best possible care to each individual patient with the resources we have available to us. The Practice is based in a purpose-built health centre with recently refurbished staff kitchen, sun terrace and onsite parking. Tea, coffee and biscuits are always available! This is a well-organised practice, with mature systems and processes in place which allow our team to do their jobs to the very best of their abilities.

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, acting in a way that recognizes the importance of people’s rights, behaving in a manner which is welcoming to every individual, non-judgmental and respectful of their circumstances, feelings and priorities.

What you’ll do:

• Alongside our other Team Leaders you’ll be responsible for the day-to-day supervision, coordination and development of the Reception team at Riverside Medical Practice.
• You’ll ensure the delivery of a high-quality, patient-focused reception service, supporting access to care while maintaining confidentiality, professionalism, and compliance with NHS and Practice policies.
• Lead, motivate, and support the Reception team to deliver a consistent, high-quality service to our patients.
• Lead the Reception team in managing the appointment book and patient flow each day, in line with Practice protocols.
• Organise and manage reception rotas and daily workload, ensuring adequate cover during core hours, annual leave, and sickness absence.
• Provide induction, training, coaching, and ongoing support to Reception staff.
• Support the Practice Manager and other members of the Practice Management team with one-to-ones, call reviews and appraisals.
• With the Practice Manager, address any performance issues in a fair and supportive manner.
• Act as a senior point of contact for complex patient queries, complaints, or challenging situations.
• Contribute to the development and review of Reception protocols, standard operating procedures, audit and quality improvement initiatives with the aim of improving team performance.
• Ensure compliance with health and safety, confidentiality, data security and all other relevant policies, and escalate concerns appropriately.
• Monitor and report on Reception activity, issues, and risks as required.
• Administrative tasks including accurately processing new patient registrations and allocating prescriptions to clinicians.

What’s in it for you?

• Starting salary c.£30,000 (full-time).
• SPPA (NHS) pension (with continuity if you’re an existing SPPA member).
• Access to NHS Employee Assistance Programme.
• Access to NHS Blue Light scheme and other NHS discounts.
• In-house training programme with additional external training opportunities, which can equip you to develop into a range of General Practice or wider NHS administration roles.
• Paid over-time opportunities.
• Permanent contract.
• Weekends and week days off work.
• Friendly, supportive line management and wider Practice team.
• 180 hours annual leave (pro-rata for less than full time) plus 8 public holidays.

What you’ll need:

• Previous experience working or leading in a GP Practice or healthcare Reception environment.
• Demonstrable experience of supervising or leading a team, including training/coaching and rota/workforce planning.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, which enable you to develop effective working relationships with the rest of the Practice team.
• Strong organisational skills and ability to prioritise in a busy environment.
• Good IT skills, including clinical IT systems, Teams and Microsoft Office.
• A calm, efficient and proactive approach, with the ability to think on your feet to respond to a variety of situations and provide the best outcome for patients.
• Call centre or similar call handling experience.
• A structured approach to de-escalating concerns with an ability to calmly and compassionately manage challenging situations.
• Be able to handle sensitive patient information in a confidential way, in line with NHS and Practice requirements, along with other sensitive business information.
• The ability to reflect on your own performance, and with support to be able to identify and change your practice if things could have been handled differently for the benefit of patients and the team.
• A strong commitment to our efforts to create a positive culture, for the benefit of both patients and staff.
• Existing clearance to work in the UK.

Nice to have:

• Experience of the General Practice IT systems we use: Vision and Docman.