Job Description
Weston House Practice and Hatherley Branch Surgery
Cheltenham
Job Description
JOB TITLE: GP Medical Receptionist
LOCATION: Weston House Practice and Hatherley Branch Surgery
RESPONSIBLE TO: Practice Manager/ Operations Manager
We are looking for GP MEDICAL RECEPTIONISTS to join our growing, friendly team of 22 Medical Receptionists. We are the biggest medical receptionist team in Cheltenham.
The vacancies are based over our two sites at Weston House Practice, St Paul’s Medical Centre, and our Hatherley Branch Surgery. Flexibility to work additional hours to cover holidays and sickness may be required. The ideal candidate will have excellent IT and communication skills.
We are looking for part time medical receptionists who can work 20 - 30 hours per week.
Job Summary:
The post holder will work in a reception department as part of a large team of receptionists, liaising with GPs, nurses, healthcare assistants and administration staff.
Jobs will include: speaking to patients, carers, other NHS bodies face to face and over the telephone; updating the patients computerised notes; actioning messages from clinicians; and booking appointments You will be required to help patients and signpost them to the relevant service/person. At all times the post holder must act in a manner consistent with the code of conduct and appearance representing Weston House
Practice and the NHS.
The following list outlines the scope and responsibilities of the post and is not intended to be exclusive. This role may develop, subsequently leading to changes in the job responsibilities.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1) Reception
- Answering the telephone with a professional and pleasant manner to ensure that the caller is dealt with accurately and effectively
- Dealing with telephone calls and managing face to face enquiries, booking appointments, directing patients to the right person and/or organisation and being generally aware of what is happening in the patient reception area.
- Taking accurate messages and identifying the priority/urgency of the message and making the appropriate response dealing with confidential faxes
- Opening incoming mail, ensuring that all mail is distributed to the correct personnel/department.
- Making appointments on the clinical system either by telephone or at the reception desk.
- Booking patients in using the clinical computer system to inform the clinician that their patient has arrived.
- Generating electronic repeat prescriptions and sending them to pharmacies.
- Updating patients’ electronic clinical records and informing other NHS organisations, where appropriate.
- Contacting a Doctor when an urgent visit is required, and if necessary, telephoning for an ambulance.
- Compiling new patient registration packs .
- Registering new patients on the clinical computer system.
- Assisting the administration process of ordering, taking delivery and maintaining stock supplies.
- Undertaking duties as required by the Operation and Reception Manager &
Practice Manager as required for the day to day running of the practice.
2) Communication
- To communicate on the phone, by email, fax or in person with staff from a wide variety of NHS departments so that good communication between the surgery and all other services is maintained.
- To communicate in a professional, friendly and open manner with patients, carers and the general public to maintain an excellent profile for the surgery amongst its users.
- To maintain confidentiality for all patients and users of the service.
- To communicate effectively and sensitively with service users who may be angry, confrontational, upset, anxious, fearful or have communication difficulties such as poor language skills, hearing loss or learning disabilities.
- To organise and make appointments for the various clinics run within the practice.
3) Responsibility
- To take responsibility for own workload and prioritise when necessary.
- To support the effective maintenance and management of practice systems.
- To be responsible for recognising own training needs and identifying training needs of the service for information management.
- To have responsibility for cancelling patient appointments when the Doctor or
Nurse is unavailable so that the patient is not subject to unnecessary inconvenience.
4) General
- The Post Holder will be required to work additional hours to cover holidays and sickness.
- To ensure confidentiality at all times, only releasing confidential information obtained during the course of employment to those acting in an official capacity in accordance with practice policies.
- Attend team meetings as agreed with the Operation/Reception/Practice Manager.
- Attend appraisal and development reviews with your line manager.
- Maintain regular consistent and professional attendance, punctuality, personal appearance and adherence to relevant health and safety / environmental procedures.
- To attend all mandatory training courses and any courses specific to this role as directed by the Practice Manager.
Flexibility:
This job description is intended to provide a broad outline of the main responsibilities only. The post holder will need to be flexible in developing the role and in initial and ongoing discussions with their line manager/Practice Manager.
Confidentiality:
- Under the Data Protection Act 1998, the postholder must maintain the confidentiality of information about patients and staff. The work is of a confidential nature and information gained must not be communicated to other persons except in the recognised course of duty. Unauthorised disclosure of confidential information will result in disciplinary action and may lead to your dismissal.
- In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.
- In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.
- Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with Weston House’s policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.
Equality and Diversity:
The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:
- Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people’s rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Portland Practice’s procedures and policies, and current legislation
- Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
- Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to the individual, is non-judgemental and respects their circumstances, feelings, priorities and rights.
Health & Safety:
Employees must be aware of the responsibilities placed on them under the Health and
Safety at Work Act (1974) to ensure that the agreed procedures are carried out to maintain a safe environment for patients, visitors and staff.
Environment:
The postholder needs to be aware of Weston House’s impact on the environment and be vigilant and pro-active in ensuring they adhere to the management strategy i.e. recycling, waste management, use of vehicles etc.
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act:
This post is not exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 therefore you are only required to declare any convictions you have which are not ‘spent’ under the act.
Job Types: Part-time, Permanent
Part-time hours: 20 - 30 per week
Salary: £10.20-£10.50 per hour
Benefits:
- Company pension
- On-site parking
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
- No weekends
- Overtime
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Cheltenham: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work Location: In person