Colorectal Theatre Scheduler

We are looking for a theatre scheduler to work primarily with the colorectal surgery team.

You will be required to cross cover during annual leave and periods of absence, and will need excellent communication skills and organisational abilities.

Strong IT skills are desirable, along with experience of working in a pressurised environment.

You will be required to work autonomously, prioritising your own workload and acting on your own initiative.

To proactively manage the efficient scheduling of inpatient and day case procedures across the sub-division. Key responsibilities include adding patients to the waiting list, scheduling patients into appropriate theatre slots within RTT targets, support and report to Support Manager/Service Manager and escalate issues appropriately.

The post holder will be required to work with mínimal supervision and have the ability to exercise sound judgement and will be required to use decision making skills.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHFT) provides good quality, safe and effective healthcare to the people of Cheshire and beyond. The Trust, which manages Leighton Hospital in Crewe, Victoria Infirmary in Northwich, and Elmhurst Intermediate Care Centre in Winsford, was established as an NHS Trust in April 1991 and became a Foundation Trust in April 2008.

We employ almost 5,000 members of staff, provide around 540 hospital beds, with a range of services including accident and emergency, maternity, outpatients, therapies, and children's health.

The Trust is also part of Central Cheshire Integrated Care Partnership (CCICP), a unique local health partnership that provides a range of community services for people across South Cheshire and Vale Royal.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, the Trust was recognised nationally for its ‘Be Safe Be EquiPPEd’ campaign, which aimed to make the Trust as safe as possible for staff and patients, through supporting the correct use of PPE. The results in the 2020 national NHS Staff Survey showed improvements in all elements of the safety culture theme, with 92% of respondents feeling their role made a difference to our patients. We were also recognised nationally for our workforce health and wellbeing initiatives.

At Mid Cheshire, we value our staff and appreciate that in order to give our patients the best quality, compassionate care, we also need to look after our colleagues.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Managing patients in line with Trust Access Policy and Scheduling Policy.
2. Scheduling the patients into theatre lists within the 18 week RTT date; this is done in conjunction with the Consultants ensuring that all lists are fully utilised.
3. The post holder will be expected to meet at least weekly with consultants to review waiting lists and theatre utilisation.
4. Prioritise the patients on a clinical need basis as indicated by the Consultant whilst identifying any breach patient to the Consultants for them to date appropriately.
5. Escalating potential breach patients to the Support Manager or Service Manager.
6. Arrange the pre-operative assessment date for the patients to ensure that this is done in advance of the TCI date.
7. Liaise with the patients via telephone and provide written communication to confirm all dates and relevant information required for the TCI.
8. Communicate with patients and their representatives both verbally and in writing confirming pre-operative and admission dates.
9. Responsible for the patient demographics being accurately added onto the PCS system within 7 days of the Decision to Admit.
10. Ensure all relevant patient information, including GP, home address, and alternative contact numbers, holiday dates etc are accurate and recorded.
11. Full compliance with Access policy.
12. Monitor closely on a daily basis the Waiting List report and action accordingly, reporting on bottlenecks and avoiding patient breaches.
13. Ensuring all theatre sessions are populated 2 months in advance and planned 3 months ahead.
14. To proactively identify opportunities for improvement, efficiency of waiting list administration and the utilisation of elective capacity.
15. Ensuring patients are given no less than three weeks’ notice of TCI date. Where shorter notice periods are given the reason must be recorded on PCS.
16. To ensure the case mix of patients booked on lists to ensure optimal utilisation of theatre time. This is achieved through a thorough working knowledge and close working relationship with clinicians.
17. To maintain the continuity of communication with the clinician in the administration of the waiting list. Liaise with clinical staff and secretaries regarding the status of patients whose waiting list entries have been recorded as deferred or suspended.
18. Complete and record outcomes of offer on PCS, ensuring accurate information reflecting refusals of reasonable offers of admission for non-clinical reasons thus are providing an audit trail on all episodes.
19. To re