Patient Access Receptionist

The role will be to provide a high-quality reception service for patients attending Kingston Hospital Outpatients clinics in Main Outpatients, Sir William Rous Unit and Gynaecology Outpatients.

You will be expected to accurately records patient attendance details and manage the scheduling of follow up appointments across a range of specialities in line with Kingston Hospital’s Access Policy. You will provide back-office support and help complete a number of administrative duties within the Patient Access team

Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is a district general hospital based approximately 12 miles from central London. the hospital is situated in a beautiful and historic part of the country and lies very close to Richmond Park, Hampton Court Palace and Kempton Park. The hospital supports around 350,000 people in the surrounding area from the boroughs of Kingston, Richmond, Roehampton, Putney, Merton and East Elmbridge.

We have approximately 520 beds and directly employ around 2,700 staff, with another 300 staff employed by contractors but working on behalf of the Trust. We are located on a single site in Kingston upon Thames, but run a number of outpatient clinics in sites across our catchment area including Raynes Park Health Centre, Surbiton Centre for Health, Queen Mary's Roehampton and Teddington Memorial Hospital.

We provide a full range of diagnostic and treatment services and have a national reputation for innovative developments in healthcare, particularly in 'patient-focused' care, day surgery and maternity services.
- To provide a friendly and welcome reception service to patients attending Kingston Hospital appointments providing clear advice, guidance information and assistance as appropriate.
- Deal with telephone enquiries from patients and relatives in a polite and professional manner, ensuring that the information provided is accurate and compliant with patient confidentiality and data protection policies.
- Receive information from department managers and relay to patients and visitors as appropriate.
- Book speciality outpatient appointments on CRS in line with the agreed specification of individual Consultants and teams.
- Cancel and rebook appointments and liaise with the Transport desk when applicable.
- To record attendance (check in) and follow up appointments of patient’s consultation on CRS.
- Ensure patient information is accurately recorded and fully maintained on CRS and update patient records on CRS on every visit, ensuring that accurate patient data is recorded.
- Make follow-up appointments for patients to attend the speciality outpatient clinics as required and ensure that this information is given to the patient.
- Ensure that the patient is given clear verbal information and correct/accurate documentation is sent.
- Arrange transport for patients attending speciality clinics where appropriate.
- Ensure that the reception area is well maintained at all times and that the approved information booklets are available to the staff and to the public.
- Assist with the training of new and temporary reception staff as required, to ensure a seamless service.
- Liaise with consultants and secretaries regarding queries with their clinics and referral letters.
- To undertake other duties as appropriate for both roles.

**Specific Booking & Administrative Responsibilities**:

- To open all incoming mail to the service ensuring everything is date stamped and redirecting wrongly addressed post to the correct department.
- To ensure that all referral letters received are sent to the relevant speciality for registration with the required time.
- To book appointments by phoning patients and offering a choice of appointments and if unable to contact the patient send a letter to confirm their appointment allocated to them.
- To escalate when capacity is an issue and appointments cannot be booked in line with the Consultant’s request.
- To ensure that transport and interpreters are booked where necessary.
- To be responsible for handling telephone calls from doctors, secretaries and other departments across the Trust, including external NHS agencies, ensuring they are dealt with in a polite, professional and empathetic manner.
- To prioritise the daily workload as per speciality to ensure that any referrals received and all urgent matters are dealt with as soon as practicable.
- To be responsible for ensuring that the correct appointment letter is attached to each patient episode and that this letter is printed to the assigned printer in the speciality.
- To ensure that right 18 week RTT codes are attached to patient pathways.
- To action downtime forms received from secretaries or nurse specialists as requested by consultants.
- Deal efficiently, effectively and professionally with a range of telephone and personal enquiries from members of staff, other departments, outside organisations etc, providing information, directing and prioritising queries as appropriate, to ensure