Paediatric Ophthalmology and Orthoptics Failsafe

Band 4 Paediatric Ophthalmology and Orthoptics Failsafe Officer

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Failsafe Officer to join the Orthoptics team in the Ophthalmology Department.

You will be point of contact for administrative issues relating to paediatric ophthalmology and orthoptics patients' pathway of care, working as part of a multidisciplinary team and provide expertise in the proactive management of the patient pathway from referral to discharge, ensuring the entire pathway is managed smoothly.

This role has responsibility for ensuring that all appointments are made in accordance with clinician's requests.

There may be the requirement to work cross-county at both the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading and the Prince Charles Eye Unit in Windsor.

To be the main point of contact for administrative issues relating to paediatric ophthalmology patients’ pathway of care assurance that all patients pathways are managed using national assurance standards and local clinical decisions.

To work as part of the multidisciplinary team and provide expertise in the proactive management of the paediatric ophthalmology patient pathway from referral to discharge, ensuring the entire pathway is managed smoothly. To supervise and allocate work to those within their team.

The post holder will ensure high levels of patient and clinician satisfaction by being an accessible, customer-focused and knowledgeable point of contact. To provide a consistent approach across the Trust, using Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure that functions of the role are carried out correctly within given time scales.

Reading sits on the river Thames and is served by great road and rail links to London, Oxford and Southampton. With excellent leisure and shopping facilities, and a thriving cultural scene, Reading is a wonderful place to live, work and play and provides excellent facilities for families, including some of the best state and private schools in the UK.

The CQC recently rated the care provided by the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust as Good.

**Our values**: Compassionate, Aspirational, Resourceful, Excellent, reflect the type of Trust we aspire to be and you can join our dedicated and talented staff to make this happen.

Principal Responsibilities

Outpatient Tracking
1. To be the first point of contact in the receipt and acknowledgement of referrals.
2. Ensure all referrals graded as URGENT (Within 2 weeks) are booked into designated clinic slots, contacting and confirming every appointment with either the patient or their carer.
3. In conjunction with the orthoptic administration team, ensure all non-urgent referrals are booked into the correct clinic.
4. Track all new and follow up patients in the hospital eye service (HES) to provide assurance that appointments are received and attended within clinically led timelines.
5. Escalate any predicted or actual clinic capacity issues to the Patient Pathway Coordinator (PPC) to ensure that patient care is not postponed or compromised. Ensure any breaches are escalated to the PPC.
6. Liaise regularly with the clinical lead to provide data on the outcome of first referrals and future treatment plans.
7. Investigate all patient DNAs, communicating the results to the consultants and the operational management team as appropriate.
8. Ensure outcomes of clinic attendance have been accurately recorded on EPR, this will also need to be checked for off-site clinics.
9. Complete clinic cancellation forms and process according to SOPs.
10. Reschedule outpatient clinics as requested - to be done in line with waiting time targets.
11. Liaise with patient records staff, clinical colleagues, other admin teams and other organisations to ensure all medical notes, referral letters, results and discharge summaries are available for outpatient appointments and consultations.

Pathway Tracking
1. To use the 18 week referral to treatment (RTT) to manage all outpatient and elective patient journeys.
2. Lead on the validation of the RTT patient Tracking List 9PTL). Investigate and take the appropriate action where pathways are incomplete to ensure that patients are receiving timely treatment and Trust Information is robust.
3. To be responsible for identifying and escalation any issues to the PPC which compromises delivery of the 18 week RTT pathway, e.g. lack of capacity either in outpatients or theatres.
4. Ensure inter-provider transfers are timely and that the appropriate paperwork has been completed and sent or received.
5. Liaise with internal and external colleagues to share patient pathway and diagnostic information.
6. Manage and monitor outpatient and theatre scheduling making the best use of capacity.
7. Ensure trust systems are updated with patient pathway status information and that data quality is maintained.
8. Proactively manage the pathway to avoid breaches and take steps to resolve any issues.

General Administrative
1. Use trust IT systems and specialty databases