Medical Rota Co-Ordinator – Band 5 inReading inReading PUBLISHED MON 6 JAN 2025

Working in conjunction with the Directorate Medical Leads, the post holder must ensure the provision of high quality patient care by efficiently deploying junior medical staff across specialities, including on call, across the Urgent, Planned and Network Groups.This will involve close liaison with junior doctors, Consultants, Medical Leads, and management teams and the Trust's Medical Human Resources department. It will be necessary to have a daily overview of all junior medical staff within the care groups, anticipate problems and autonomously resolve situations.

The post holder will be responsible for the day to day management of medical staffing rotas across allocated areas, working on own initiative to identify and resolve issues, taking action as deemed appropriate. The post holder will co-ordinate, log and monitor all types of leave for medical staff, including Consultants.The post holder will work closely with Medical Leads to manage annual leave, study leave and other absence whilst ensuring that clinical staffing levels are optimised. The post holder will work closely with medical staffing bank and locum agencies to minimise spend on locum cover whilst ensuring safe staffing levels. The post holder will act as the first point of contact for issues relating to Junior Doctors including sickness reporting, annual leave, study leave, shift swaps and organising locum cover. This will include the involvement in induction of the rotating doctors.The post holder will be the first point of contact for Junior Doctors joining their area of responsibility for information relating to induction, rotas and applying for leave

About us

Duties and Responsibilities

Service delivery

• Prepare rotas and manage administrative tasks supporting the creating, collation and completion of rotas as required
• Plan ahead and pre-empt rota gaps and ensure locum cover as necessary. This will require the ability to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the process for rota management and ability to identify the appropriate grade of support to the correct area within the specialty.
• Identify internal resources to cover gaps and encourage doctors to join locum bank.
• Ensure that locums booked receive reporting instructions and induction materials, including EPR training and log in details.
• The post holder will be responsible for the preparation and distribution of weekly rotas ensuring that all sessions are covered by the relevant grade, identifying gaps in the rotas and escalating as necessary. Any amendments to the rota after distribution to be advised to all relevant parties.

Communication and Relationships

• The post holder will be responsible for the co-ordination of junior medical staff across specialities. Specifically, the post holder will compile and disseminate rotas for the directorates medical staff and act as a single point of contact for junior doctors for this purpose.
• The post holder will provide day to day support for junior medical staff across all care groups.
• The post holder must communicate tactfully and persuasively with all medical staff to maintain appropriate cover for services at all times. This includes the coordination of all junior medical staffs annual and study leave to allow service requirements to be met and arranging cover at short notice for sick leave and special leave.
• Liaise on any sensitive issues, such as sickness absence, compassionate leave or other sensitive information that the post holder has been made aware of. This should be done in a timely manner with the Clinical Lead and Clinical Supervisor.
• The post holder will work closely and maintain communication with the Medical Directors, Medical Leads, Directorate Managers, Medical Personnel, Human Resources regarding rota issues.
• The post holder will be available as a first point of contact for all day-to-day issues affecting medical staff cover including absences of junior doctors. This will involve receiving notification of problems and initiating all necessary actions with the relevant people.
• The post holder is expected to establish and maintain positive interpersonal relationships with other staff members characterised by trust, mutual respect, and open, honest communication.

Internal Relationships

External Relationships

All clinical staff

Non-clinical support staff

Heads of Department

Medical HR

Postgraduate Centre Staff

NHSP Locum Agency Staff

Liaison with Rota Guardian and departmental

The Guardian f Safe Working

External medical staff

Agencies

Deaneries / Health Education England (HEE)

Analytical Tasks

• Ability to analyse information and evaluate situations to draw appropriate conclusions i.e. ensuring that sufficient cover is provided to ward and clinical areas within directorate at all times, establishing the impact and suitability of cover arrangements. To optimise junior doctors resources by ensuring that the service is staffed at all times.
• Produce and present data reports as required.
• To coordinate, implement and maintain effective electronic monitoring systems relating to junior doctors absences (annual, study, sickness, special leave) and accurate capturing of timesheets and expenses.
• To undergo training as necessary to develop the role to ensure maximum performance of the service is achieved.

Managerial Planning and Organisational Skills

• Support the care group directorates with the implementation of any departmental rotas according to the needs of the directorate.
• Completing and updating Rotawatch / DRS4 and ensuring rotas are compliant with the 2junior doctor contract.
• Ensure rotas are compliant with working time directives and the 2junior doctor contract.
• Support the Educational supervisors in the management of exception reporting.
• To support in the preparation, delivery and retrieval of diary cards and electronic diary data in a timely manner.
• Proactive management and communication of contractual rota requirements and data recording/monitoring of all Trust leave policies to minimise locum expenditure due to sickness / unplanned absences.
• Communicate on a regular basis with the Medical Directors, Medical Leads and Directorate Managers and take action when required to maximise cover arrangements.
• Responsible for highlighting, in advance, areas where gaps are identified and cover is required.
• Have an excellent understanding of medical staffing issues, including stages of recruitment, changes in job plans, session commitments and other clinical commitments.
• Have detailed knowledge of the interdependency of team members and the movement of staff within sub-specialties in order to realise the full potential of the team.
• Responsible for managing, maintaining and developing paper based and electronic database systems.
• Coordinate rota changes at all levels and ensure that they have minimal impact on clinical care
• Work with the care groups existing resources to organise immediate cover arrangements wherever possible. Where this is not possible follow standard operating procedure to provide locum cover
• Plan and organise workload ensuring deadlines are adhered to and duties satisfactorily performed.
• To report locum activity figures to the responsible Medical Directors in a timely manner.
• To effectively apply and monitor annual leave and study leave policies to ensure that annual leave and study leave is appropriately approved.
• To follow up any noncompliance with policies with advice from Medical HR in accordance with Trust Policies. Inform the responsible Medical Directors of all medical staff absence episodes for consideration of rota adjustment.
• To monitor annual leave/professional/sick leave for all grades of medical staff and maintain accurate records.
• To keep updated of any changes in policies and procedures and implement amendments as appropriate.
• Liaise with medical HR on recruitment progress for medical staff e.g. status of interview dates and panels, number of shortlisted candidates etc.
• To monitor vacancies and alert the responsible Medical Directors to any potential staffing issues.
• To escalate any contractual issues relating to terms and conditions to Medical HR to action for that division, at an early stage to minimise potential conflict and disputes for further action.
• To attend and contribute to a network of regular Clinical Care Group Rota co-ordinators performance meetings to discuss service address issues, training needs and any key performance indicators not meeting target that may arise.
• To communicate effectively with doctors on a daily basis regarding their contractual rota requirements, any changes to rotas, compliance with Trust policies and medical issues.
• To report to Medical HR issues relating to unsatisfactory legal employment checks, noncompliance with local induction, noncompliance with policies, locum spend, monitoring of EWTD, any employee relations issues, grievances, disputes, sickness absence.
• To provide cross cover for colleagues to cover annual leave and sickness.

Human Resources

• Maintain department personnel records of all junior and middle grade staff including their start and finish dates.
• Understand, maintain and record study and annual leave requirements of each junior doctor ensuring leave entitlements are adhered to.
• Collate and keep updated the contact details of all doctors in their area of responsibility.
• Assist and attend medical staff inductions at each rotation.
• Develop handbooks in liaison with the Medical Leads across all specialities for use at the junior doctors induction.

Teamwork

• The post holder will maintain good working relationships with staff within the Care Groups and in other departments across the Trust.
• Work flexibly and liaise with the team to maintain and ensure smooth running of the directorate, gaining additional skills as required.
• Be aware of workload and pressures within other areas enabling support and encouragement to be given to the team as necessary.
• To assist the line manager to ensure the delivery of an efficient and comprehensive service that is receptive to the needs of the directorate and meets the performance requirements of the Trust.
• Ensure adequate cover is in place during absence.

Resource Management

• The post holder takes an active role in identifying resource issues and maintaining equipment.
• To identify areas of need as required and liaise with the line manager to minimise or reduce expenditure.
• To be responsible for the safe and effective maintenance of equipment relevant to the area of work.
• To check all additional hours / locum claims prior to payment, ensuring hours claimed are correct and authorised by the budget signatory in a timely manner.

Policy, Service, Organisational and Professional Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development of policies and procedures relevant to local medical staffing management.
• Ensure medical staff are aware of all departmental and Trust policies.
• Develop strategies for new ways of working in conjunction with Medical HR.
• Provide assistance and support to all new medical staff in local induction procedure and familiarisation with hospital and speciality procedures.

General

• Carry out all duties involving contact with the public and other staff in a sympathetic, appropriate and professional manner.
• Bring to the attention of the responsible Medical Directors any on-going or major problems.