Clerical Officer

Job summary

We are excited to advertise a permanent Clerical Officer position to join our Outpatient Administration team. The successful applicant will work within a supportive team to provide administration support to Community Diagnostic Centres and Outpatient clinics within the hospital setting.

The Outpatient Administration team is based across five hospital sites Leeds General Infirmary, Chapel Allerton Hospital, Seacroft Hospital, Wharfedale Hospital and St James University Hospital; and they also support two Community Diagnostic Centres at Beeston and Armley. The post holder will be required to work flexibly across a number of locations including Beeston, Armley and St James University Hospital.

The Outpatient Administration team work in collaboration with the Referral and Booking Service, Outpatient Nursing, Switchboard, Phlebotomy and the Robotic Process Automation team. Together we form the Outpatient Clinical Service Unit.

The main attributes we are looking for include being motivated, reliable, trustworthy, flexible, and keen to learn. We are also seeking somebody who is a good team player, with the ability to work on their own.

This post requires working between 08:00 and 17:00 Mon-Fri, but the successful applicant must also be able to work until 20:00 and provide cover during weekends if needed.

We are proud of the diversity within our teams, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to recruiting inclusively.

Main duties of the job

The main duty of this role is to provide administration support to the Community Diagnostic Centres at Beeston and Armley, and to the Outpatient clinics at St James University Hospital. The administration support includes computer-based work using our Patient Administration System and providing front of house reception support, delivering a high standard of patient care.

Our Clerical Officer team ensure all paperwork and systems are prepared in advance of Outpatient appointments. They also provide receptionist support across a number of reception areas; book patient appointments in person and by telephone; and ensure all post clinic actions are completely timely.

The Clerical Officer team report into the Outpatient Supervisors, and they also work closely with the Assistant Patient Services Coordinators, Outpatient Site Managers and Business Manager. The Clerical Officers also support and collaborate with various Clinical Service Units across the trust, which includes working with clinical teams such as doctors, nurses and phlebotomists.

If you are passionate about making a difference and want to deliver patient-centred care whilst working within in diverse and supportive team - this could be the role for you

About us

We are very proud of the established staff groups within our Outpatient team, including our successful Equality, Diversity & Inclusion staff group. We are proud winners of an LTHT Time to Shine Award 2022 for a Leeds Way award in the Fair category.

We recognise the power of the staff voice & encourage staff to act as champions through various staff networks including Disability, LGBT+ and BME.

We put staff Health and Wellbeing at the heart of everything we do and promote the importance of flexibility at work. We want to support all staff to succeed in their role & support reasonable adjustments in the workplace.

We adopt inclusive recruitment processes and share interview questions the day before interview, to all shortlisted candidates. We believe this creates a level playing field, reduces stress and helps interviewees know what we are looking for.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk' members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all our job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.

Job description

Job responsibilities

PRINCIPAL DUTIES & AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

1. To be fully conversant with and adhere to standard operating procedures, policies and agreed departmental procedures.

2. To promptly process patient and/or other correspondence, documentation, letters and reports adhering to strict deadlines.

3. To provide a full clerical support service to various departments including organising, sorting and filing documents and papers; dealing with incoming and outgoing paper and electronic post as required; photocopying, faxing and distributing information by post or email; typing letters and other documents.

4. To greet patients and visitors to the department, providing an efficient and courteous service, referring queries or concerns regarding patients and other visitors to the department to appropriate senior staff.

5. To plan and book appointments in priority order in accordance with departmental policy in a timely and efficient manner and arrange transport/interpreting services where appropriate.

6. Check/enter patient and/or other details on the Patient Administration and other Systems.

7. To request and retrieve relevant information from the appropriate administration system (electronic or paper systems) as necessary.

8. Prepare documentation for processing, including inputting, photocopying or scanning.

9. Check documentation is complete and available when needed in relevant clinic or ward case notes, test results and X-Rays etc.

10. Where necessary, to be responsible for handling and/or banking cash and cheques. May be authorised signatory for small cash/financial payments.

11. Report and respond to any system faults and errors.

12. Maintain and update patient/departmental databases, ensuring patient and other information is accurately recorded, prioritising within departmental guidelines and escalating unresolved situations/issues to appropriate line manager.

13. To deal with telephone and in-person queries from patients and relatives, Trust staff and external agencies in a polite and helpful manner, observing the need for discretion and courtesy. Taking responsibility for returning any follow up calls as necessary.

14. Follow Departmental/Trust disposal and destruction procedures of confidential documentation, in line with Data Protection Act and Confidentiality.

15. Collect and deliver patient or other documentation/reports around Trust when required using appropriate equipment as necessary.

16. Provide suitable cover for other clerical staff in cases of absences, as delegated by line manager.

17. Assisting to maintain high standards of care, including:-

Maintain a safe working environment, reporting incidents, accidents, complaints.

Understand the need to maintain and respect patient confidentiality.

Participate in in-service training.

Participate in mandatory training annually.

Participate in annual performance appraisal.

18. Visit and/or work at other designated Trust sites as required to ensure continuity of service/patient care.

19. General office work and any other duties assigned by the Outpatient Supervisor, Assistant Patient Services Co-ordinator, Outpatient Site Manager, Service Manager or other member of the Senior Management team, which may include:-

Monitoring and maintaining appropriate/agreed levels of stock and non-stock items, including stationery and office supplies.

Maintaining diaries for senior staff.

Person Specification

Skills & behaviours

Essential

Competent keyboard skills to maintain a high quality, accurate and efficient service Flexible approach to duties and working practices

Experience

Essential

Previous experience of an office environment - this includes work experience at school or college Insight into duties and responsibilities of the post Knowledge of clerical procedures and administration systems

Desirable

Knowledge of patient related databases

Qualifications

Essential

Literate and numerate NVQ2 in Customer Care or an equivalent level of knowledge and experience Educated to GCSE Grade C

Other Criteria

Essential

Able to fulfil Occupational Health requirements for the post with reasonable adjustments if necessary May be required to work outside of core office hours

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