Appointments Officer / Clerk

Job overview

Provide a professional, efficient and effective contact, administration and booking service to patients and visitors engaging with SHiP (Sexual Health in Plymouth) and Pregnancy Advisory Centre (PAC) in accordance with Trust policies and standards relating to confidentiality and customer care. To act as a first point of contact for service users, ensuring efficient and sensitive communication with patients and other health care professionals. To ensure confidential information is processed and accurate coding of data take place in line with departmental procedures.

FTC for maternity cover, with the possibility of becoming permanent.

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.***

Main duties of the job

Communicate with staff and patients at all levels, which involve explaining issues/policies and often supporting vulnerable patients in difficult circumstances, always maintaining a professional non-judgemental approach Requirement to book patient appointments in person and over the telephone often for patients who are in a distressed state, vulnerable or have learning difficulties Carry out reception duties and prepare documentation for clinic sessions The effective and efficient management of IPM and the dedicated SHiP IT system, ensuring strict adherence and compliance to all Trust Policies and procedures. To ensure due regard is given to customs, values and spiritual beliefs of patients, carers and their relatives.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To provide the first point of contact for patients accessing SHIP either in person or by telephone To deal with patients who may be in a distressed state and be able to advise on different courses of action Be able to receive sensitive and complex information and convey this to the appropriate person Be able to use judgement and initiative to deal with complex, difficult situations and anxious patients  Be able to take appropriate action when dealing with telephone and reception based enquiries/situations, understanding when to refer the matter/issue on  To be efficient in the use of the SHiP clinical IT systems. To input, amend and modify data and information accurately and consistently within policies and procedures To register new patients on the system, ensuring double registration does not occur To book new and follow up appointments To send out appointment letters to those patients who are referred via GP To process Online testing requests and returned kits, this will involve handling sampleTo prepare testing kits for patient community use Ensure accurate and up to date clinic lists are available for each clinic Create relevant patient alerts on the system where required and ensure that all HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis patients are identified appropriately Ensure patients are offered appointments in the appropriate clinic in a prompt and timely manner, supporting the service to meet national targets, specifically 48 hour access to SHiP Cancel and amend clinics as directed, ensuring all cancelled appointments are rebooked and all necessary people are advised of the changes Where advised, edit clinic sessions to allow the overbooking of clinics Record all patient attendances, book follow up appointments, discharge patients and close episodes as necessary Ensure the Trust’s waiting list policy is adhered to (Admin Guidance Notes)  To work with all the necessary staff in order to ensure that theatre lists and outpatient clinics are fully utilised with the appropriate case mix of patients As directed by the clinical team remove patients who are unsure whether they wish to continue with their procedure and close the appropriate referral Assist in investigating DNA’s and remove from waiting list as necessary To ensure that the case notes are traced accurately using iPM at all times and returned to Health Records in a timely manner  Following a review of the results inform SHiP patients of negative results via SMS system To assist the line manager in training new members of staff, as requested

Maintain personal and professional development to meet the changing demands of the job. Participate in appropriate developmental and training activities  Particular attention is drawn to the confidential nature of this post. All patient diagnosis and treatments must be held in the strictest of confidence at all times  Maintain boundaries of confidentiality in accordance with NHS (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) Directions 2000 and UHP policy.  To carry out any other clerical duties as determined by the line manager Requirement to work at a VDU screen for at least 75% of the working day Agenda for Change Version 10 AFC ID: Date: COMMUNICATIONS & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS  Receive and deal with confidential telephone enquiries from patients. Be able to handle patient complaints Communicate verbally in a sensitive and caring manner with patients including situations where patients may be distressed Demonstrate a professional, non-judgemental and helpful manner when communicating to patients and colleagues, face to face and on the telephone Provide information to possibly distressed/anxious patients treating them with tact and sympathy