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Outpatient Booking Officer

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  • Job
    Full-time
    Junior & Mid Level
  • Customer Relations
    People, HR & Administration
  • Reading

Requirements

  • Qualifications
  • Essential criteria
  • GCSE English and Maths pass or equivalent
  • ECDL or equivalent
  • Desirable criteria
  • NVQ Level 2 Administration or equivalent practical knowledge
  • Experience
  • Essential criteria
  • Experience of working in a hospital or busy office environment.
  • Significant experience in difficult patient situations.
  • Customer care experience
  • Has used Epic/other electronic healthcare suite
  • Desirable criteria
  • Call centre experience
  • Previous booking experience
  • Skills
  • Essential criteria
  • Good communication skills both verbal and in writing
  • Excellent customer service skills and evidence of dealing with telephones and meeting targets
  • Exceptional interpersonal skills
  • Time management skills
  • Ability to escalate any issues as necessary
  • Persuasive/negotiating skills
  • Logical thinker, able to reason, analyse situations effectively and deal with a multitude of queries
  • Desirable criteria
  • Knowledge of current NHS issues relating to the Referral To Treatment targets waiting lists and the Trust Access Policy
  • Knowledge of medical terminology
  • Knowledge of clinical and surgical procedures

Responsibilities

  • Arranging appointments over the telephone with patients
  • Booking patient appointments from waiting lists
  • Rescheduling and cancelling appointments at short notice, when required
  • Liaising with clinical admin and CNS teams
  • To ensure all phone calls are dealt with in a professional and timely manner, adhering to the local targets set by the Surgery Directorate and the Trust
  • To ensure all patients, colleagues and visitors are treated with dignity, respect and empathy at all times
  • To support the Trust in delivering NHS targets
  • To respond in a timely fashion to all administrative duties within the team
  • Assist and be pro-active in all modernisation projects that concern the team and improve patient pathways
  • To be multi-skilled in your working role and able to assist in all areas of the department as and when required
  • To ensure strict confidentiality is maintained at all times in respect of correspondence received in the department and in accordance with Trust policy
  • To ensure demographics and daytime contact numbers are obtained and checked on each individual call and updated on the patient administration system in accordance with Information Quality Assurance
  • To adhere to the Trust Access Policy when patients do not keep appointments or wish to delay appointments or treatment
  • To liaise with the team leader to provide a high-quality empathetic service and highlight any problems, working together as a customer focused team to solve issues that may arise
  • To adhere to the Trust values of being committed to excellence, working together and facing the future
  • Follow all Trust and local policies and procedures at all times
  • To deal with patient/staff complaints in a professional manner and try to resolve the issue before they become formal

FAQs

What is the primary responsibility of the Outpatient Booking Officer?

The primary responsibility of the Outpatient Booking Officer is to book outpatient appointments over the Trust sites, as well as to assist with the implementation and ongoing monitoring of appointment systems.

What qualifications are required for the Outpatient Booking Officer position?

The essential qualifications include a GCSE pass in English and Maths or equivalent, and an ECDL or equivalent. Desirable qualifications include NVQ Level 2 Administration or equivalent practical knowledge.

What kind of experience is necessary for this role?

Essential experience includes working in a hospital or busy office environment, significant experience in difficult patient situations, customer care experience, and familiarity with Epic or other electronic healthcare suites. Desirable experience includes call centre experience and previous booking experience.

What skills are necessary for the Outpatient Booking Officer?

Required skills include good communication skills (both verbal and written), excellent customer service skills, exceptional interpersonal skills, time management skills, the ability to escalate issues, persuasive/negotiating skills, and logical reasoning abilities.

What is the working environment like for the Outpatient Booking Officer?

The Outpatient Booking Officer works in a busy environment across the Trust's three main hospitals, dealing directly with patients and liaising with clinical admin and CNS teams.

What customer service expectations are there for this role?

The role expects very high customer service skills, ensuring that all patients, colleagues, and visitors are treated with dignity, respect, and empathy at all times.

Are there opportunities for professional development?

Yes, the Trust values professional development and supports initiatives that aim at modernisation and improving patient pathways, providing opportunities for staff to gain new skills.

How does this role contribute to meeting Trust targets?

The Outpatient Booking Officer supports the Trust in delivering NHS targets by efficiently managing appointment bookings and ensuring an excellent patient experience.

What are the Trust's core values?

The Trust's core values are Committed to Excellence, Working Together, and Facing the Future, which guide staff in how they treat patients, visitors, service users, and each other.

How should complaints from patients or staff be handled in this role?

Complaints should be dealt with in a professional manner, and the officer should aim to resolve the issue before it escalates into a formal complaint.

Our vision is to be a leader in health and wellbeing, delivering exceptional services for our communities.

Science & Healthcare
Industry
10,001+
Employees
2014
Founded Year

Mission & Purpose

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. As well as a performing, well led and ambitious Foundation Trust, we have exciting times ahead of us. The Trust’s vision is to lead in delivering exceptional health and well being services to our communities. Turning our vision into reality, we are continuing to make significant invest in our infrastructure and facilities, striving for excellence and empowering our people to deliver excellence. Providing a supportive, dynamic MDT working environment, allowing our teams to deliver high quality patient care and achieving work life balance, whilst encouraging continuous professional development. We are proud of the ambitions laid out in our strategy, Our Future FHFT, including our vision to be a leader in Health & Wellbeing, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. Services are delivered from three main hospital sites: Frimley Park Hospital (Camberley) Heatherwood Hospital (Ascot) Wexham Park Hospital (Slough) Additionally, the Trust delivers outpatient and diagnostic services from Aldershot, Farnham, Fleet, Windsor, Maidenhead and Bracknell bringing a range of services closer to these communities. We are also proud to host the Defence Medical Group South East at Frimley Park with military surgical, medical and nursing personnel working alongside the hospital's NHS staff providing care to patients in all specialties. We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR – Epic – went live in June 2022 and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment. Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients.