Trainee Clinical Coder

Job overview

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has exciting opportunities for Trainee position; if you are interested working in the NHS and would like to start a new career as a Trainee Clinical Coder this may be the right direction for you.

Roles will be based on either Bedford or Luton site, please state your preference on the application.

We are seeking to for someone who can demonstrate good analytical skills, possess basic knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, and willingness to learn through self-directive study and supported training.

Full training will be provided to complete the Clinical Coding Standards Course (CCSC), which is a mandatory requirement of  21-25 days course designed to support individuals by providing an overview of the clinical coding profession in general and all national clinical coding standards, training for the use of ICD-10 and OPCS-4 classifications. The course is fully funded for individuals that serve a minimum of 2 years employment for the clinical coding service. The clinical coding department holds an internal contractual policy, should the employment be less than 2 years, reimbursement must be rendered for the standard course undertaken.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide an effective, accurate, timely, and consistent clinical coding service to the Trust and ensure all coding quality targets are achieved. In order to expand individual knowledge and provide a more robust service to the Trust, you will be expected to code variety of speciality to increase your in-depth knowledge. You will be required to work from the office on a regular basis to receive support and training.

You will be expected to promote continuous improvement in data quality by keeping abreast of development and innovations in the medical, surgical, and coding disciplines. This role forms a key member of the data quality team which aims to provide credible, accurate, complete, and timely data for the Trust.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Job Description and Person Specification are attached to this job, please review for the full details and responsibilities

The Clinical Coding Department is a pivotal Service within the Trust’s IM&T Division. These are corporate functions responsible for all Trust management information, reporting both externally and internally, providing vital management information to clinicians and managers which inform and determine the basis for decision-making across the Trust.

The Clinical Coding Department is responsible for the collection of clinical diagnosis codes using the ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases) and clinical procedure codes using OPCS-4 (Classification of Interventions and Procedures), extracting the relevant information from patient case notes, discharge letters and reports.

Clinical Coding data is essential for the effective management of the Trust and directly and crucially influences the Trust’s income in line with the ‘Payment by Results’ (PBR) process.  It also forms the basis for clinical audit, clinical governance reporting, bench-marking and medical research.

The Trust uses ‘Electronic Documentation Record Management service’ (E.D.R.M.S), Medicode360, this enables remote working;

• To attend all components of the Clinical Coding Standards Course including corporate induction / mandatory training.
• The post holder must be committed to attaining the National Clinical Coding Qualification in order to achieve Accredited Clinical Coder status.
• To attend relevant clinical coding training courses and workshops as required.
• To comply with both the Trust and departmental policies and processes.
• To abstract and analyse information in the patient’s electronic records or other source of documents and translate the medical terminology into clinical codes (ICD-10 and OPCS-4), and input the coded information on to the organisation’s clinical information system.
• To be able to work under pressure maintaining accuracy especially around monthly coding deadlines and the refresh period.
• To maintain a portfolio of evidence and professional accreditation through attendance and participation in ongoing internal and external training programmes; continuously updating comprehensive knowledge and understanding of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology and its applications to clinical coding.
• Maintain a flexible attitude and response to change in job content or organisation in order to maintain or improve the quality of service provided to patients, the Trust, and to other stakeholders.
• To plan and prioritise own workload to meet departmental targets and to advise the manager of any hindrance to the achievement of these targets.
• To support Administrative functions of the department in the absence of clerical team members.
• To maintain the strictest confidentiality.
• To undertake all reasonable requests.