Dental Receptionist

Job overview

The Dental Service provides a wide range of treatments to a diverse group of people; therefore, good interpersonal skills are required to fulfil this frontline role.

You will be part of a team of Receptionists across Cambridgeshire so good communication and teamwork skills are vital.

You must possess excellent communication and people skills as some patients may present with complex needs or have a language barrier.

This is an extremely busy service offering a wide range of treatments to a diverse group of people. Our clinics in Cambridgeshire offer Additional Needs Dentistry and Minor Oral Surgery, thus good time management skills are imperative.

This role is 30 hours per week working Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Should we receive a high number of applications we reserve the right to close this vacancy at any point after the 21st August 2026

Main duties of the job

Responsible for the effective running of the dental reception, dealing with enquiries and arranging and confirming appointments, both face to face and via telephone, interpreting as necessary the needs of both patients and clinicians enabling situations to be dealt with promptly and efficiently.

Responsible for printing confirmation letters.

Ensuring effective processing of patient information, preparing and maintaining patient records, ensuring that all letters and correspondence relating to patient care and treatment is filed accurately.

Managing the re-booking of any appointments via telephone.

Maintain the waiting room by replenishing information leaflets and ensuring that all relevant literature is up to date and current.

Work proactively as part of the team to complete reception tasks and deadlines to enable the service to perform efficiently.

Maintain the appointment system to ensure that surgery time is utilised appropriately.

Record referral and communication correspondence in the patient’s notes and action according.

Obtain and retrieve records, as requested, liaising with patients, staff, health professionals or outside agencies as required.

Prioritise own workload and when required work independently managing the department administration and provide appropriate advice.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To undertake reception duties and liaise and interact with service users and colleagues effectively.

Responsible for providing nonclinical information when dealing with day-to-day queries from patients and healthcare professionals.

Answer and deal with both face-to-face and telephone enquiries in a tactful and professional manner, recording any messages efficiently and passing them to the relevant individual in an appropriate and timely manner.

Meet and greet patients and advise them of any excessive delays and any other relevant information.

Responsibility for liaising and booking of interpreting services ensuring patients with identified communication barriers are suitably represented at dental appointments.

Required to be able to communicate well with patients with challenging behaviour, including those with special needs, together with carers and other health professionals.

To handle all monies taken as payment for dental treatment and responsible for cashing up/banking payments at the end of the day.

Run a debtors list on a monthly basis and collect charges as appropriate

Support with the process of the management of banking and maintaining a float and excel spreadsheet.

To work flexibly to manage calls across dental sites and services, to be part of the support team in providing cover for absences or when there is high demand for administrative support.

Maintain own professional development and requirement to take part in appraisal and Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) process.

Be aware of and adhere to Trust policies and procedures and compliance with NHS code of conduct.

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.