Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
The Outpatient Booking Office provides a patient-focused and responsive contact point for patients, ensuring appointments are booked within specified time limits.
We are currently appointing for a Booking Coordinator for a fixed-term contract.
Outpatient Booking Co-ordinators will manage their own delegated responsibility in operating a partial or full booking process receiving paper and electronic referrals for Outpatient specialties.
They will have a lead responsibility for clinic management for a group of Consultants/Specialties. Booking Co-ordinators will be expected to provide cross cover to other Specialties in the absence of colleagues.
Main duties of the job
The Outpatient Booking Co-ordinator will manage and co-ordinate the outpatient pathway from the acceptance of the referral through to the outpatient appointment. To ensure appointments are booked according to the Consultants' protocols, booking policies, and procedures. Contributing to the overall efficient and effective running of all designated clinics.
Maintaining a clear and robust outpatient waiting list, monitoring clinic capacity to treat all patients on the outpatient waiting list, working closely with the Outpatient Team Leader and Administrative Service Manager.
Job responsibilities
* Assigned to specific Consultant Surgeons but there is an expectation that staff will provide support and cover during periods of leave for colleagues, including other departments.
* Add patients to the outpatient waiting list from referral, ensuring all information is entered onto the Lorenzo system and where necessary request images. Recognising any Red Flag symptoms and escalating these to consultants.
* Once trained, individuals to maintain a high knowledge of Lorenzo, E-referral service, Image Exchange System, Electronic Patient Record, Spinal Portal, Bookwise, Internal Patient Waiting Lists, Synapse.
* Communicate with patients to agree on a date of appointment according to the relevant waiting times as designated by the appointment type and other factors, providing general advice around their appointment and the location of the Trust and sending out relevant paperwork.
* To highlight any referrals that require urgent attention and deal with them promptly; this may involve discussions with the medical/divisional teams directly to arrange where the patient needs to be booked.
* To monitor daily the Patient Tracking Lists (PTL) for the designated specialties by tracking, booking, and closing patients' episodes and pathways where appropriate, ensuring that all new patients are booked according to current waiting times targets and the PTL is complete by the monthly/weekly deadline.
* To be responsible for authorised overbooking where appropriate, ensuring priority of patients is considered through reviewing several databases and considering a range of options, such as diagnostics, new and old patients, and patients in trouble, seeking assistance from the Outpatient Team Leader or Administrative Service Manager when needed.
* Support patients in trouble by escalating concerns to Consultant colleagues and the safeguarding team as necessary.
* Ensure all relevant documentation is scanned onto EPR and filed as appropriate.
* Liaise with Team Leader regularly to receive updates on waiting times and discuss and make recommendations to improve waiting list management.
* Provide a daily report on the status of the outpatient waiting list for consultants to whom you are assigned.
* Ensure that patients receive all the relevant documentation pertaining to their appointment.
* Plan and liaise with consultants regarding appointments to enable prioritisation of work.
* Whilst arranging appointment dates use knowledge of clinic capacity.
* To constantly work adhering to the Access Policy, keeping abreast of changes as communicated by Senior Staff.
* Ensuring Choose and Book appointments are booked in correctly, where not, ensuring the appointment is rescheduled appropriately and the patient is informed.
* Re-arrange or cancel full clinics as directed by the operational team (with and without consultant consultation) where appropriate ensuring full utilisation of remaining clinics.
* Re-arrange or cancel clinic appointments as requested by the patient (with and without consultant consultation) where appropriate ensuring full utilisation of remaining clinics.
* Provide detailed information for clinicians regarding their waiting lists.
* Provide a high level of customer care exchanging information with patients and staff regarding outpatient processes and procedures, such as discussions around individual needs, such as adjustments for patient appointments.
* Liaise with the Head of Patient Access and Administrative Services Managers to ensure all clinics are utilised and planned efficiently. Notify Consultants on any factors they may need to know resulting in their clinic being affected.
* To deal with queries from patients, Secretaries, medical and nursing staff in a diplomatic and sympathetic manner, both on the phone and face to face.
* Ensure all clinic appointments are outcomed correctly from either the clinical outcome form or once the clinic dictation is typed.
* Communicate with the discharge team to ensure follow-up appointments are booked at a requested point of time, balancing needs and requirements such clinic capacity and Consultant availability.
* Escalate appropriate issues to Consultants, operational Management, Team Leader &/or Administrative Service Manager.
* Regularly deal with queries from anxious patients or relatives (gaining appropriate confirmation of patients' permission to do so) when giving difficult messages such as delays to appointments which can often be met with high emotion, then requiring staff to utilise empathy and direct as appropriate.
* Deal with Outpatient teams inboxes daily along with personal email, responding in a prompt and correct manner.
* Participate in providing training within the Department, making sure individual training matrix is up to date.
* Maintain Lorenzo details and update patient details.
* Liaise with the Outpatient resource team re: changes, bookings, cancellations. This is to ensure that resources can be appropriately reallocated as necessary.
* Liaise with other Hospitals to ensure notes and x-rays are forwarded for patients attending clinic.
* Participate in maintaining physical waiting list filing and general healthcare record filing system.
* Provide support to the Head of Patient Access, Administrative Services manager and Team Leader.
* To participate in general administration duties such as the answer phone, cancellation email, post, date stamping, photocopying, scanning and any other technology that may be introduced to support the Trust's systems and processes.
* To contribute to the ongoing service improvement plans and policies for Outpatients, being open to changes to current practices and offering input into meetings/workshops as required.
* Participate in mandatory training and induction programmes as well as staff appraisal and objective setting.
* Expected to concentrate for long periods of time (up to 2 hours), undertaking outcomes and analysis of Patient Target List.
* Individuals can expect frequent interruptions from patients calling the department and also colleagues requiring urgent support.
* There will be occasional exposure to verbal aggression whilst communicating unwelcome news which can be challenging such as delays to appointments.
* Ensure all communications and data storage is filed and stored in line with Trust policies and procedures and GDPR.
Person Specification
Qualifications/Training
* Understanding of Microsoft Office / Competent in use of ICT.
* GCSE English C grade or above. GCSE Maths C grade or above. GCSE ICT C grade or above.
Experience
* Reception / formal office experience.
* Microsoft Office computer software.
* Previous experience of Medical Records Department.
Skills and Competencies
* The ability to prioritise and organise workloads to meet business requirements and customer demands.
* The ability to write legibly to external customers and internal colleagues using plain English.
* To be able to listen effectively and to provide clear, concise and accurate information.
* The ability to work confidently using own initiative.
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
* Strong interpersonal skills.
* Able to sort accurately into numerical and alphabetical order.
* Tact and discretion when dealing with sensitive and confidential information.
* Able to use a variety of hospital computer systems, including PAS and SF4.
Knowledge
* Knowledge of Microsoft Office / Competent in use of ICT.
* Knowledge of outpatient booking systems.
Personal Qualities & Trust Values
* To exemplify the Trust Values: Friendly - patients, colleagues, public are always put at ease and made welcome; Excellence - ensure the care we deliver has great outcomes for patients; Caring - put the patient first and be considerate of their needs; Professional - apply high professional standards to your role; Respect - for patients and each other.
* Willing to participate in ongoing training.
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.
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