Patient Advisor

We are seeking a dedicated and enthusiastic Patient Advisor to join our friendly and professional team. The ideal candidate will be reliable, flexible, and customer-focused, with strong organisational skills and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced healthcare setting.

Main duties of the job:

• Providing excellent front-line support by answering telephones and managing the surgery reception desk.
• Assisting with administrative tasks, including patient registrations, referrals, prescriptions, task management, and document scanning.
• Delivering outstanding patient experience and supporting the clinical team.
• Flexibly covering annual leave for other receptionists as needed.

About us:

The Barkantine Practice is a dynamic, young, fast-growing healthcare practice near Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs, within the vibrant inner-city borough of Tower Hamlets, London. We pride ourselves on delivering exceptional patient care and fostering a warm, supportive environment for our team.

Job responsibilities:

• Clerical / Administrative Duties:

• Open mail and distribute as appropriate and follow protocols for insurance reports, disability reports etc.
• Processing the requests from subject request forms submitted by the patients.
• Able to do EMIS tasks and general tasks given by seniors / Manager / Clinicians.
• Request repeat prescriptions following practice protocol.
• Scan hospital and clinic letters and results into patients' medical records.
• Processing documents from workflow and forwarding to appropriate clinician (Training is provided).
• Complete new patient registrations.
• Assist with record management for deduction of patient records and preparing new patient records for filling / Amalgamations.
• Call & Recall patients for chronic disease management, smear tests, vaccinations as required.

• Greeting and receiving patients and visitors in a courteous and helpful manner.
• Ensure that the reception area is not left unattended at any time.
• Monitor and maintain the display areas of reception updating information for surgery and other local resources as necessary.
• Answer the telephone and take messages accurately, passing messages to the appropriate person in a timely manner.
• Phone hospitals to obtain patients' results and follow up appointments.
• Deal with routine verbal information, requests from patients and other callers in person and on the telephone.
• Take the initiative by solving problems or passing them on as appropriate.
• Book appropriate appointments / triages for patients, either on the telephone or in person, with the doctor and nurse.
• Keep patients informed of the reason why surgeries are running late when appropriate.
• Project a positive and professional image of the practice and report any problems as necessary.
• Handle difficult patients professionally by understanding the practice complaints procedure, explaining this to the patient and passing on the necessary information to the practice manager.
• Be aware of contacts and relationships with relevant community / local organizations for patients' information and provide this information to patients as requested.
• To be familiar with practice protocols for emergency procedures e.g.: fire, security, clinical and computer, and refer problems on immediately.
• Receive, check and sign for incoming deliveries for equipment, stationery and vaccines etc.
• Receive and deal with specimens from patients promptly, checking details and storing them in fridge ready for collection by courier.
• Produce posters / Information sheets and laminate, for patients and users of building.

• At the end of your shift, leave the reception area tidy and ready for your colleagues.
• Pass information regarding unsolved or urgent problems / Queries to your colleagues or seniors.
• Log out of computers and telephones on reception, back admin office.
• Undertaking any other duties as and when necessary.
• Maintain supplies of stationery available in reception area.
• Accept delivery of vaccines as per practice protocol.

Person Specification:

• Experience:

• Work in a Primary Care environment.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in English, both written and verbally.
• Good organizational skills.
• Able to work under pressure.
• Working on your own initiative.
• IT skills (including word processing and database work).
• Committed to quality and customer satisfaction.
• Committed to equal opportunities.

• Secondary school education.
• Evidence of commitment to ongoing personal and professional development.

• Commitment to working as part of a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency primary care team.
• Openness to explore alternative working practices.
• Commitment to own professional development.
• Knowledge of the demographic characteristics that affect health and health care in the inner-city.

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.