Job Description
The Patient Pathway Co-ordinator (PPC) will work within the Surgery, Cancer & Associated Services Division to facilitate the smooth running of the patient journey by ensuring that co-ordinated and streamlined administrative processes revolve around the patient and their individual needs.
Provide cross-cover for other Patient Pathway Co-ordinators to ensure a consistent and effective administration service is maintained at all times.
The PPC will assist the patients throughout their hospital experience to ensure that care provided is timely, efficient, and appropriate in regards to all members of the healthcare/ multidisciplinary team.
The PPC is responsible for ensuring the safe and efficient management of
the patient throughout their pathway; giving the patient a single point of contact for their appointments, ensuring the patients and carer experience is central to every stage of the patient journey, and ensuring potential breaches of RTT (referral to treatment) waiting times targets and cancer waiting time targets are avoided or escalated to the relevant manager.
This role also works closely with the relevant MDT co-ordinators to ensure patients on a pathway are appropriately managed.
An opportunity has arisen for a Band 4 Patient Pathway Coordinator post within the Urology Service at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust.
The role is essentially administrative and will require great organisational skills and attention to detail. You will require excellent communication skills as a large part of the role will involve liaising with both clinical and support staff. You will receive initial training for the role but knowledge of the NHS pathways and secretarial processes would be a significant advantage. You will need to be able to cope well under pressure, use your initiative to work individually and work well as part of a team.
Previous experience of office or reception duties is essential, preferably within the healthcare setting, and all candidates must meet the criteria laid out within the person specification included in the job description.
Key elements of the role will include answering telephone queries from patients and providing a professional level of customer service, using patient administration systems to book patients, tracking patients through clinical pathways, processing letters & emails, and liaising with consultants to help them manage their time & patients effectively.
Please note that if a high level of applications are received then the advert will be closed early.
Promote the Trust’s core values and work in a way that is patient centred,
involves service users, responds positively to feedback from user groups and
promotes team work across services. Present a professional image for the
service at all times and ensure the provision of a comprehensive, emphatic
administration service to patients, relatives/carers, clinicians and external
agencies.
Where appropriate to undertake an assessment of new patients in
accordance with defined protocols, when they telephone to arrange an
appointment for diagnostic test or TCI for operation to verify their medical
details and to help ensure that they are scheduled to the correct session for
procedure &/or treatment. This may include accurately recording and
providing advice in relation to medication, starvation, allergies &/or transport in accordance with clinical protocols and Trust policy. Ensure that relevant information is available to clinical staff at the time of attendance &/or admission.
Pathway Processes
To act as a named point of contact for patients under the care of that
specialty(s)
To work as part of a multi-disciplinary clinical team maintaining efficient
systems and processes relating to patient attendances and admissions. This
includes maintaining accurate computerised and manual records, inputting
registration and waiting list data onto the trust’s computer systems and
ensuring that all patient records are kept up to date with any details relevant to the patient’s attendance and/or admissions.
When necessary in conjunction with Medical Records ensure all patients’
records are available to clinical staff as required in adherence with the Trust
Medical Records Policy. This may include receiving discharge summaries,
histology reports, obtaining results from external organisations/healthcare
providers and preparing them and patients’ records for review by clinicians as required.
To support the clinical team by completion of independent funding requests. /exceptional treatment forms prior to patients’ attendance and/or admission in line with locally agreed commissioning rules.
To liaise with clinical staff to ensure that specialist equipment is available,
where required, and that clinical teams (e.g. ward, outpatient department etc.) are aware of patients with specialist needs.
Ensure that all patients are scheduled in accordance with outpatient,
diagnostic and inpatient/day case waiting time targets and that
attendance/admissions information is accurately recorded on all appropriate databases, including, but not limited to, Medway/Rio/EPR, Anglia Ice, PACS, Ormis etc.
To liaise with other departments/ partner organisations to coordinate and
facilitate the treatment of patients. Ensure that all Inter provider transfer forms or necessary referral forms are complete and recorded at the point of transfer or receipt of referral to the partner organisation to warrant that patients are treated in accordance with 18 Week RTT target or urgent cancer targets.
To keep easily accessible and up to date lists of patients being seen in other
hospitals.
Where a patient is active to two pathways, work collaboratively and efficiently with PPC counterpart to ensure there is co-ordination of appointments and hospital attendances wherever possible to ensure good patient experience.
To arrange translation services/link workers, in liaison with the appropriate
departmental manager, as required. This may include foreign language &/or
sign language translation. Ensure that such services are available for the
period of patient attendance &/or admission as appropriate.
To facilitate the booking of transport for patients within the department who need it.
To maintain hospital system for the tracking of healthcare records. This
includes ensuring patients’ records are available to clinical staff as required in adherence with the Trust Medical Records Policy. This may include receiving discharge summaries, histology reports etc. and preparing them and patients’ records for review by clinicians.
To liaise with Clinical Coding Department to ensure that medical records are accurately and promptly coded following all admissions.
Liaise with Clinical Teams as appropriate about individual cases of concern,
and work closely with MDT co-ordinator colleagues to support patients on a cancer pathway.
Effective management of individual waiting lists ensuring that patients are
discharged appropriately, GPs are informed of patients being removed from
the waiting lists, suspensions are managed within the agreed timescales and
patients are appointed in accordance with length of waiting time.
Assist the Patient Pathway Manager/Team Leader in the review of current
clinic templates to reduce waiting times and non-attendance rates.
To prioritise daily tasks and ongoing workloads and complete in agreed time
frames as determined by the clinical team and/or line manager.
If brought to your attention that a patient may be an Overseas Visitor inform the Overseas Visitors Co-ordinator.
Obtain medical notes and liaise with clinicians for urgent queries from
patients.
To resolve any patients complaints locally and escalate as necessary.
Multi-Disciplinary working
To liaise with partner organisations to assist facilitate the treatment of
patients. Ensure that comprehensive demographic and waiting list information is recorded &/or provided at the point of receipt of referral or transfer to the partner organisation to warrant that patients are treated in accordance with elective waiting time standards.
To liaise with Cancer Services MDT Coordinator(s) to ensure that all patients with suspected/confirmed malignancy are treated in accordance with Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer/Cancer Reform Strategy.
As appropriate, to notify GPs via telephone and/or email of attendance
outcomes and diagnostic results. To liaise with GP practices to ensure that
patients have received all appropriate treatment and are fit, willing and able to attend for treatment.
Liaise with clinical/diagnostic teams to ensure that all diagnostic appointments are booked within an appropriate timescale and results are available.
To liaise with other multi-disciplinary professionals regarding results to ensure that adequate action is taken to initiate treatment plans as indicated.
Customer Care/General Administration
Promote the Trust’s core values and work in a way that is patient centred,
involves service users, responds positively to feedback from user groups and promotes team work across services. Present a professional image for the service at all times and ensure the provision of a comprehensive, emphatic administration service to patients, relatives/carers, clinicians and external agencies.
Promptly answer telephone enquiries, taking and relaying messages in a
polite and helpful manner, taking action as appropriate. This will include
enquiries from patients, their GPs and community hospitals.
Provide cover for colleagues across the specialty/clinical directorate during
periods of planned annual leave and sickness.
To undertake additional administrative tasks and responsibilities within the
specialty/clinical directorate as required.
Adhere to all Trust policies including Infection Control, Hygiene Code, Data
Protection Act, and Uniform Policy, taking appropriate account of patients’ rights and diversity and ensuring fair access to services.
Be proactive in the development and continuous improvement of the role,
making recommendations for changes in process in light of the Trust’s
ongoing transition and implement new procedures as appropriate.
To prioritise daily tasks and ongoing workloads and complete in agreed time
frames as determined by the clinical team and/or line manager.
Provide relevant information to the Information team as required.
To participate in and facilitate audits as required for the speciality(s),
disseminating necessary information as requested by your team leader or
clinical lead.
Working from other sites within NMUH when necessary e.g. community sites.
Where a consultant works across sites, responsibility for the co-ordination of all correspondence and effective communication of any issues that need
urgent action.
To allocate work accordingly to the PPC team.
Scheduling and patient Pathway Management
Arranging and booking transport, ensuring patients are supplied with any
necessary information and explanatory leaflets.
Review the active and planned waiting lists on a daily basis to ensure that
admissions are managed within guarantee admission dates with the support
of Patient Pathway Manager /Team Leader, ensuring that theatre lists within the specialty or specialties are fully booked and effectively utilised in line with national waiting time targets.
Review suspensions lists regularly and disseminate action as required.
To monitor all cancellations ensuring that patients are rebooked in
accordance with waiting list policy as well as identify common trends for
cancellations so that appropriate action can be taken to reduce continued risk.
To keep clinicians informed of availability of “one-stop” Imaging slots during
the day; to ensure the team are aware of any faults with Imaging equipment
that may stop patients having scans on that days; to ensure the team are
aware when Imaging are unable to see patients on the same day for scans so
that the patients can be booked at a later date for the scans (e.g.
mammograms, ultrasounds, etc.); to co-ordinate between Imaging and clinics to ensure patients have scans taken prior to being reviewed; to ensure clinicians remain in clinic to see patients following a “one-stop” scan or test or, if no clinicians are available, to book another clinic appointment for the patient.
Take responsibility for validating all 18 week pathway information for
designated patient cohort and proactively managing any issues raised through validation.
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