Receptionist / Admin Assistant

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Reception Hub for Community Clinic Services at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.

The Reception Hub provides first point of contact for patients, carers and healthcare professionals seeking support from community health services. The successful candidate will play a key role in answering telephone calls, managing referrals and providing administrative support to ensure patients are directed to the appropriate services quickly and efficiently.

This role will require working at various community clinics once training is complete and the post holder is confident in the role.

This role is ideal for someone who has excellent communication skills and is committed to delivering a high standard of customer service.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be required to work within various Community Clinics and will be first point of contact for service users providing a professional telephone and administrative service.

Key responsibilities will include:

Being the first Point of Contact for Service Users, handling incoming calls from patients, carers and healthcare professionals.Providing clear and accurate information in response to enquiries Recording and updating patient information on Trust systems Processing referrals and requests for community services Ensuring calls are handled efficiently and in line with service standards Managing calls and prioritising tasks within a busy contact centre environment Escalating calls or queries where appropriate to clinical teams or senior staff Completing administrative tasks linked to patient referrals and service coordination Maintaining accurate records while adhering to confidentiality and information governance standards Working as part of a team to maintain service performance and support operational targets

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Act as a first point of contact,  providing customer services for patients, carers, staff, public, internal, and external customers, maintaining patient confidentiality at all times.

Ensuring appointments are organised and patients arrived in on time using the patient administration system to effectively utilise clinical time, including identifying and re-prioritising appointments.

Contribute to the processing of all forms of incoming and outgoing mail.

To be able to work without direct supervision, prioritising own workload to assist in the smooth running of the clinical services.

Demonstrate working practices to new staff as part of the induction process.

Recognise and assist as part of the team with the management of medical emergencies should they arise.

To escalate any issues or problem areas to senior colleagues within the team(s) as appropriate. Complex enquiries should be escalated according to locally agreed procedures.

Observe a personal duty of care in relation to equipment/resources.

To work in a flexible manner when cover is required, to support and maintain service delivery.

Have an awareness of the Trust complaints procedure which will include defusing potential complaints or conflict and escalating appropriately as necessary.

Contribute to any changes in procedures and implement procedures for the service.

Communicate appropriately and sensitively with patients and carers recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome distressing situations, physical and learning disabilities, visual or hearing impairments, dementia, challenging behavior, cultural background, and preferred ways of communicating. This may include requesting the services of a translator.

Provide statistical information as required for audit purposes.

All post holders will agree to Commit to the vision of supporting Mersey Care in becoming a leading organisation in the provision of community services, mental health care, addiction services and learning disability care, and in doing so fully utilise their skills and experience to support the objectives of the Trust.