Ward Clerk Liverpool, England
Job description
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are working in partnership to develop a brand new service for older adults to improve patient outcomes, reduce lengths of stay and bring together the expertise in to an integrated physical and mental health service.
The service is based on a Nursing and Therapy reablement model and will focus on supporting individuals within a dedicated integrated older adult service.
Due to the continued growth of the service, we now require x 3 Ward Clerks to join the team on a full time, permanent basis, across 7 days (7am - 7pm)
Working within a proactive and friendly team, successful candidates will benefit from dedicated training and support together with the satisfaction of playing a vital role in the continued comprehensive support the clinical team relies on daily.
The purpose of this post is to provide a comprehensive administrative and clerical service to an excellent standard, ensuring a high level of accuracy to the inpatient areas across the Community Services Division.
The post holder will be expected to work with a flexible approach, maintaining confidentiality at all times when dealing with service user/staff information.
The post holder should be able to demonstrate excellent written and verbal skills, strong organisational and time management skills and have a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
To be able to demonstrate flexibility and use own initiative to carry out duties in such a way as to make a direct and positive contribution to the organisation, thus enabling the clinical team to utilise their time in an efficient and effective manner.
It is essential that the post holder exercise initiative commensurate with the role and vital that confidentiality is maintained at all times.
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental healthservices in the North West, serving more than 11 million people.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities
Communication Skills
- Be the designated contact person for all administration and clerical matters within the inpatient area. To answer the telephone and deal with enquiries/queries.
- Proactively manage telephone calls; many may be of a sensitive nature from service users and carers or from other healthcare professions, which require a high level of confidentiality and sensitivity.
- Check ward diary daily for requests and messages and to check ward safe for documentation relating to detained patients.
- Liaise with various professional and technical staff within the hospital and contact DHSS, Social Workers and other professional bodies on the service user’s behalf.
- Communicate professionally and effectively with service users and carers, the general public and all internal and external agencies both verbally and non-verbally in a timely manner.
- Liaise with clinical and non clinical staff to resolve any issues that may arise, to the mutual benefit of all concerned.
- Liaise with various professional and technical staff within the hospital and contact DHSS, Social Workers and other professional bodies on the service user’s behalf.
- Work flexibly to ensure the needs of the service are met at all times.
- 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.
- Complete documentation for all inpatients and enter information onto The Patient Administration System.
- Produce an admission form from the system and file in the service user’s health record.
- Produce a daily bed return from the Patient Administration System and check with the ward board for accuracy.
- Complete admission and transfer discharge notification documentation and forward to General Practitioners, Coding Department and CMHTs by post, fax and/or telephone. On the day of a service user’s discharge (or the next working day) the Ward Clerk will check the Notification is fully completed to the relevant GP and then forward to CMHT, mark the form ‘faxed’, emailed or ‘telephoned’ plus the date, and ensure that the GP copy of the notification form is posted
- Prepare and dispatch works orders and maintaining and monitoring adequate stationery stock levels.
- Prepare and dispatch requisitions for fresh stocks for all ward stores except drugs and pharmacy items.
- Arrange outpatient appointments as required in line with local and national targets and arrange appointments for patients in other hospitals etc.
- Sort, distribute and re-direct mail, service user’s records, reports and any other documentation.
- Prepare NHS medical certificates ensuring exemption where applicable.
- Contact acute hospital departments by telephone to arrange appointments and obtain verbal results. Complete filing/scanning of all results and tests.
- Prepare NHS medical certificates ensuring exemption where applicable.
- Undertake the typing of ward documentation and input data onto database as appropriate.
- Arrange duplication/photocopying of documentation and fax information to other departments, hospitals etc.
- Arrange for taxis and internal/external ambulances for service users.
- Responsible for reporting maintenance issues for the ward.
- Provide cover for Reception areas when necessary.
- To use initiative, working autonomously within the remit of the role.
- Oversee the daily workload of the identified area, prioritising tasks where appropriate and ensuring excellent communication skills at all times.
- Work in collaboration with the team to identify changes to working practices.
- To adhere to the trusts’ rights based approach taking into account service user choice.
- To take reasonable care for the health and safety of yourself and any others that may be affected by own acts and omissions at work.
- To ensure that you are familiar with the terms and conditions of your post.
- To participate in service development activities, as required.
- To seek appropriate advice and support from the qualified practitioner during occasions when service users or their carers become agitated or distressed.
- To maintain service user confidentiality at all times both on and off duty.
- To maintain appropriate professional boundaries with service users at all times both on and off duty.
- To ensure that work is conducted in accordance with the Trusts’ Equality and Diversity Strategy.
- In exceptional circumstances to co-operate with reasonable requests from more senior staff to vary your area of work to meet unplanned service need.
