Job responsibilities
To
be responsible for undertaking a wide range of reception duties and the
provision of general support to the multidisciplinary team. Duties can include, but are not limited to,
greeting and directing patients, effective use of the appointment system,
booking appointments, the processing of information and assisting patients as
required.
To
act as the central point of contact for patients, the distribution of
information, messages and enquiries for the clinical team, liaising with multi-disciplinary
team members and external agencies such as secondary care and community service
providers.
Job
Responsibilities:
- Ensure an effective and efficient
reception service is provided to patients and any other visitors to the
practice
- Deal with all general enquiries,
explain procedures and make new and follow-up appointments.
- Explain practice arrangements and
formal requirements to new patients and those seeking temporary cover and
ensure administrative procedures are completed.
- Receive and make telephone calls as
required. Divert calls and take
messages, ensuring accuracy of detail and prompt appropriate delivery,
including,
- Arranging ambulance bookings
- Relay of GP advice and test
results to patients
- Liaison with external
organisations as required
- Enter requests for home visits into
the visit book, ensuring careful recording of all relevant details and
where necessary refer to the on call Doctor.
- Action prescription requests and
pass queries to the pharmacy team, ensuring repeat prescriptions are ready
for collection by the patient within 48 hours.
- Accept test samples from patients
and deal with accordingly
- Enter patient information onto the
computer, using the relevant code where necessary.
- Maintain adequate stationery stocks
within the reception, office and consulting rooms.
- Patient notes and correspondence:
o
Retrieve
and re-file records as required,
o
Ensure
correspondence, reports, results etc are filed or scanned promptly and in the
correct file/record, ensuring that all recent correspondence is available when
patients are seen.
o
Use
e-mail and internal/external mail for onward correspondence as required
Advise
patients of relevant charges for private (non General Medical Services)
services, accept payment and issue receipts for same.
Premises:
o
Open
up premises at the start of the day when first to arrive, de-activate alarm and
make all necessary preparations to receive patients.
o
When
last to leave at the end of the day, ensure that the building is totally
secured, internal lights are off and the alarm activated.
- Undertake any other additional
duties appropriate to the post as requested by the Partners or the
Practice Manager.
Confidentiality:
- In the course of seeking treatment,
patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in
relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the
right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act
appropriately
- In the performance of the duties
outlined in this Job Description, the post-holder may have access to
confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice
staff and other healthcare workers.
They may also have access to information relating to the practice
as a business organisation. All such information from any source is
to be regarded as strictly confidential
- Information relating to patients,
carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the
practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the
practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the
protection of personal and sensitive data.
Health
& Safety:
The
post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others
health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health & Safety
Policy, to include:
- Using personal security systems
within the workplace according to practice guidelines
- Identifying the risks involved in
work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages
those risks
- Making effective use of training to
update knowledge and skills
- Using appropriate infection control
procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from
hazards
- Reporting potential risks
identified.
Equality
and Diversity:
The post-holder
will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and
colleagues, to include:
- Acting in a way that recognises the
importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is
consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
- Respecting the privacy, dignity,
needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
- Behaving in a manner, which is
welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their
circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.
Personal/Professional
Development:
The post-holder
will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part
of this employment, such training to include:
- Participation in an annual
individual performance review, including taking responsibility for
maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
- Taking responsibility for own
development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and
activities to others who are undertaking similar work.
Quality:
The post-holder
will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:
- Alert other team members to issues
of quality and risk
- Assess own performance and take
accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
- Contribute to the effectiveness of
the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions
on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
- Work effectively with individuals
in other agencies to meet patients needs
- Effectively manage own time,
workload and resources.
Communication:
The
post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within
the team and will strive to:
- Communicate effectively with other
team members offering assistance where required to junior or inexperienced
members of staff
- Communicate effectively with
patients and carers
- Recognise peoples needs for
alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.
Contribution
to the Implementation of Services:
The post-holder
will:
- Comply with practice policies,
standards and guidance
- Discuss with other members of the
team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
