Admin Assistant (Medical Examiners Team)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Liaiseswith:

External:

Patients, carers and the general public, General Practitioners, Registrar, Coroner and Coroners Officers, Funeral Directors, Crematorium Officials, Hospices, Treasury Solicitor and Voluntary Organisations

Internal:

Medical examiners and medical examiner officers, Bereavement Officers, Patient Services/Experience team. Medical staff of all grades and specialities, Nursing staff of all grades and specialities, Other health professionals of all grades and specialities including Mortuary staff and Bereavement Officers. Operational and non-operational managers, Non-operational staff of all grades and specialties, Chaplains, Volunteers, Portering team and ISS.

Risk Assessment:

Dealing with situations of loss, grief, and potential confrontation on a regular (daily) and frequent basis. Noting that this will include dealing with traumatic, sudden deaths, paediatric deaths and those occurring in the maternity service.

Significant proportion, greater than 60%, of the work involves using a VDU.

Some manual handling associated with moving files and medical records between sites and departments

Fire safety and awareness.

Potential of occasional lone working and working from home.

Job Purpose:

To deal with the administrative aspects of the deaths of patients in hospital and the community. This includes dealing with distressed families in potentially distressing situations.

To support the Medical examiners and the medical examiner officers in the processes relating to scrutiny of all acute and community deaths.

To work with the medical examiner officers to ensure that these processes are as smooth and prompt as possible, for the bereaved relatives.

To deputise in exceptional circumstances for the Bereavement officers to guide through the bereavement pathway.

To provide telephone and email advice (on occasion face to face) and support to patients, relatives and staff regarding the NHS and community bereavement procedures and responding to specific questions raised by relatives which can include dealing with complex, sensitive and sometimes conflicting information.

To ensure accurate processing in terms of collecting and recording key administrative data.

To ensure that the Trust complies with its statutory obligations in respect of deceased patients and to assist with data collection for audit purposes.

Liaise with front-line staff including doctors, ward managers and Matrons and facilitate responses to any concerns or problems raised by patients/relatives regarding the death of a patient to ensure timely, local resolution.

Contribute to service improvements through promoting the use audit and questionnaires to highlight the views of bereaved relatives, undertaking actions to resolve problems and share good practice.

Key Duties:

Assist with the process for dealing with deaths in the Trust in accordance with the Trusts bereavement processes.

Ensure relevant documentation is collected and that data is inputted.

To liaise with the community care providers, coroner and registry office to chase the status of the death certificates and registration process .

To liaise with the coroners team to update the status of deaths.

To liaise with community care providers to chase referrals.

Record all necessary information using current administrative systems.

Record any relevant telephone conversations/ messages and communicating these to the correct person/ team.

Escalate any concerns to the appropriate team/ consultant/ nursing team.

Ensure that relatives are contacted, and provided with the necessary information and support to enable the death of the patient to be registered appropriately.

Ensure that all paperwork is completed correctly.

Arrange for medical staff to talk to relatives if they have any concerns or questions relating to the death of the patient.

Ensure that good practice is developed and adopted in feeding back patients and carers views and recommending actions to resolve problems.

Order stationery and ensure that there is a supply of MCCD certificates, cremation forms and relatives information booklets at all times.

Keep accurate records of in-patient deaths, BID (Brought in Dead), GP notifications and baby deaths within the hospital.

Keep medical records in good order and file any loose paper work ensuring the notes are tracked in and out of the department.

Keep all relevant excel spread sheets up to date ready for audit.

Be aware of the implications of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Data Protection Act 1998, Access to Health Records Act 1990, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Trusts Confidentiality Policy in undertaking this role.

Alert the Head of Patient, Carer and Public Engagement of any patient services matters that might attract adverse media coverage

Assist in the development of patient information.

Attend and contribute to team meetings.

Participate in an annual appraisal during which appropriate personal and service objectives for the forthcoming year will be defined and agreed.

Plan for continuous professional development and attend courses as identified through the appraisal process and to disseminate the information gained to other staff to encourage continuous improvement.

General Duties:

The post holder may be required to undertake such other duties and training and/or hours of work as may be reasonably required to be consistent with the general level of responsibility of the post.

This post will be based at both Worcestershire Royal Hospital and The Alexandra Hospital in Redditch. Travel to the other Trust sites may be required.

Vision and Values:

The Trust aims to provide local services for local people. It has developed its vision to reflect this commitment.

To continue to be the major provider of acute/specialist services for the people of Worcestershire (and wider) with a strong reputation for providing outstanding, high quality, reliable, accessible and integrated healthcare for local people

Driving this commitment are the Trust-wide signature behaviours:

Do what we say we will do

No Delays, every day

We listen, we learn, we lead

Work together, celebrate together

Standard Clauses:

The purpose of this post should remain constant, but the duties and responsibilities may vary over time within the overall role and level of the post. The post holder may from time to time be asked to undertake other reasonable duties. Any such changes will be made in discussion with the post holder in the light of service needs.

Competence

The post holder is responsible for limiting his / her actions to those which s/he feels competent to undertake. If the post holder has any doubts as to his or her competence during the course of his / her duties then s/he should immediately speak to their line manager or supervisor.

Codes of conduct

All employees of the Trust who are required to be registered with a professional body, to enable them to practise within their profession, are required to comply with their code of conduct and requirements of their professional registration. Those staff that are not required to be registered with a professional body are required to comply with the Trusts codes of conduct.

Confidentiality

The post holder must maintain confidentiality, security and integrity of information relating to patients, staff and other Health Service business.

Records Management

All employees of the Trust are legally responsible for all records that they gather, create or use as part of their work within the Trust (including patient, financial, personnel and administrative), whether paper or computer based. All such records are considered public records and all employees have a legal duty of confidence to service users. Employees should consult their manager if they have any doubt as to the correct management of records with which they work.

Person Specification

Personal qualities

Essential

• Diplomatic, and sensitive to the requirements and pressures of colleagues. Ability to work with sensitivity and tact, including a commitment to confidentiality. Able to work as part of a team. Ability to be responsive to an unpredictable work pattern. Ability to use own initiative. Able to work under pressure to meet deadlines. Resilience.

Qualifications

Essential

• GSCE English and maths or equivalent.

Knowledge and skills

Essential

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills Ability to communicate with sensitivity, empathy and tact when dealing with angry, grieving and bereaved relatives Ability to communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the organisation Ability to communicate effectively with key external links Excellent IT Skills and knowledge of Microsoft Office package. Confident telephone manner. Able to produce accurate and timely work. Good attention to detail. Ability to prioritise work effectively.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the NHS in the acute and/or primary sector. Ability to explain complex sensitive medical information. Ability to motivate, persuade and negotiate in pressurised and difficult situations. Knowledge of and ability to use the following Trust IT systems such as sunrise EPR, PAS and CLIP.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of face to face working with members of the public.

Desirable

• Experience working in the NHS in a patient contact role, including previous experience of conflict resolution, resolving issues to a satisfactory conclusion and partnership working.
• Experience of working with NHS computer systems.
• Bereavement experience.

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.

Employer details

Employer name

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Address

Charles Hastings Way

Worcester

Worcestershire

WR5 1DD

Employer's website

https://www.worcsacute.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)