Patient AdvisorinMorecambeinMorecambePUBLISHED WED 30 OCT 2024

We are currently looking for enthusiastic, customer focused Patient Advisors to join our friendly team working on reception and in our phone room. This is a vital role and requires strong customer service skills. Previous NHS experience is not necessary, but you should have a real interest in being part of team working to improve patient outcomes.

This vacancy is to recruit a number of Patient Advisors. The weekly contracted hours for these roles are between 30 to 37.5 hours per. The working hours for these roles will be variable between 7.30am 8pm Monday Thursday and7.30am 6.30pm Fridays on a rota system. Shift patterns are provided two weeks in advance.

We operate out of 5 sites across Morecambe and as a Patient Advisor whilst you will have one site identified as your main site, you may be asked to work in any of these. You will also be rota'd to work some of your shifts in the phone room at West End.

We are keen to hear from you if you enjoy providing outstanding customer service, and have excellent communication and IT skills. We are looking for a flexible approach and good team work.

We offer an excellent in depth training plan over a number of weeks.

Interview date week commencing 2nd December 2024.

Act as an ambassador for the Practice, presenting a positive and welcoming image to patients, visitors.

Be the first point of contact for all patients/visitors attending or contacting the Practice via telephone and online.

Work as part of the Practice team and provide a key point of contact for communication between all patients, members of the primary health care team, secondary care and other associated healthcare professionals, voluntary services, and outside agencies.

Work in line with our established processes, policies, and procedures to provide a comprehensive high-quality service.

Responsible for the general administrative duties and reception duties within the Practice.

Working for us we can offer you:

A comprehensive induction to the role and training plan

Access to the NHS Pension Scheme

Possible career development in customer service, health care and administration

Incremental annual leave scheme starting at 20 days annual leave plus 8 Bank Holidays, and increasing by 1 day each year to 25 days annual leave plus 8 Bank Holidays after 5 years service (all pro rata)

Access to Occupational Sick Pay scheme after one year.

Access to NHS discount scheme

Cycle to work scheme

About us

The duties and responsibilities to be undertaken by members of the Patient Advisor Team may include any or all the items in the following list. Duties may be varied from time to time under the direction of the Practice Operations Manager, dependent on current and evolving practice workload and staffing levels:

Patient facing

Acknowledge all patients on arrival in a friendly and welcoming manner, signpost to appropriate services and support with access to appointments within general practice/other service providers. Clear, concise, and effective communication with patients/carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background, and preferred ways of communicating.

Respond to all contact, queries, and requests from patients/visitors either via reception desk, telephone, or online in a timely, courteous, and professional manner. Ensure confidentiality is always upheld, information provided to the patient as advised by the clinician.

General duties

Be available, logged on and ready at the beginning of each shift desk/phone room.

Action daily checklists/procedures, including safe removal of clinical waste from rooms, restocking rooms/reception area.

Knowledge of infection prevention control safe cleaning of spills/accidents, which may include bodily fluids.

Act as a chaperone at the request of the clinician and/or patient.

Be aware of clinics on site cancel clinics/rearrange appointments, monitor clinics running late and inform patients.

Knowledge of private services offered and take payments for these.

Task workload complete Practice urgent/routine tasks, and own tasks.

Deal with medication queries including processing prescription requests, liaising with medicines management team with script queries, sign out paper prescriptions to patient/chemist collections, ensure patient Electronic Prescribing Service (EPS)nominations are up to date.

Liaise with different service providers around patient care ambulance service in emergency situations, District Nurses, Health Visitors, Maternity, and various other service providers.

Move sites where staffing levels require this.

Ability to work under pressure and react effectively to emergency situations.

Report incidents using the Practices Incident reporting System.

IT

Good working knowledge of Microsoft office, Outlook, and Teams.

Process/record data on Practice IT systems in accordance with Practice procedures, in line with confidentiality policies.

Read and action Outlook emails/MS Teams communications daily including weekly briefs and daily updates.

Report any problems with phone/IT systems to Line Manager/IT Department/Service Desk.

Appointment Booking

Total familiarity with the Practices various appointment booking systems, follow appointment booking protocols.

Liaise with various teams in booking specialist appointments e.g. steroid injections, long term conditions, medicals, minor surgery.

Assist in assigning and actioning AccuRx medical/admin inboxes, booking patient appointments as directed by the Clinical Assessment Team (CAT).

Ensure Urgent Care Protocols are referred to as required by management/CAT Team; liaise with UC or Site Manager/CAT Team if unsure.

Team working

Communicate effectively with team members.

Understand own role and scope and identify how this may develop over time.

Provide detailed handover to colleagues taking over your shift.

Provide training and support to new Patient Advisor colleagues joining the team.

Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working.

Participate in and support local projects as agreed with the practice management team.

Participate in team activities/learning events to improve skills and knowledge, and patient care.

Building Security

Ensure all doors to the building, all windows and our rooms are closed and locked at the end of each working day. Report building issues to the Site Manager.

Alarm to be set when you are the last members of the Practice to leave the building.