Team Leader - Patient Access

Job description

• Take overall responsibility for efficient running of the administrative function, maintaining effective office/ departmental systems and processes.
• Work with other members of the wider team to ensure quality standards are adhered to.
• Ensure that the team is aware of relevant Trust policies and procedures relating to service delivery.
• Develop new processes for the service with a view continuously improving the patient experience.
• Create and prepare reports relating to service delivery and performance and recommends actions where areas of improvement are identified.
• Take responsibility for the even distribution of workload within the department, initiating amendments or improvements where necessary
• Take responsibility for patient/client care in terms of dealing with complex patient queries, particularly where patients are distressed and emotional.
• Mange complex patient queries referred from other staff to an appropriate resolution
• Manages any complaints in accordance with the directorate's clinical governance/ complaints guidelines.
• ensure appropriate training and induction is in place for new members of the team, and refresher and mandatory training takes place for all members of staff
• Provide cross cover for Team Leader colleagues across the clinical administrative teams where necessary
• Organise and conduct annual appraisals with staff and develop PDPs, ensure training and development needs are met. To evaluate staff performance against PDP's taking appropriate action to ensure that staff abilities and aptitudes are developed and potential maximized in line with KSF
• Co-ordinate regular team meetings and including other relevant key personnel
• Maintain personal files for individuals and maintain as confidential
• Effectively address issues of poor performance, conduct and attendance
• Complaints within specified timeframes, liaising with divisional managers and clinicians as necessary to obtain required information to formulate a response
• Collate staff attendance figures and manpower returns and send to the appropriate department
• Ensure that the team is aware of relevant Trust policy & procedure updates
• Oversee stationery supplies and other stock and non-stock items and authorise new orders in line with budgetary constraints.
• Ensure trust-wide standard operating procedures and policies developed for clinical administrative processes are adhered to; participate in the review of and development of new procedures
• Assist line Manager in maintaining a quality assurance process to ensure standard operating procedures, policies and procedures are being adhered to within the clinical administrative team
• Pro-actively monitor all administrative processes and responsibilities highlighting any system, procedural or capacity issues in line with the needs of the service
• Attend on behalf of the service all relevant Trust wide user groups cascading relevant information to staff
• Ensure the office environment is maintained within Health and Safety standards and projects a professional image
• Comply with Trust procedures for tracking the whereabouts of patient records at all times
• Assist all members of staff an patients with the uptake of new technologies, and where required become a 'user champion' to embed learning

• Co-ordinate the patient pathway ensuring that clinical priorities are actioned, elective access targets are met and all staff and patients informed as appropriate
• Ensure that all clinical administrative transcription including clinical correspondence are actioned in a timely fashion in accordance with Trust standards.
• Compose agendas, taking and typing minutes at specialty meetings
• Ensure that referrals are graded within Trust standards
• Monitor performance against specific targets such as referral to treatment time and letter turnaround time
• Ensure GP and patient enquiries and complaints are dealt with promptly and to Trust standards
• Receive patient enquiries by mail, telephone or email, actioning as appropriate and disseminating to relevant colleagues as necessary
• Direct patients to the most appropriate source of information for bookings for investigations, outpatient attendances, operations or admissions
• Ensure patients are seen in outpatients, have diagnostic tests and are admitted in accordance with national and local access targets for elective treatment, cancer etc
• Liaise with other health professionals relating to the patient care pathway and service delivery
• Create new clinics and amend existing clinics on PAS as appropriate.
• Keep comprehensive records of any cancelled and rescheduled clinics.
• Conduct regular reviews of clinic templates ensuring that they meet national outpatient targets, including E-referral.
• Supply relevant data for Department of Health information returns, as required.
• Keep up to date with new IT initiatives and all PAS developments as they affect services.
• Collate clinic cancellations/reductions provided by the Outpatient teams and distribute information to management teams
• Ensure all patient records are returned to the medical records library for storage in line with the Trust policy for medical records
• Develop and maintain rotas so that the above areas are consistently staffed, and so that staff members are exposed to all areas so as to provide the skills for cross cover where needed
• Ensure cover is provided for all reception areas within the Trust if needed including booking of new, follow-up and diagnostic appointments, and elective admissions, where required
• Ensure systems are in place and procedures are adhered to, so that patients may book appointments and theatre admissions at any reception desk when visiting the hospital
• Make sure clinic outcome forms are processed in a timely way, resolving any issues locally with clinical teams, escalating to the appropriate manager if needed
• Troubleshoot any administrative process issues with the reception teams as they arise
• Ensure the reception assists patients and staff with new technologies introduced to reception and clinic areas where needed. To nominate members of the team as user
• champions, ensuring expert members of staff are always on hand

• Manage the administrative team supporting clinical practice for relevant specialties
• Co-ordinate the patient pathway ensuring that clinical priorities are actioned, elective access targets are met and all staff and patients informed as appropriate
• Ensure the cancelling and rescheduling clinics, changing the information on PAS and ensuring that patients are moved in accordance with set policies and procedures.
• Ensure that patients' appointments are booked in accordance with booking rules, in order that patient pathway targets are achieved. The post holder will be required to undertake continuous monitoring, reporting results to the Assistant Service Manager as agreed, and taking corrective action where needed.
• Ensure appropriate systems are in place and are running smoothly, for the arrival of all new GP for initial patient registration, and that allow clinical offices to book new appointments swiftly and accurately.
• Lead the bookings team in the production of appropriate waiting time reports and capacity reports
• Develop clinic cancellation reports for dissemination to the trust divisions

• Manage the administrative team supporting clinical practice for relevant specialties
• Ensure the production of weekly theatre schedules for the forthcoming rolling 3 months.
• Ensure data for patients who have cancelled on the day of surgery is recorded and patients are re-booked within Access Policy guidelines
• Ensure theatre utilisation is at capacity
• Liaise with theatre staff, clinicians, anaesthetists and Service manager to provide additional theatre capacity when required.
• Monitor performance against specific targets in line with the admitted RTT pathway
• Ensuring that patients' appointments are booked in accordance with booking rules, in order that patient pathway targets are achieved. The post holder will be required to undertake continuous monitoring, reporting results to the Assistant Service Manager as agreed, and taking corrective action where needed.
• Take responsibility for cancelling and rescheduling theatre lists, changing the information on PAS and ensuring that patients are moved in accordance with set policies and procedures

• Ensure all communication, which may be complex, contentious or sensitive, is undertaken in a responsive and inclusive manner, focusing on improvement and ways to move forward.
• Ensure all communication is presented appropriately to the different recipients, according to levels of understanding, type of communication being imparted and possible barriers such as language, culture, understanding or physical or mental health conditions.

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
• Junior Management qualification or equivalent experience to demonstrate competency

• Operational experience in a managerial role
• Staff management including objective setting and appraisal, performance review & people development
• Experience of working with clinicians and healthcare professional s at senior level
• Significant experience working in the NHS
• Producing standard operating procedures
• Experience of a range of Patient Administration systems (PAS)
• Experience in dealing with complaints
• Demonstrate experience in improving levels of customer service
• Budget Management

• Proven ability in managing people, process, quality and productivity
• Ability to prioritise and delegate tasks appropriately
• Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines
• Able to identify areas for improvement and implement processes as appropriate
• Good communication skills, written and verbal. Should include the ability to overcome barriers with developed interpersonal skills when providing and receiving highly sensitive /highly contentious information in antagonistic or highly emotive environments
• Ability to use own judgment to resolve service issues
• Knowledge of HR policies
• Ability to train and develop staff, understanding of the structure , procedure and policies of the NHS