A&E Receptionist

Job overview

An exciting series of positions have become available within the Accident and Emergency Department at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. We are looking to recruit an A&E receptionist to join our team. This role will be patient facing and will put you at the heart of one of the busiest A&E's in the country. You will work closely with a variety of clinical teams to ensure that patients are welcomed and registered in the department as quickly and as safely as possible. You will also be responsible for working as part of a large team of receptionist to respond to shifts in demand from both ambulances and attendances.

This role will involve out of hours shift patterns and night working.

This position will largely be based at St Thomas' Hospital applicants will be expected to travel to Guy's Hospital as well.

NHS experience is welcomed but not vital for this role.

If you are looking for a challenging role with room to progress within the department and ample development opportunities then this role is for you.

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Emergency Department and we are seeking to recruit Band 3 A&E Receptionists on a permanent full time basis. The post holder will be responsible for supporting the day-to-day running of our Emergency Department and have provide front of house reception for Main ED / Paediatric A&E / Urgent Care Centre (both at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital sites). This is an exciting and challenging role within a busy environment, in which the post holder would have an opportunity to make a direct positive impact on patient experience.

We are looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic individuals who are will to deliver exceptional customer service and support the wider teams within the Trust. This role will be predominately based at St Thomas' with some rotation at Guy’s Urgent Care Centre. The successful candidate must have excellent interpersonal skills, be proactive in their approach with great organisation skills and be able to resolve issues within the department. They will have a focus on teamwork and be able to manage their own workload and priorities. They will be a clear and tactful communicator with the ability to develop strong working relationships with a wide range of people. They will have a mature attitude with good problem-solving abilities and a flexible, can-do approach.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Receptionist is essential to the smooth running of the department. You will be first point of contact for all patient enquires and it is essential that the patient's experience begins in a professional and polite manner. Although you will be assigned to specific departments, you will be trained in all aspects of the work and they will be expected to work flexibly to ensure all tasks are completed at all times.

The Receptionist is required to work within a team to provide a comprehensive and quality clerical service, while maintaining a high quality of support to the department and present a caring and efficient service to patients and their families, both in the clinic and during subsequent communication.

Duties and Responsibilities

Reception Duties

• Act as a first point of contact for patient queries
• Provide a high quality reception service to all users ensuring an efficient, professional and prompt reception and administration service is delivered at all times
• Provide excellent customer care to ensure timely, relevant advice and assistance to all GSTT service usersManage all telephone calls according to departmental standards and respond appropriately to maintain effective communication channels
• Deal with all enquiries from patients, staff and visitors in a courteous, efficient and tactful manner referring to appropriate staff when necessary
• keep reception and waiting area tidy and to monitor environment, reporting any concerns to the appropriate body
• Ensure that departmental standards are met for patients receiving notification or acknowledgement of their visit
• Ensure that each patient is treated as an individual and their individual needs are met (i.e. appropriate support is in place for their appointment, such as interpreting support
• De-escalate stressful situations at times of verbal aggression or hostility from patients.

Patient Administration

• Provide a welcoming and efficient reception service and to put patients at their ease
• Ensure that patients and visitors are well informed and that messages are communicated promptly
• Respond to enquiries in a courteous and efficient manner
• Ensure all patients’ demographic details are captured accurately and checked with the patient and any amendments/corrections are made in an accurate and timely fashion
• Ensure patient notes are prepared in a timely manner to allow admission from the Emergency Department to the Ward
• Work closely with the clinical team to identify mechanisms to improve service delivery and ensure that an optimum service is provided at all times
• Work within a multi-disciplinary team in developing the service in line with departmental plans and Trust corporate objectives
• Escalate any issues where appropriate to Team Leaders
• Be aware of patients with special needs and to ensure these needs aremet/exceeded by notifying appropriate clinical staff
• Organise patient transport and parking facilities
• Participate in department development as appropriate and participate in departmental meetings
• Undertake any other duties commensurate to the grade, required to ensure the smooth and efficient running of the department
• Undertake any training as required to complete the tasks associated with the job role
• Ensure that all health records are appropriately tracked and securely stored whilst in the department according to the Health Records

Policy

• To provide general administration support as directed by management Information Systems
• Set up, maintain and amend patient records held on the patient administration system
• Ensure that all data is inputted accurately into the clinical system in a timely manner
• Enter diagnostic coding data relating to patient details onto IT system
• Assist in the collation of patient activity data/quality information, relating to the Trust’s business processes and audit procedures
• Ensure patient information is validated and updated on system on each attendance
• Act as the main point of contact for registering patients during cross site IT application downtime

The post holder is required to follow Trust policies and procedures which are regularly updated including:

Confidentiality / Data Protection / Freedom of Information Post holders must maintain the confidentiality of information about patients, staff and other health service business in accordance with the Data Protection Act of 1998. Post holders must not, without prior permission, disclose any information regarding patients or staff. If any member of staff has communicated any such information to an unauthorised person, those staff will be liable to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. Moreover, the Data Protection Act 1998 also renders an individual liable for prosecution in the event of unauthorised disclosure of information.

Following the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2005, post holders must apply the Trust’s FOI procedure if they receive a written request for information.

Information Governance All staff must comply with information governance requirements. These includes statutory responsibilities (such as compliance with the Data Protection Act), following national guidance (such as the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice) and compliance with local policies and procedures (such as the Trust's Confidentiality policy). Staff are responsible for any personal information (belonging to staff or patients) that they access and must ensure it is stored, processed and forwarded in a secure and appropriate manner.

Equal Opportunities Post holders must at all times fulfil their responsibilities with regard to the Trust’s Equal Opportunities Policy and equality laws.

Health and Safety All post holders have a responsibility, under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and subsequently published regulations, to ensure that the Trust’s health and safety policies and procedures are complied with to maintain a safe working environment for patients, visitors and employees.

Infection Control All post holders have a personal obligation to act to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). They must attend mandatory training in Infection Control and be compliant with all measures required by the Trust to reduce HCAIs. All post holders must comply with Trust infection screening and immunisation policies as well as be familiar with the Trust’s Infection Control Policies, including those that apply to their duties, such as Hand Decontamination Policy, Personal Protective Equipment Policy, safe procedures for using aseptic techniques and safe disposal of sharps.

Risk Management All post holders have a responsibility to report risks such as clinical and non-clinical accidents or incidents promptly. They are expected to be familiar with the Trust’s use of risk assessments to predict and control risk, as well as the incident reporting system for learning from mistakes and near misses in order to improve services. Post holders must also attend training identified by their manager, or stated by the Trust to be mandatory.

Flexible Working As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.

Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults Post holders have a general responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in the course of their daily duties and for ensuring that they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.

Sustainability It is the responsibility of all staff to minimise the Trust’s environmental impact by recycling wherever possible, switching off lights, computers monitors and equipment when not in use, minimising water usage and reporting faults promptly.

Smoking Policy The Trust is committed to providing a healthy and safe environment for staff, patients and visitors. Staff are therefore not permitted to smoke on Trust property or in Trust vehicles

Review of this Job Description This job description is intended as an outline of the general areas of activity and will be amended in the light of the changing needs of the organisation. To be reviewed in conjunction with the post holder.