Receptionist

Job responsibilities

Primary Responsibilities

• Have a thorough knowledge and understanding of all relevant practice policies and procedures, and work in accordance with same.

• Communicate with patients and other visitors, both face to face and via the telephone, in a friendly, positive and efficient manner.

• To direct patients appropriately, through Care Navigation and practice procedures, to relevant services.

• Receive, assist and direct patients to the appropriate person or healthcare professional in a courteous, efficient and effective way.

• Deal with all general enquiries, explain procedures and make new and follow-up appointments.

• Explain practice arrangements and formal requirements to new patients and those seeking temporary cover, and ensure all manual and computer procedures are completed.

• Advise patients of relevant charges for private services, accept payment and issue receipts for same.

• Action repeat prescription requests and ensure they are ready for collection by the patient or pharmacy within agreed timescales.

• Enter requests for home visits onto the clinical system, ensuring careful recording of all relevant details, and where necessary refer to the Duty Doctor.

• Manage requests for urgent appointments.

• Receive and make telephone calls as required. Divert calls and take messages, ensuring accuracy of detail and prompt, appropriate delivery.

• Maintain patient confidentiality at all times and in all circumstances, and be fully aware of the practice and legislative obligations in this respect.

• Ensure that reception, staff and waiting areas are maintained in a clean and tidy manner.

Secondary responsibilities

• Undertake any other duties appropriate to the grade as the Partners, Practice Manager or Reception Manager may require.

Confidentiality

• In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust the Practice with, or allow the Practice 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, their carers, 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 the Practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data as well as other related healthcare legislation.

Health & Safety

The post-holder will comply with practice policies, procedures and clinical guidelines for self and others. This includes (but not limited to):

• Identifying, reporting, and correcting health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
• Identifying issues and hazards/risks in relation to other work areas within the business
• Healthcare workers have a duty of care to patients and are expected to comply fully with the practices Infection Prevention and Control policies and attend yearly IP&C training, for personal and patient safety and for prevention of healthcare-associated infection.
• Active observation of current working practices across the practice in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related activities, ensuring that procedures are followed, and weaknesses/training needs are identified, escalating issues as appropriate.
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities, raising them with appropriate management and managing those risks across clinical and patient processes.
• Safe management of sharps procedures, including training, use, storage and disposal
• Keeping own work areas and general/patient areas generally clean, sterile, assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate)
• Individuals have a duty of care to children and vulnerable adults that they come into contact with whilst at work to safeguard and promote their welfare and to work to prevent, recognise, respond, appropriately refer and record potential neglect or abuse, adhering to the Practices Safeguarding Children and Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults and PREVENT policies and procedures.
• Routine management of own team/team areas, and maintenance of workspace standards:
• Waste management, including collection, handling, segregation, container management, storage and collection
• Spillage control procedures, management and training
• Decontamination control procedures, management and training, and equipment maintenance

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 recognizes the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
• Identify patterns of discrimination and take action to overcome this and promote diversity and equality of opportunity
• Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights
• Support people who need assistance in exercising their rights

Research and Quality

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the Practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources
• Demonstrate evidence-based care, working with agreed protocols and guidelines
• Participate in audit, data collection and activity monitoring to improve performance and inform future service developments

Communication

The post-holder should recognize the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

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