Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen in Ophthalmology for a Band 4 Failsafe Officer in Gloucestershire Hospital's NHS Trust.
If you are interested in working in a busy, hardworking but friendly team, then this role might be the one for you!
The post holder will be required to provide dedicated work on patient wait times within the Ophthalmology Department to nationally agreed wait times for both new and follow up patients and line manage a small administration team.
It is essential that you possess an excellent work ethic with proven organisational and communication skills.
As part of the Ophthalmology Administration team, you will work closely with a team of doctors and nursing staff, and support your admin colleagues in times of staff absences.
The role is based at Cheltenham General Hospital.
This very important role supports the Outpatient and Inpatient Services in Ophthalmology for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be required to provide dedicated work on patient wait times within the Ophthalmology Department to nationally agreed wait times for both new and follow up patients. This will involve close liaison with consultants, patients, medical and nursing staff, patient access, appointments, support services and service managers and will be required to line manage a small administration team.
The role will proactively manage patients on our follow-up waiting lists and will range from coordinating hospital appointments and ensuring non-admitted and admitted wait times are adhered to. The successful candidate will also be required to assist with the management of the New and 2WW patients .
The role will also be key to maintaining essential departmental medical rotas to ensure smooth running of the department in conjunction with the B5 Unit Coordinator and be responsible for resolution of short notice issues in her absence.
The post holder will be expected to work without direct supervision and be able to work autonomously and may be required to make decisions under pressure. They will be expected to liaise and communicate as appropriate. As such, the post holder will need a flexible approach to ensure processes are implemented, adhered to, maintained and improved. The successful applicant will need to be able to cope with the ever changing demands of such a position in a large organisation and have a positive and proactive approach.
About us
Ophthalmology is a large, mainly outpatient based department, with busy clinics in Gloucestershire Royal, Cheltenham General and Community Hospitals and with a Daycare Unit at Cheltenham General. The admin team is based at Cheltenham General Hospital.
We will provide you with training, a supportive network of colleagues and management teams, and a commitment to helping you grow your skills. Our team is friendly and supportive and welcome you to their team.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the largest employer in the county and with over 8,000 staff, we are one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK. We offer a generous annual leave allowance, excellent bank rates, access to the excellent NHS Pension Scheme, discounts for local shops, restaurants and services, access to our health and well-being hub, access to our two on-site nurseries, flexible working options, discounted public transport, reward and recognition schemes, exercise and activity classes and membership to our popular hospital choir.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Proactively manage waiting times for individual patients to ensure national standards are not breached. Negotiate patient management arrangements with key staff.
Ensure the patient's journey (both new and follow up) are processed in a timely and efficient manner and pro-actively escalate issues in the patients pathway so that potential delays are resolved at the earliest opportunity.
Liaise with the central booking office, pre-operative assessment and the patient access team where necessary to ensure patient wait times are met.
To communicate effectively and empathetically with patients and their relatives.
To work closely with surgeons, nursing and other departmental colleagues to ensure capacity is maximised.
To work closely with the Ophthalmology Coordinator to help maintain clinical rotas where required and cover duties when the Coordinator is on leave.
If appropriate, to manage a nominated team of administration & clerical staff.
Oversee Appraisals and Mandatory Training, ensuring timely compliance with Trust targetsProvide leadership and support to the nominated team.
To work closely with the Ophthalmology RTT Coordinator to manage capacity to the most appropriate activity as there will be a need to maintain RTT as well as managing follow up waits in the outpatient clinics.
To provide relevant information to key staff regarding patient waits and appointments.
To monitor/validate RTT PTLs, highlighting concerns or issues to the Lead Coordinator and Assistant General Manager/General Manager.
To liaise closely with the Validation team to support patient tracking from referral to treatment and for follow up, providing updates regarding admission and alerting him/her of any problems that may result in a delay in the patients treatment.
To lead the department's response at regular Check and Challenge meetings, providing key information on patient waits.
To liaise with support services to ensure timely investigations are carried out and ensure results are communicated to clinicians at the earliest opportunity.
To highlight bottlenecks within the process, communicating regularly with the Deputy General Manager/General Manager and where possible, suggesting and implementing solutions.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Proactively manage waiting times for individual patients to ensure national standards are not breached. Negotiate patient management arrangements with key staff.
Ensure the patient's journey (both new and follow up) are processed in a timely and efficient manner and pro-actively escalate issues in the patients pathway so that potential delays are resolved at the earliest opportunity.
Liaise with the central booking office, pre-operative assessment and the patient access team where necessary to ensure patient wait times are met.
To communicate effectively and empathetically with patients and their relatives.
To work closely with surgeons, nursing and other departmental colleagues to ensure capacity is maximised.
To work closely with the Ophthalmology Coordinator to help maintain clinical rotas where required and cover duties when the Coordinator is on leave.
If appropriate, to manage a nominated team of administration & clerical staff.
Oversee Appraisals and Mandatory Training, ensuring timely compliance with Trust targetsProvide leadership and support to the nominated team.
To work closely with the Ophthalmology RTT Coordinator to manage capacity to the most appropriate activity as there will be a need to maintain RTT as well as managing follow up waits in the outpatient clinics.
To provide relevant information to key staff regarding patient waits and appointments.
To monitor/validate RTT PTLs, highlighting concerns or issues to the Lead Coordinator and Assistant General Manager/General Manager.
To liaise closely with the Validation team to support patient tracking from referral to treatment and for follow up, providing updates regarding admission and alerting him/her of any problems that may result in a delay in the patients treatment.
To lead the department's response at regular Check and Challenge meetings, providing key information on patient waits.
To liaise with support services to ensure timely investigations are carried out and ensure results are communicated to clinicians at the earliest opportunity.
To highlight bottlenecks within the process, communicating regularly with the Deputy General Manager/General Manager and where possible, suggesting and implementing solutions.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Appropriate years experience of working within NHS
Knowledge/ Skills
Essential
- Excellent IT skills; good working knowledge of MS Office to include Word, Access & Excel
- Ability to work on own initiative and without close supervision
- Good working knowledge of TRAK, RTT, BI hub & other related systems
- Excellent communication / interpersonal skills for dealing with people internal and external to the organisation
- Capacity to understand information in data format and interpret this
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to GCSE grade C or above (or equivalent) in literacy and numeracy or NVQ level three in administration or equivalent experience appropriate years' experience in a hospital.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Appropriate years experience of working within NHS
Knowledge/ Skills
Essential
- Excellent IT skills; good working knowledge of MS Office to include Word, Access & Excel
- Ability to work on own initiative and without close supervision
- Good working knowledge of TRAK, RTT, BI hub & other related systems
- Excellent communication / interpersonal skills for dealing with people internal and external to the organisation
- Capacity to understand information in data format and interpret this
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to GCSE grade C or above (or equivalent) in literacy and numeracy or NVQ level three in administration or equivalent experience appropriate years' experience in a hospital.
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.
