Clinical Coding Auditor/ Trainer inBrighton inBrighton PUBLISHED MON 30 DEC 2024

An exciting opportunity has arisen for two Band 6 Clinical Coding Auditors and one Band 6 Clinical Coding Trainer.

The candidate should be Accredited Clinical Coders and NHS Approved Clinical Coding Auditors or Trainers or to fill all the necessary criteria to enrol on the NHS England Clinical Coding Auditor or Trainer Programme.

One Auditor must be based At The Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath or the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton with the other based at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester or Worthing Hospital . They will be expected to work across sites as required to deliver audits or training.

We are looking to recruit three experienced individuals for the above positions that will form part of the Clinical Coding department strategic plan. You must have the ability to lead by example and motivate others through a positive, open attitude. Auditing and training require excellent communication skills with a calm, patient approach. The candidates should have proven coaching skills and a professional attitude. Exceptional organisational skills are needed to navigate a busy department under times of pressure.

Main duties of the job

Applicants must already hold ACC status as an essential prerequisite for enrolment on the NHS Approved Clinical Coding Auditor Programme or NHS Approved Clinical Coding Trainer Programme as a Clinical Coder with a proven audit accuracy and productivity record.

You will be responsible for creating a plan to improve coding accuracy and depth through a regular program of audit and training. You will liaise with clinical and non-clinical staff to ensure documentation is provided to the department in a timely manner.

You will help to optimise the income derived from outpatient coding through a program of clinical outcome reviews and clinician engagement.

You will have proven communications skills to disseminate information to the team and promote a positive culture of continuing professional development, productivity, accuracy and excellence.

You will assist with clinical engagement to aid continuous coding improvement and act as a role model and leader within the department. You will represent Clinical Coding to the wider Trust to a high-standard.

About us

Communication

• To liaise with clinical, nursing and admin staff to facilitate timely and accurate receipt of clinical source documentation for coding.
• Organise and take part in departmental team meetings
• To respond to request for information and advice regarding complex clinical codes and data flow procedures from clinical, administrative and information staff and occasionally from other external agencies
• To provide a communication channel between the Trust Clinical Coding Service and NHS Classification Service Clinical Coding Advisors / National Clinical Coding Query Mechanism in the resolution of complex clinical coding queries.
• To provide a point of reference within the Trust to solve complex clinical coding queries, including new diagnoses and procedures not previously performed or coded.
• To provide guidance on diagnostic and operative coding procedures and codes to clinical directorates, consultants, individual specialty departments, Information Staff, Clinical Effectiveness, HED Benchmarking Working Groups, Primary Care Groups and Trust managers for clinical audit / budgeting / monitoring and planning purposes.
• To supply information on coding to Corporate Information Team and Finance Directorate to be used for contract purposes to underpin invoicing and information used for Healthcare Resource Group (HRG) assignment, utilised in hospital funding from the Treasury (Payment by Results).

Service Delivery and Improvement

• To be the main point of contact (together with the Head of Clinical Coding) for the ongoing development of the clinical coding process, in particular with respect to greater clinician involvement, improved data quality and more streamlined processes. Understand the importance of PbR and HRGs in the above context and be able to articulate the complexities of this system to the team and other groups of staff.
• To develop efficient processes and mange workloads of designated groups of coders to support all of the above and to ensure suitable staff coverage is maintained across the Trust at all times. To plan progression of workload complexity for trainee coder development.
• To plan and implement internal coding audit programme involving and consulting clinical coders, clinicians and managers as required.
• To take the lead in resolving coding queries as raised by the members of the clinical coding team sharing expertise and assisting in the interpretation of complex clinical information ensuring adherence to national standards.
• To ensure any additions or changes in coding classifications/guidelines are adhered to. Disseminate Coding Clinic information updates and ensure changes are documented as appropriate and implemented across the Trust.
• To obtain and collate clinical information from patient health records. To analyse and interpret that data and translate into Diagnosis and Procedure codes using the International Classification of Diseases (latest version) and the Office of Population and Censuses Classifications of Surgical Operations and Procedures (latest version). These codes need to be accurate, complete and timely to support multiple Trust business streams and the post holder needs to understand the implications to the Trust of this coded data
• Ensure that patient records are stored within the coding offices in a safe manner and that all records are tracked on the PAS system (Careflow)
• To liaise with other Team leaders in maintaining departmental Policy and Procedures Manual.
• To deputise, as and when required, for Head of Clinical Coding as a representative of the department at meetings and committees both internal and external to the Trust.
• Responsible for ordering stationery for the Department and as authorised signatory e.g. for staff expense claims

People Management and Development

• To line manage a specified group of coders and oversee this group in meeting strict local, national and contractual deadlines for the assignment of clinical codes using ICD10 and OPCS classifications
• Linked to the above take all necessary steps to ensure the target of 100% completeness within the specified time frames; taking initial action to deal with any problems in meeting this target
• To support the ongoing training of all Coding staff, including checking their work as part of ongoing internal audit; and ensuring targeted external and internal training is available for all.
• To maintain a log of all training undertaken for all staff
• To undertake performance monitoring and appraisal for all Coding staff
• To work with the Head of Clinical Coding on the recruitment and selection of clinical coders
• To manage first stage of employee relation issues including sickness, absence and performance management
• To be responsible for approving time sheets and all travel/subsistence claims for coding staff

Learning and Development

• To take responsibility for self development on a continuous basis, undertaking on the job and other training as required in order to maintain clinical coding skills and knowledge base completely up to date.
• Attend mandatory training updates as required.
• Undertake training as necessary in line with the development of the post and as agreed with the line manager as part of the personal development process.
• Achieve and demonstrate agreed standards of personal and professional development within agreed timescales.
• Identify own learning needs and jointly plan training requirements with your line manager
• Participate in the Trusts appraisal process to discuss how your role will help deliver the best possible care to our patients and help to deliver any changes in service.

This job description is an outline of the role and responsibilities. From time to time due to the needs of the service, we may ask you to flexibly undertake other duties that are consistent with your role and banding, including project work, internal job rotation and absence cover.

The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the department and the organisation.