Job responsibilities
Reception Duties:
Utilise number system to ensure efficiency of appointment system and monitor flow of patients into consulting and treatment rooms.
Explain practice arrangements and formal requirements to new patients and those seeking temporary cover, ensure registration procedures are completed on to computer.
Advise patients of relevant charges for private services, accept payment and issue receipts for same.
- Respond to all queries and requests for assistance from patients and other visitors.
Enter requests for home visits onto visit screen including all relevant information and where necessary refer to the Duty Doctor.
In conjunction with the Repeat Prescriptions Clerk ensure that requests for prescriptions are actioned where possible within two working days.
- Action requests for ambulance transportation and enter details in appropriate book.
- Ensure reception and waiting areas are kept neat and tidy.
- Make tea and coffee for Partners as and when required.
- Ensure visitors sign the Visitors Book upon arrival and departure
- An ability to use own judgement, resourcefulness, common sense and local knowledge, to respond to patients enquiries and requests.
- Assist the Sifting GP with Admin Support for total Triage
Management of Appointment Systems:
Ensure total familiarity with all appointment systems in effect including regular and incidental variations.
Book appointments and recalls ensuring sufficient information is recorded to retrieve medical record.
- Monitor effectiveness of the system and report any problems or variations required.
Preparation of Consulting Rooms:
Ensure that the consulting rooms are prepared in readiness for each consulting session, checking the full range of forms and requirements and re-stocking as required (Allocated clinician)
- Ensure that the consulting rooms are checked at the end of each consulting session and left tidy and secure.
Operation of Telephone System:
Receive and make calls as required. Divert calls and take messages as appropriate.
- Excellent communication skills.
Start and End of Day Procedures:
Open premises at the start of day, set alarm to day function and make all necessary preparation to receive patients. Empty refrigerator of any specimens and put ready for collection by local hospital courier this procedure to be carried out at 8.30am and 1.00pm.
- Secure premises at end of day, ensure the building is totally secured, internal lights off (where appropriate) and alarm activated. Put any specimens into the refrigerator ready for the morning.
TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Maintain continued education by attendance at courses and study days as deemed useful or necessary for personal development and comply with mandatory and statutory training requirements
- To participate in the practice performance review and appraisal process
- To take appropriate action in relation to any feedback around care, performance in relation to improving practice, developmental needs.
- Take responsibility for own learning and identify development opportunities
- Ability to self-motivate, organise and prioritise workloads
- Apply practice policies, standards and guidance.
QUALITY
- The post holder will contribute to maintaining and improving patient care as appropriate
- The post holder will contribute to audit as requested by the Partners of the Health Care Centre
- Work effectively with other agencies to support effective patient care
- Manage workload, resources and own time effectively in order to support effective and high-quality patient care.
- On identification of any patient or non patient related incident escalate appropriately and complete relevant reporting tool.
Health & safety
The post-holder will implement and lead on a full range of promotion and management of their own and others health and safety and infection control as defined in the practice health & safety policy, the practice health & safety manual, and the practice infection control policy and published procedures. This will include (but will not be limited to):
Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
Awareness of standards of infection control and
Responsible for the correct and safe management of the specimens process, including collection, labelling, handling, use of correct and clean containers, storage and transport arrangements
Active observation of current working practices across the practice in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related activities, ensuring that procedures are followed and weaknesses and training needs are identified, escalating issues as appropriate
Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy, clean and sterile way, safe and free from hazards. Initiation of remedial and corrective action where needed or escalation to responsible management
Keeping own work areas and general patient areas clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards and risks in relation to other work areas within the business, and assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate) with other sector managers
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 in a manner that is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights
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
The above duties and responsibilities are intended to represent current priorities and are not meant to be an exhaustive list. The post holder may from time to time be asked to undertake other duties and responsibilities. Any changes to this job description that take account of changing service needs will be made in discussion with the post holder.
