Clerical / Appointment Officer

Job overview

We are looking for a Clerical Officer to join our dynamic team of highly motivated individuals.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and energetic individual to work in this extremely busy department. The post is both interesting and varied and requires someone to show initiative and work as a member of a team. Applicants should have a responsible attitude and be able to demonstrate good communication skills, as regular liaison is required with patients, Trust personnel and the general public.

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust is an Equal Opportunities employer, and is actively working toward a smoke-free environment. Under the Trust’s Green Commuter Strategy, onsite parking is restricted.

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.***

• To provide a clerical service to the ward and assist nursing staff in reception of families and visitors to the ward.
• Provide administration support to the team of nursing and clinical staff working within the CDC
• To liaise with other departments providing necessary notes, referral information and results for medical nursing staff.
• Responsible for the booking, preparing and reception of out-patient clinics.
• Liaise with consultants, junior medical staff, medical secretaries, central records library and out-patient staff.
• Responsible to undertake the role of appointment officer for Consultant Paediatricians, Visiting Consultant Teams and their support staff. Working within a team.
• Work to the Trust values – Leading with excellence, caring with compassion
• Adhere to Trust policies and procedures, e.g. Health and Safety at Work, Equal Opportunities etc
• Attend statutory, essential and mandatory training
• Respect the confidentiality of all matters relating to their employment and other members of staff. All members of staff are required to comply with the requirements of Data Protection Legislation.

Working for our organisation

It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

1. Register new patients on iPMS (Information Patient Management
2. Register new patients on iPMS (Information Patient Management System), ensuring double registration does not occur.
3. Maintain out-patient follow-up waiting lists. Ensure that all referrals are put onto iPMS following the guidelines set out in the Trust’s Access Policy.
4. Prepare hospital notes for clinics in line with Trust Waiting List and Directorate Policies.
5. Invite new patients in chronological order for clinical outpatient sessions in conjunction with clinician’s booking rules.
6. Book follow-up appointments in chronological order for clinical outpatient sessions in conjunction with clinician’s booking rules.
7. Book follow-up appointments that have been requested by wards/medical secretaries in line with the follow-up waiting list procedures.
8. As required, telephone patients with urgent/last minute appointments.
9. Receive and deal with confidential telephone enquiries from patients. Be able to handle patient complaints.
10. Take appropriate actions when clinic capacity alters, e.g. cancellations, over-bookings etc.
11. Notify appropriate out-patient staff of changes/cancellations to clinics.

For further details please see attached JD&PS.

Person specification

Knowledge & Experience

• Previous clerical demonstrable experience

• Previous demonstratable experience of working in a large clinical business
• Demonstrable experience in working with the general public
• Proven knowledge of iPM

Qualifications

• GCSE’s 9-4 (A-C) in Maths & English and NVQ level 2 in either business administration or related subject or equivalent demonstrable experience

Aptitude & Abilities

• Good communication skills, written and verbal, with ability to demonstrate fluency, clarity and effectiveness at all levels
• Keyboard skills
• Time management skills
• Organisational skills

• Understanding the Trust’s waiting list policy within the workplace

Other Factors

• Flexibility to cover colleagues during absences
• Demonstrate an understanding of confidentiality

Disposition Attitude and Montivation

• Work as a team member
• Proactive, takes own initiative
• Able to work calmly and methodically when working in a busy environment with a busy workload.

• Willingness to learn and develop in a challenging environment

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY INCLUDING YOUR JUNK FOLDER.

If you need support with the online application process or require reasonable adjustments with the application and/or interview process please contact the Recruiting Manager for this post.

We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants about less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. We recommend contacting the manager of the role prior to applying and we commit to giving requests full consideration.

We welcome and encourage applicants who identify with all protected characteristics to apply for our roles. We believe that diversity strengthens our teams and improves our patients' experience. At UHP we aim to create an inclusive workplace and hospital where everyone feels they belong and included.

It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

Providing false information is an offence & could result in the application being rejected or summary dismissal/police action if an applicant is successful.

This is an automated process & the information will only be used for these purposes prior to your taking up the position with us.

For Doctors Roles:

Unsolicited CVs and Candidate Profiles/Details

University Hospitals Plymouth has a commitment to sourcing candidates directly and as such we do not accept speculative CVs from agencies.

We do, however, work with a defined list of preferred HTE Framework suppliers who may be invited to support us in sourcing candidates for particular roles.

In line with our preferred supplier list, we only pay agency fees where we have a signed agreement in place and an agency has been instructed by a member of the Trust’s Medical Workforce team.

We do not pay agency fees where speculative and unsolicited CVs are submitted to the Trust or Trust employees by any other means than the official route above. Where this is not observed the Trust reserves the right to contact these candidates directly and initiate discussions without payment of any agency fee.

Any candidate details (whether written or spoken) or CVs that are referred directly will not constitute an introduction. The Trust will under no circumstances be responsible for any recruitment fees in relation to these contacts.

Submission of any unsolicited CVs, candidate’s details and/or proposals to the Trust will not be considered further and will be deemed evidence of full and unlimited acceptance of this Agency Protocol.

In order to establish and maintain good working relationships with the Trust’s agency suppliers, we ask that this Protocol is adhered to and thank you for your co-operation.