Admissions Booking Clerk in Wigan

The Healthcare Operations Department are looking to recruit an Admissions Booking Clerk within the Elective Admissions Team at Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan. The post is full time, 37.5 hours per week and the postholder would be expected to cover the service hours between Monday - Friday 7.30 am and 6:00 pm on a rota basis. The postholder would be expected to work hours within these times as agreed, however it is necessary to be flexible and able to adapt quickly to change and altering work patterns.

The main duties of the role are to provide an efficient and flexible administrative service that supports the clinical staff in the delivery of an effective booking service and to maintain a patient centred approach in the delivery of the service that supports patients in exercising choice. It is important that you have first class customer service skills along with a professional telephone manner. You must also have good keyboard skills and knowledge of general office systems and protocols in a customer related environment.

• To book appointments for patients attending outpatient clinics, pre operative assessment and admission for elective surgery in accordance with booking rules.
• Display a professional attitude at all times when dealing with the general public and colleagues alike whilst using effective communication skills to influence the outcome in issues causing concern.
• To receive patients attending for elective admission or pre operative assessment, ensuring that all patient demographic details are updated both on PAS and in the casenotes.
• Assist members of the clinical staff with any queries concerning administrative processes.
• To support and assist team members across sites where there are staff shortages, whilst working as part of one multidisciplinary team.
• Deal with enquiries from patients, GP’s and other disciplines of staff regarding bookings.
• Liaise with the consultant staff and medical secretaries regarding arranging urgent admissions and/or outpatient appointments.
• Process referrals to consultants for assessment of priority in a timely manner and once the relevant appointment is booked and negotiated with the patient ensure that all the associated documentation is tracked and processed accordingly.
• Liaise with the clinical staff to ensure the delivery of a seamless service for patients attending either as an outpatient or inpatient.
• Promote and develop good communication links with all disciplines of staff involved in the booking process both internal and external to the Trust.
• Locate and prepare casenotes for patients attending for elective admission and pre operative assessment and be responsible for the recording on PAS of all patient outcomes within agreed deadlines where appropriate.
• To apply Trust and National policies and procedures in order to achieve internal and external targets and deadlines.
• To be responsible for the quality and accuracy of all data input of both written and electronic information that they are recording.
• To resolve queries and redirect enquiries by utilising the knowledge and implementation of the 'Booking Methodology' and 'Waiting Time' targets.
• To undertake general clerical tasks as appropriate e.g. filing, photocopying.
• Responsible for the reporting of any incidents/accidents to the supervisor and participating in the investigation by completing necessary documentation and any relevant follow up processes.
• Produce and send all patient correspondence and information relating to booking in accordance with procedures and data quality standards in a timely and accurate manner in accordance with Trust and National targets and guidelines.
• Deal with the cancellation of clinics/theatre sessions and rebooking of patients in accordance with instructions and guidelines.
• Maintain the accuracy of IP/OP Waiting Lists by ongoing validation ensuring compliance with access times and targets.
• Demonstrate effective communication using the spoken and written word to influence the outcome.
• Demonstrate awareness and sensitivity of patients with hearing difficulties and where patients language is not English.
• Receive and process all messages in accordance with instructions.
• Utilise the Trust's IT resources appropriately in line with the policies and procedures.
• Maintain accurate, timely and legible written and electronic records.

Person specification:

• Must be able to work flexibly and where appropriate cover annual leave or sickness.
• Speak English to an appropriate standard relevant to their role, i.e. with confidence and accuracy, using correct sentence structures and vocabulary, and without hesitation.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of general office systems and protocols in a customer related environment.
• Ability to follow guidelines and procedure.
• Knowledge of IT systems and packages within the workplace.
• Good understanding of customer care practices and procedures.
• Awareness of the 'Data Protection Act'.

Skills:

• Able to demonstrate keyboard skills with attention to accuracy.
• To demonstrate a good telephone manner.
• Must work well as part of a team but also able to work on own initiative.
• To demonstrate excellent communication skills with all disciplines of staff.
• Good organisational skills.
• To work efficiently to targets and deadlines and able to prioritise and manage workloads.
• Ability to learn quickly and adapt to change in circumstances.
• To deliver high level of customer service using electronic, telephone and other channels of communication.

Experience:

• Experience of working in a busy, pressurised customer focused environment dealing with frequent interruptions.
• Recent work experience with an administration/office setting.
• Recent experience of using IT systems in the workplace.
• Recent work experience within a healthcare administration setting.

Qualifications:

• Educated to GCSE (or equivalent level/experience).
• To hold NVQ 2 clerical qualification or equivalent.
• ECDL or equivalent IT qualification.