Senior Clinical Coder Specialist (Remote working) in Sunderland

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust have an excellent opportunity for accomplished Accredited Clinical Coders, working remotely or onsite, to fulfil important senior roles in our friendly and supportive Clinical Coding team. We are looking for people who have a high level of commitment, excellent communication skills and can demonstrate expertise within the role as a Senior Accredited Clinical Coder. The post holder will demonstrate supportive leadership skills and the ability to help develop and mentor less experienced Clinical Coders. This position requires you to hold the National Clinical Coding Qualification. The postholder must have gained their experience working within a Clinical Coding department within either an NHS or private hospital in the UK.

Main duties of the job include:

• Coding all speciality‑based patient admissions by abstracting clinical data from electronic patient records and translating this into diagnostic (ICD‑10) and procedure (OPCS4) classification codes.
• Demonstrating good organisational skills and the ability to work well under pressure to adhere to Trust governance, deadlines and prioritise workload.
• Maintaining excellent knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, along with analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Completing a National Clinical Coding Refresher Course within the past two years.

The accuracy of clinical coding activity is vitally important for secondary care Trusts, not only to secure the correct income but also to inform decision‑making regarding the future of clinical services. Coded activity is also used by secondary users within the NHS, Government and external bodies, who produce statistics such as standardised mortality rates, set budget baselines and monitor clinical outcomes and key quality indicators.

The main purpose of the job includes:

• Being an expert clinical coder dealing with highly complex clinical cases and queries and resolving issues with senior clinical staff.
• Responsible for the daily operational supervision of the clinical coding team, in accordance with Trust and departmental policies.
• Monitoring of agreed key performance and quality indicators.
• Forming part of the Clinical Coding management team and supporting the Clinical Coding Service in the overall management of the department.
• Acting as a mentor to clinical coding team, validating their work, and offering sound advice throughout their training period.
• Providing advice to experienced Clinical Coders to resolve complex or difficult coding queries.
• Undertaking regular coding audits and reviews to assess coding accuracy, depth and quality.
• Accurately coding all in‑patient episodes applying national classification rules and conventions.
• Liaising with senior medical staff and managers on matters relating to clinical coding.
• Providing information for HRG costing, mortality indices and Sepsis, GIRFT, Model Hospital analysis.
• Being the first point of contact in providing expert advice and resolving complex coding enquiries.
• Using and interrogating clinical information systems to assess coding accuracy and quality.
• Attending directorate or specialty meetings to feedback coding queries and instruct staff about how to improve coding standards.
• Contributing to the production of clinical coding reports for senior clinical and managerial staff.
• Organising, instructing and supervising staff workload on a day‑to‑day and weekly basis.

Person Specification:

• Completed a Clinical Coding Standards Course.
• Attended a Clinical Coding Standards Refresher Course within the last 3 years.
• Attendance at specialty Clinical Coding workshops / Forums.
• GCSE (A-C) 4-9 or equivalent.
• Demonstrate evidence of ongoing personal development.
• Knowledge of national & local performance/quality standards.
• In‑depth knowledge and skills relating to clinical coding including ICD‑10 and OPCS‑4 national guidelines and standards.
• In‑depth knowledge of clinical terminology and a comprehensive understanding of anatomy and physiology.
• Detailed knowledge of NHS data systems (PAS systems).
• Knowledge and experience of encoding software e.g. Medicode.
• Understanding of Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs) and Payment by Results (PBR).
• Ability to ensure updates to coding rules and conventions are applied as published by NHS England.
• Ability to assist with delivery of training needs to a variety of audiences.
• Excellent organisational skills and complex workload management.

Previous NHS Experience and experience in coding across a wide range of specialties is required.