Job summary A opportunity has arisen in our Access and Booking Team for an enthusiastic team player to join our call handling and administrative team to support the clinical services. The successful candidate will play an active role in supporting others to achieve the smooth day to day running of a busy office. Duties undertaken will be processing of referrals onto our Careflow system, booking of appointments/admissions and being part of the telephone service. To reschedule patients as necessary either due to changes in their clinical need or changing demands. Within these services there are specialities that required general admin support and full training will be given for these areas. You will need to be able to communicate via telephone and email with colleagues and other health care providers always showing respect and kindness. You will need to be meticulous, organised, and able to manage your own workload. Communicating with patients to ensure that we are meeting their needs you'll be a role model for the Trust values of being Supportive, caring, open and honest both to your patients and other colleagues. Please be advised that this vacancy may close early upon receipt of sufficient applications. Main duties of the job The post will be responsible for the day to day co-ordination of various Consultant outpatient appointments, involving allocation of patients to the Consultants clinics based on clinical priority, waiting times as well as general admin duties. You should have excellent keyboard skills. Knowledge of the Hospital Patient Administrative System (Careflow) and have some experience working within an office setting. Good communication and telephone skills and the ability to work independently are also essential. Work Pattern - Monday - Friday 8.30am -5.00pm About us Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites. We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care. Our Services Acute Care Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites. Primary Care Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital. Community Services Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre. Specialist Regional Services We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancs, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales. Achievements o Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018 o Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal) o National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme Date posted 03 January 2025 Pay scheme Agenda for change Band Band 3 Salary £24,071 to £25,674 a year per annum Contract Permanent Working pattern Full-time Reference number 409-6599580 Job locations Ormskirk DGH Wigan Road Ormskirk L39 2AZ Job description Job responsibilities Key Responsibilities to be gained over the period of the apprenticeship: To provide a comprehensive outpatient service to patients. The post will rotate through each of the areas within the access office to enable cover in all respects of the service. Responsible for registration of referral letters, ensuring all referral letters and ERS referrals are directed to the appropriate Consultants and Clinics. Responsible for booking all new and follow up appointments in accordance with departmental procedures Liaise directly with patients in relation to booking and agreeing outpatient appointments within the appropriate timescales Identify, attempt to resolve and pre-empt situations which may result in a breach of access targets. Regularly analyze waiting list information to ensure compliance with national waiting time standards and escalate in a timely manner any requirements for additional capacity to ensure patients are treated within waiting time standards. With knowledge and understanding of the 18-week RTT and compliant/non-compliant pathways add patients to the waiting list ensuring correct linkage. Responsible for appointing all patients from the PTLs and managing all Outpatient waiting lists to ensure accurate patient management, enabling the Trust to meet all of its performance targets. Working under the direction of the operational management teams, when dealing with requests for clinic cancellations; will be responsible for managing the cancellation/reduction of the clinics on PAS and ERS, and the patients future appointments effectively and timely. Responsible for all clinic template changes due to changes to Medical Rotas. Manage all appointments on the ERS system ensuring all new appointments which are cancelled by the patient, are discussed with the patient and the appointment either remade or discharged within the appropriate timescales. Management of the ASI, ensuring the booking of appointment or escalating capacity issues to the appropriate operational team. Responsible for managing partial booking lists and escalating any problems to the operational management teams/team leader. Manage all ward forms, ensuring patients are booked for their follow-up appointment or escalate as required. Retrospectively record all attendances outside clinic as per work instruction. On rotation ensure the general access office email address is managed timely during the shift. On rotation, allocated duties include answering the access and booking main telephone line for patient queries and booking. Ensure compliance with the two week wait rule for all suspected cancer referrals. The post holder will be required to undertake mandatory training and is responsible for keeping this training up to date. If the post holder feels he/she is not achieving their objective as agreed in the development plan they will bring it to the attention of their supervisor or manager at the earliest opportunity. Prioritise own workload on a daily basis while recognising when it is appropriate to escalate to manager. Participate in the cover of work colleagues during their absences or at other times when required. Required to contribute to service/department meetings giving progress reports on activity for each consultant and reduction of wait times. The post holder will support the line manager utilising the proper use of the Trusts resources such as stationery, telephone usage, photocopying and other consumables in the course of business, ensuring minimal waste and minimal cost. Responsible for data quality when maintaining, inputting, extracting and producing information (including information to patients) in the Trusts multiple computer systems. To use speed and accuracy with clinical and non-clinical information relating to patient care to ensure patient safety at all times. To work under own initiative within approved policies, procedures, booking guidelines and escalation processes to make decisions to ensure efficient and patient centred service delivery. To attend weekly meetings with the operational team to provide information for the access meetings and also to discuss any capacity issues/shortfalls and contribute to help identify a solution. Responsible for the generation and sending of all letters and appropriate information leaflets, for both paper and electronic referrals booked through Careflow and the ERS System and for partial booking invites. Receive and handle patient telephone enquiries in an empathic, reassuring, timely, appropriate and confident manner. Job description Job responsibilities Key Responsibilities to be gained over the period of the apprenticeship: To provide a comprehensive outpatient service to patients. The post will rotate through each of the areas within the access office to enable cover in all respects of the service. Responsible for registration of referral letters, ensuring all referral letters and ERS referrals are directed to the appropriate Consultants and Clinics. Responsible for booking all new and follow up appointments in accordance with departmental procedures Liaise directly with patients in relation to booking and agreeing outpatient appointments within the appropriate timescales Identify, attempt to resolve and pre-empt situations which may result in a breach of access targets. Regularly analyze waiting list information to ensure compliance with national waiting time standards and escalate in a timely manner any requirements for additional capacity to ensure patients are treated within waiting time standards. With knowledge and understanding of the 18-week RTT and compliant/non-compliant pathways add patients to the waiting list ensuring correct linkage. Responsible for appointing all patients from the PTLs and managing all Outpatient waiting lists to ensure accurate patient management, enabling the Trust to meet all of its performance targets. Working under the direction of the operational management teams, when dealing with requests for clinic cancellations; will be responsible for managing the cancellation/reduction of the clinics on PAS and ERS, and the patients future appointments effectively and timely. Responsible for all clinic template changes due to changes to Medical Rotas. Manage all appointments on the ERS system ensuring all new appointments which are cancelled by the patient, are discussed with the patient and the appointment either remade or discharged within the appropriate timescales. Management of the ASI, ensuring the booking of appointment or escalating capacity issues to the appropriate operational team. Responsible for managing partial booking lists and escalating any problems to the operational management teams/team leader. Manage all ward forms, ensuring patients are booked for their follow-up appointment or escalate as required. Retrospectively record all attendances outside clinic as per work instruction. On rotation ensure the general access office email address is managed timely during the shift. On rotation, allocated duties include answering the access and booking main telephone line for patient queries and booking. Ensure compliance with the two week wait rule for all suspected cancer referrals. The post holder will be required to undertake mandatory training and is responsible for keeping this training up to date. If the post holder feels he/she is not achieving their objective as agreed in the development plan they will bring it to the attention of their supervisor or manager at the earliest opportunity. Prioritise own workload on a daily basis while recognising when it is appropriate to escalate to manager. Participate in the cover of work colleagues during their absences or at other times when required. Required to contribute to service/department meetings giving progress reports on activity for each consultant and reduction of wait times. The post holder will support the line manager utilising the proper use of the Trusts resources such as stationery, telephone usage, photocopying and other consumables in the course of business, ensuring minimal waste and minimal cost. Responsible for data quality when maintaining, inputting, extracting and producing information (including information to patients) in the Trusts multiple computer systems. To use speed and accuracy with clinical and non-clinical information relating to patient care to ensure patient safety at all times. To work under own initiative within approved policies, procedures, booking guidelines and escalation processes to make decisions to ensure efficient and patient centred service delivery. To attend weekly meetings with the operational team to provide information for the access meetings and also to discuss any capacity issues/shortfalls and contribute to help identify a solution. Responsible for the generation and sending of all letters and appropriate information leaflets, for both paper and electronic referrals booked through Careflow and the ERS System and for partial booking invites. Receive and handle patient telephone enquiries in an empathic, reassuring, timely, appropriate and confident manner. Person Specification Personal Attributes Essential Personal Integrity Excellent communication skills Skills/Ability Essential Good keyboard skills Good organisational ability Able to organise own workload Proven ability to communicate well, both written and oral, relating effectively to patients and staff members Ability to consider problems and issues from a referring and patient perspective to adapt processes to reflect this Knowledge & Experience Essential Able to communicate with a range of people, in a way that is clear and understood. Demonstrate an ability to work as part of a teamwork to achieve a common goal. Can plan, organise, and effectively prioritise tasks to achieve the required objectives. Can effectively manage own time and activity to meet deadlines. Demonstrates an understanding of the NHS. Qualifications Essential Educated to GCSE/NVQ level 2/3 or able to demonstrate equivalent level of knowledge Level 2 English and Maths Person Specification Personal Attributes Essential Personal Integrity Excellent communication skills Skills/Ability Essential Good keyboard skills Good organisational ability Able to organise own workload Proven ability to communicate well, both written and oral, relating effectively to patients and staff members Ability to consider problems and issues from a referring and patient perspective to adapt processes to reflect this Knowledge & Experience Essential Able to communicate with a range of people, in a way that is clear and understood. Demonstrate an ability to work as part of a teamwork to achieve a common goal. Can plan, organise, and effectively prioritise tasks to achieve the required objectives. Can effectively manage own time and activity to meet deadlines. Demonstrates an understanding of the NHS. Qualifications Essential Educated to GCSE/NVQ level 2/3 or able to demonstrate equivalent level of knowledge Level 2 English and Maths 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 Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Address Ormskirk DGH Wigan Road Ormskirk L39 2AZ Employer's website https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)