JOB DESCRIPTION Band B – Patient Contact Officer
| Reports To: | TARC Co-Ordinator |
| Direct Reports: | None |
| Location: | Eastleigh combined with some home working (Expected to work a minimum of 2 days per week in the ofice) |
| Hours: | 37 hours per week with shift working within ofice hours (8am-8pm) (part-time |
| Salary Range: | option available) £24,975 – 26,905 per annum (pro rata for part time) |
Purpose:
To be an integral member of our Telephone and Referral Centre team, ensuring patients have a good experience as they come to us for support. This includes booking patient appointments via our patient management system, answering the main phoneline, and returning calls to people who have left voicemail.
Principal Accountabilities:
This is a high level administration role in a large and extremely busy service; therefore the employee will be expected to work well under pressure. A key part of the role is using the IAPTus Patient Management System to ensure patients are booked appointments within contractual targets and the main phone is answered and messages monitored for risk. A professional telephone manner and excellent attention to detail is essential. Alongside the Referral System, other administrative duties are required so good prioritising and organisational skills are necessary, as well as the ability to be proactive and use your own initiative
Referral System Duties
To answer the busy main telephone, speaking to a high volume of patients, booking them in for appointments, referring calls on as appropriate, taking messages, which need to be screened for risk, and recording all contact on the IAPTus Patient Management System with high levels of accuracy. The evening team will also make contact with/call patients who are not contactable during the day up to 8pm. To understand that some patients may be vulnerable or have complex or specific issues/needs and be able to manage these conversations. To know
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when to seek guidance and advice from clinical staff.
Respond promptly to referrals via email, website, and phone, which will include data entry. To monitor emails received via the generic NHS Mail email address and action them as appropriate, forwarding to staff as necessary and recording all contact on the IAPTus Patient Management System.
To screen for risk, input and scan in all referrals from GPs/Community Mental Health Teams/Website etc on to IAPTus move them through the care pathway appropriately and alert clinical members of the team to risk issues. To use own initiative, skills and knowledge to pick up risk and flag with clinical staff.
To understand confidentiality when dealing with sensitive patient information on a daily basis and to abide by the Confidentiality procedures in place. To understand some conversations may be difficult and to learn appropriately screen referrals and deal appropriately with high levels of risk. This requires a high level of knowledge in relation to screening criteria and suitability for the service.
To work within specific timeframes to ensure that clinical staff sickness is managed and their appointments are rescheduled on the IAPTus Patient Management System in good time at short notice.
To adhere to a Team rota and to be able to undertake all rota-related activities on a daily basis and to provide cover for holiday or sickness-related absence. To use initiative and organizational skills to ensure that all essential tasks are completed each day if the team is short staffed, including supporting colleagues dealing with sickness.
To support the Volunteer Co-Ordinator with volunteers; mentoring, shadowing, assigning jobs/tasks etc as well as the TARC Co-Ordinators in the training of new members of the team. To ensure that processes and guides are adhered to at all times to avoid errors.
To carry out all duties in line with contractual obligations and targets.
Administration / Communication
Excellent IT skills are essential when using the IAPTus Patient Management System to book appointments accurately and efficiently whilst on the phone to patients. This role will mean becoming an expert user of IAPTus in order to provide support to the service by updating the system with appropriate and accurate information.
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Adhere to Information Governance Guidelines to manage, store and treat patient records appropriately.
To facilitate good communication systems within the service, particularly the Step 2 interface and Step 3 administration staff, ensuring that information is disseminated appropriately and efficiently eg patient messages and cancellations.
To liaise with TARC Support and other staff as appropriate when dealing with patients and follow screening procedures, particularly relating to ‘at risk’ patients.
To create, print, frank and send letters to patients and GPs every day.
To monitor the office supplies of stationery, patient resource booklets, promotional materials, stamps and machine equipment; such as ink cartridges. To order / print further supplies when required using own initiative.
To assist the management team by carrying out any general administration work they require. This may be in the form of Microsoft Excel reports containing key management information such as PWP caseloads, hours of work, sickness and annual leave records, preparing PowerPoint presentations or assisting with in-house training.
To type up and distribute minutes of meetings as and when required. To assist with preparation for any ad-hoc large events by creating materials, ordering the appropriate equipment and booking venues and catering.
To keep accurate staff records on the whole staff team including Annual Leave and Sickness.
To keep up-to-date with current processes by reading internal email bulletins or attending team meetings. To contribute, evaluate and action ideas to improve our referral system, writing processes for inclusion in to the Administration Policy or Office Procedures Manual as requested by line managers.
To be part of working parties as directed and agreed, if relevant, with line managers.
Office Administration
Flag any maintenance work with the Business & Accommodation Manager or TARC Manager.
Log any technical faults or issues if required with the relevant staff such as IT support, phone system provider, IAPTus system support team, letter folding and franking machine providers,
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photocopier/printer supplier etc. and to ensure these are followed-up and issues are resolved quickly to minimise impact on service delivery.
To open and distribute incoming post.
General:
Adhere to the aims, values, policies and procedures of Solent Mind, particularly safeguarding and health & safety.
This list is non exhaustive and other duties may be required to meet the needs of the service.
PERSON SPECIFICATION Band B – Patient Contact Officer
| Requirement | Essential or Desirable |
| Qualifications/Education/Training: Educated to NVQ Level 3 or equivalent and/or practical experience within relevant working environment. | Essential |
| Experience: Experience of working within a busy and fast paced environment. Experience of working in an admin or secretarial role. Professional telephone manner and experience of previous working using the telephone. | Essential Desirable |
| Experience communicating with a wide range of people at all levels and from a range of backgrounds. | Essential Essential |
| An understanding of the needs of people with mental health problems and mental health issues. Experience of working with vulnerable people. | Desirable Desirable |
| Knowledge/Skills/Competencies: Organising, prioritising and planning workload including multi-tasking, e.g. talking on the | |
| phone while you are working on a computer. Good written and verbal communication skills, including good negotiation skills and able to speak up with confidence. | Essential Essential |
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| Requirement | Essential or Desirable |
| Ability to work as part of a large staff team. Ability to problem solve. Ability to manage difficult situations with tact and empathy. Ability to manage 'risk' situations professionally and appropriately. Data input/retrieval experience on large database systems. | Essential Essential Essential Essential Essential |
| confidentiality and data protection. An understanding of working to contractual targets under commissioned boundaries. Excellent IT Skils, inluding a working knowledge of Microsoft Office package, eg Outlook and Excel, and an ability to learn complex systems quickly. Some understanding of Patient Management Systems, such as IAPTus. Good numeracy skills. | Desirable Essential Desirable Desirable |
| Other: Ability to be flexible in responding to the changing needs of the service and work on own initiative. An understanding of and commitment to equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice. To attend any work-related training. | Essential Essential |
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| Requirement | Essential or Desirable |
| Willingness to undergo a DBS check if necessary | Essential |
Date job originated: April 2012 Date job reviewed: July 2023 Reviewing Manager: Clare Power