Outpatients Administrator

We are seeking highly motivated individuals to join our friendly Outpatient administration team to deliver first-class customer service to patients and provide a comprehensive administrative service working flexibly on rotation incorporating the Outpatients Booking Office, Call Centre and Reception areas forming a solid foundation to support the Outpatients departments, across Lewisham Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Bexleyheath and Greenwich Community sites. The post holder will be one of a team providing an excellent customer and administration service, delivering smooth, safe and high quality care to enable the trust to achieve key targets.

To be successful in the role you will need the following attributes and experience:

• You must be customer focussed, with excellent customer service skills
• You must have a positive attitude and work well within a team
• You must be reliable and have excellent time keeping
• You must enjoy speaking to people on the telephone and face to face
• You must be able to demonstrate efficient organisational skills
• You must be IT literate
• You must be energetic and hard working and flexible to support the team and the services

Working hours will be on a rota basis 0800 - 1800 Monday to Friday.

Main Duties And Responsibilities:

• To assist in any administrational duties required to ensure a full outpatient service is provided in the Outpatient reception, Outpatient Call centre and the Booking Teams.
• To be flexible to a wide range of duties and appropriate tasks on rotation as designated by the Outpatients Supervisor in order to ensure the smooth running of the department, including covering for colleagues in times of sickness/absence and high workloads.
• Greet patients and visitors in a pleasant and professional manner, providing a courteous reception service.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to deal with queries from patients, relatives and carers.
• Proactively deal with potential situations of conflict, to diffuse and prevent patient complaints.
• Regularly deal with patients face to face or via telephone or email who may be emotional or challenging.
• Liaison with staff within and outside of the department, GP surgeries and other healthcare professionals on matters relating to patient referrals/queries.
• Answer all telephone calls promptly in line with the Outpatient Call centre KPIs, speaking to patients and callers with respect and courtesy.
• Participate in call reviews and call monitoring to achieve department KPIs.
• Monitor and action all incoming emails to generic outpatient team inboxes.
• Ensure all patient demographics are captured accurately and updated on the Trust PAS when notified.
• Manage new referrals and outpatient appointment waiting lists in line with RTT targets.
• Respond to appointment requests; booking, cancelling, and rescheduling appointments in line with the Access Policy and clinic booking rules via the Trusts PAS systems.
• Liaise with relevant service managers and teams to escalate capacity, waiting lists and service issues requiring urgent action.
• Check patients in and out of their appointments in real time via the Trusts PAS systems; complete the checkout process, record outcomes and RTT status, and book respective appointments.
• Liaise with clinicians where outcomes are incomplete or missing; check case note availability prior to clinic and escalate missing records.
• Keep patients informed of delays in outpatient clinics in conjunction with the nursing team.
• Maintain patient confidentiality and data protection when entering information on Trust systems.
• Book interpreter services/transport as required and maintain access to interpreter tablets.
• Maintain good working knowledge of office procedures and support implementation of new processes within the outpatients departments.
• Be competent with IT and PAS systems; maintain and update systems in the call centre and kiosks.
• Assist in the induction and training of new and temporary staff.
• Participate in the PDR process to develop personal skills.
• Attend team meetings and contribute to improvements in patient care and service development.
• Undertake minutes/actions of meetings as required.
• Understand when to escalate issues and report incidents on the Trusts Ulysses system.
• Use outpatient reports to support transformation; maintain stock levels and adapt duties as needed.

Essential Qualifications & Training:

• Good basic educational background GCSE English and Maths or equivalent NVQ Level 3 in a related subject (e.g healthcare, customer service, business administration) or equivalent experience

Desirable:

• ECDL IT Qualifications

Experience:

• Customer Service experience or equivalent work experience
• Computer literacy and keyboard skills
• Willingness to develop computer skills
• Working to deadlines and targets
• NHS Experience

Desirable:

• Knowledge of PAS
• Call Centre or Switchboard experience
• Experience of Access Database/ Excel Spreadsheets

Knowledge & Skills:

• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to prioritise
• Able to take responsibility for own work and work without direct supervision where appropriate
• Flexible approach to working hours
• Respect for confidentiality
• Ability to deal with sensitive issues appropriately
• Excellent Team player

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.

Employer details: Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lewisham Hospital and Community Stadium Road, London SE18 4QH.