Job overview The Children’s Allergy service is part of the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, this role in the Children’s Allergy department will involve Outpatient and day case administration with some ward and reception cover as well as some staff supervision and management. The Children’s Allergy service is one of the largest in the Evelina London and is recognised as a leading centre in Europe. The post-holder will be one of three medical secretaries for the service and will be based in the Otter Outpatients unit in St Thomas’ Hospital. Main duties of the job The post holder will lead a team of administrators to provide a high quality administrative support service to the department including PA support to named individuals. The post will provide a broad range of support activities to ongoing and fixed-term projects within the department and will ensure the smooth running of the service and effective internal and external liaison to contribute to the successful running of the office as a whole. The role will require the individual to interact with a multi-disciplinary team in a very busy office environment, dealing with highly complex and sensitive issues, often requiring appropriate judgements to be made under minimal supervision. Working for our organisation The Trust Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital Foundation Trust is one of the largest in the NHS. A full range of services is provided to the local population and patients from further afield. St Thomas’ Hospital is located on the south bank of the river Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament. Guy’s Hospital is adjacent to London Bridge. Both hospitals have excellent transport links. Organisational Values Our values help us to define and develop our culture, what we do and how we do it. It is important that you understand and reflect these values throughout your employment with the Trust. The post holder will: Put patients first Take pride in what they do Respect others Strive to be the best Act with integrity Our values and behaviours framework describes what it means for every one of us in the Trust to put our values into action. The framework can be found on our Trust careers pages and GTIntranet. Detailed job description and main responsibilities COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Communicate professionally and effectively with patients/parents/carers, the general public and all internal and external agencies both verbally and non-verbally in a timely manner. Ensure diplomacy, empathy and confidentiality when dealing with distressed patients/parents/carers. Liaise with clinical and non-clinical staff to resolve any issues that may arise, to the mutual benefit of all concerned. Attend and contribute to departmental meetings, team briefs etc. Provide support for day to day queries from all patients/parents/carers/medical personnel/administrator staff. Identify training and development needs and communicating effectively to take these forward where appropriate. To act as a contact point, liaising with patients, relatives, medical representatives, GP’s/other hospitals, nursing staff, surgical team and support services OPERATIONAL SKILLS: Monitor and review patient care and/or treatment progress using the Patient Tracking List in line with Trust and local policies. To follow local policy and effectively manage inpatient pathways and Liaise with clinicians as appropriate. To ensure accurate data input. Identify from the Tracking List the next steps in the patient care pathway in line with clinical need (peer review). Receive patient referrals and administer in line with timings and requirements as set out in Trust and National policies. Co-ordinate and provide administrative support to the relevant teams to ensure that all the relevant paperwork and clinical information is available. Update on all enquiries regarding patients’ care and/or treatment on a pathway from external Trusts and General Practitioners in a timely manner. Develop an understanding of the milestones of the allocated pathway for patients within a designated group. Attend relevant meetings and complete actions regarding the care of patients within the designated pathway. Participate in national audits and collect data as required in relevant meetings, allowing the Trust to identify and improve treatment in patient cohorts. Identify and suggest improvements that can be made to the patient care pathway and/or the patient pathway tracking process. Monitor patients on their pathway and proactively find resolutions to improve the speed of treatment by working directly with clinicians and managers. Action day-to-day issues, ensuring resolution and escalating serious issues to management as appropriate. Escalate any issues and breaches of the Waiting Times standards to the relevant management in line with agreed escalation procedures. Ensure the timely and efficient transfer of patients and information between trusts/other organisations involved in the patient pathway, adhering to agreed communication pathways and protocols. Work within a multi-disciplinary team in developing the service in line with departmental plans and Trust corporate objectives. Ensure that all health records are appropriately tracked and securely stored whilst in the department according to Health Records Policy. Exercise judgement and initiative in order to manage the workload effectively and efficiently, taking appropriate action to resolve any issues, liaising with appropriate personnel and seeking guidance from the Line Manager when required. When required, assist in the co-ordination of training programmes for new administrative staff. Working with the Team to analyse target breaches and report issues to management. Provide day-to-day supervision and oversight of duties for the department’s administrators. To co-ordinate admission and associated pre-operative assessment clinics, ensuring all key staff are aware of organisational arrangements To record performance of additional capacity to meet demand/shortfall in elective capacity To liaise with consultants and other staff regarding annual leave and other absences, to ensure operating lists are appropriately booked and closed if necessary. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: Maintain effective information management systems, including databases and filing systems, ensuring both accessibility and confidentiality Responsible for adapting and maintaining information systems, comprising both paper-based and computerised documents ensuring accessibility and confidentiality of information. To include the use of databases. Undertake data entry where necessary Responsible for collecting and updating patient information on the relevant databases in line with local policy, to ensure efficient pathway progress. This includes maintaining the accuracy of data at all times. Person specification Qualifications/ Education Essential criteria GCSEs or equivalent including Maths and English. Desirable criteria Customer services qualification/training Experience Essential criteria Proven administrative experience Desirable criteria Experience of an administrative role within the NHS Experience of supervising staff Skills/Knowledge/Ability Essential criteria Strong IT skills, particularly with relation to Microsoft Office packages, e.g. Word, Outlook and Excel Organisational and time management skills to meet deadlines Ability to deal with difficult service users and challenging situations Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to liaise effectively with a wide range of multi-disciplinary staff Further details / informal visits contact Name Belinda Buckthorpe Job title Assistant Service Manager Email address [email protected] Additional information For general enquiries about the job, or for an informal discussion please contact: [email protected]