Outpatients
(This includes Outpatients, Medical Records, POA Admin Support, Clinical Typists)
- ensure all patients are booked into relevant clinics in accordance with the ABC Policy;
- appointment booking: new, follow-up after diagnostics;
- post-op follow-up;
- cancelling clinics planned and unplanned;
- rescheduling cancelled clinics;
- taking and making telephone calls through Netcall call management system;
- managing emails through subspecialty mailboxes;
- transport requests;
- interpreter requests;
- managing diagnostic requests through 3rd party supplier.
- ensure patients are booked in and out of the department;
- greeting patients to Outpatient department (OPD);
- checking patient in, including full demographic check;
- managing the patient flow between OPD and X-ray;
- managing the patient flow between clinics;
- liaising with Transport for patient’s return journey;
- outcome each appointment on iPM;
- booking follow-up appointments;
- PIFU process;
- chaperone clinics when required;
- ensure notes are in order for consultant during clinic;
- complete 3rd party diagnostic request forms, scan to Bluespier;
- cover reception in off-site clinic.
- ensure patient medical notes are available for the patient pathway through the Centre;
- prepare and deliver notes for all clinics and theatre lists;
- request patient health summaries from GP surgeries;
- request images and reports from other hospitals and diagnostic centres, via IEP;
- tracking patient notes in and out of the records department;
- request notes from partnership trusts;
- arrange transport for notes delivery and collection;
- archive notes once pathway complete;
- arrange collection of archived notes, to store off site at third party company.
- provide administrative support for the POA Nurse Team;
- answer telephone and take messages from patients for nurse;
- call patients on behalf of nurse for non-clinical instructions or messages;
- print all blood results/report and put in case notes for nurse to review;
- scan ECGs to patient’s electronic note and file paper ECG to patient’s physical notes;
- request GP summaries where relevant;
- request for reports, letters, or any other clinical correspondence as per nurse email and place in patient’s note for review and inform nurse;
- arrange the multi-disciplinary Jehovah Witness meetings including anaesthetic clinics and echo clinics;
- organise Best Interest meetings;
- liaise with private hospitals regarding treatment to be undertaken on NHS patients prior to surgery;
- attend regular meetings with clinical staff and take minutes;
- ensure all scanning of individual patient documentation requested by the POA Team is completed daily and all documentation is sent to GPs daily;
- liaise with the transport department to arrange patient transport;
- assist with the team’s emails and incoming and outgoing post.
- to have clinic letters typed for all SWLEOC clinic attendances;
- all new appointment letters to be typed within 5 days;
- all follow up appointment letters to be typed within 10 days;
- send to Consultant to approve and monitor status;
- upload copy of letter to Bluespier and send copies to GP and patient;
- distribute post-op follow-up requests to Outpatient team;
- notify OPD team of consultant-to-consultant referrals to be booked;
- check clinic outcome matches the letter dictated and amend accordingly.
Outpatients:
- to ensure every patient is booked within the national target;
- no cold booking, all appointments verbally confirmed over the phone and letters to be sent;
- ensure capacity and demand is met.
Reception:
- all patients are booked in and out on the system with appropriate outcomes entered;
- patient flow is managed effectively without creating hold ups and disruption to the service.
Medical Records:
- all patient notes are prepped ready for each clinic;
- to ensure all patient notes have the correct documents;
- all notes are tracked back to the appropriate area.
Pre-operative assessment admin support:
- ensure nursing staff are getting admin support daily;
- requesting of clinical letters managed effectively to ensure timing of patient pathway is not negatively impacted;
- all patient documentation scanned daily to prevent delays with patients being fit for surgery.
Clinical Typists:
- clinic letters need to be typed, checked and sent within the target to ensure there is no delay in treatment or pathway for the patients.
The Centre went live in 2004, initially with no outpatient facility. One clinic was then set up for one of the Consultants, which required office space being converted into a clinic room.
This evolved to the current day, where there are now 30 consultants holding clinics at SWLEOC, as well as Registrar and Fellow clinics. Previously, there wasn’t a medical records department as notes were prepared by the scheduling team. Now there is a dedicated medical records area supported by Clerks.
We have implemented two CT-guided injection clinics in the wrist & hand and foot & ankle sub-specialities according to the Right Place Right Procedure initiative, removing injections from a theatre environment and improving capacity.
One stop POA clinics have been added to the wrist & hand and foot & ankle sub-specialities.
- Admin teams;
- Nurses;
- Consultants;
- Physio team;
- Patients;
- GPs;
- Radiographers;
- 3rd party diagnostics.
- Outpatient areas;
- Floors 1 & 2 Woodcote; and
- Block G.
- Patient Manager;
- Clinical Manager;
- Bluespier;
- PACS;
- Outlook;
- ERS;
- ESTH Patient Transport;
- Dictate IT3;
- NHS Spine;
- Netcall-Liberty Converse Agent;
- IEP;
- Language Line;
- Employee Online;
- ESR;
- ICT Helpdesk;
- Bookwise; and
- Building a strong and respectful environment within the team;
- collaborative working and having strong communications across all areas;
- having a good understanding of each team’s roles and responsibilities;
- to be aware of any partnerships involved and ensure they are aware of our services;
- GP surgeries need to be aware of how to refer to the service;
- ensure that roles and responsibilities for each staff member are clear.
- Capacity;
- when SWLEOC took over the T&O service from Epsom and St Helier, the staffing mix didn’t increase to reflect the increase in patient volume, and there was limited handover available;
- telephone call volume increased significantly and created service delivery problems;
- staffing levels;
- short notice clinic cancellations;
- recruitment delays;
- new offsite clinic created without IT systems or staffing increase.
Capacity; ongoing but work closely with consultants to obtain extra capacity wherever possible;
- change slot types;
- liaise with Scheduling to convert Theatre time to clinic time;
- add evening and weekend clinics;
- takeover of Trust T&O;
- self-taught new sub specialities;
- recruited more staff;
- developed relationships with consultants;
- worked closely with support teams in trust (ERS lead and OBC Manager);
- created new ways of working to help streamline;
- telephone calls;
- ongoing communication, updates and problem solving with the teams impacted;
- increased workforce;
- split staff into teams by sub-specialty;
- new telephone system (Netcall);
- staffing levels;
- recruited more staff to cover the expanded service – (ongoing as still require more staff);
- short notice cancellations;
- working closely with Partner Trusts to avoid cancellations under 6 weeks’ notice (this will avoid payment of a penalty if cancelled within six weeks);
- clinic capacity reduced if Consultant is required to cover Trauma at short notice;
- recruitment – ongoing, continue to communicate with the recruitment hub;
- new offsite clinic;
- created without IT systems or staffing increase;
- recruited and Hand & Wrist coordinator to collate everything for clinics;
- work on a down time format;
- staff movement from other OPD teams to cover reception are.
- Capacity and staffing levels have always been a challenge in these areas.
- Staffing Levels;
- capacity & demand;
- working to 18 week referral to treat time standard;
- partnership as all work differently and according to different job plans;
- patient expectations;
- huge volume of patient calls and most efficient way of delivering patient communication.
- Collaboration;
- communication;
- pragmatism;
- take time to ensure tasks are completed accurately;
- don’t compromise quality for quantity.
- Implementing the Netcall Phone System;
- increasing the workforce;
- having a strong manager and supervisor structure.
- Taking over the Trust T&O service meant SWLEOC evolved from managing 500 patients to 5,000 patients overnight without any infrastructure or staffing changes;
- the aim was to achieve quality in T&O service delivery.
- We are able work differently to most acute trusts as we specialise in just one speciality.
Staff
Staff Member: Outpatients Clerk (Band 3 x 6 WTE)
Role:
- appointment booking;
- cancelling clinics planned and unplanned;
- rescheduling cancelled clinics;
- taking and making telephone calls through Netcall call management system;
- managing emails through subspecialty mailboxes;
- transport requests;
- interpreter requests;
- managing diagnostic requests through third party supplier.
Staff Member: Reception Administrator (Band 3 x 4 WTE)
Role:
- greeting patients to Outpatient department;
- checking patient in, including full demographic check;
- managing the patient flow between OPD and X-ray;
- managing the patient flow between clinics;
- liaising with Transport for patients return journey;
- outcome each appointment on iPM;
- booking follow-up appointments;
- PIFU process;
- Co-ordinate the one-stop process for patients added to waiting list, which includes, communication Life Box process with patient, asking nurse to one-stop the patient. Add to LifeBox, book one-stop episode onto iPM & Bluespier;
- chaperone clinics when required;
- ensure notes are in order for consultant during clinic;
- complete third party diagnostic request forms, scan to Bluespier;
- cover reception in off-site clinic.
Staff Member: Medical Records Clerk (Band 2 x 4 WTE)
Role:
- prepare and deliver notes for all clinics and theatre lists;
- request patient health summaries from GP surgeries;
- request images and reports in from other hospitals and diagnostic centres, via IEP;
- tracking patient notes in and out of the records department;
- request notes from partnership trusts;
- arrange transport for notes delivery and collection;
- archive notes once pathway complete;
- arrange collection of archived notes, to store off site at third party company.
Staff Member: Pre-operative Assessment Administrator (Band 3 x 3 WTE)
Role:
- answer telephone and take messages from patients for nurse;
- call patients on behalf of nurse for non-clinical instructions or messages;
- print all blood results/report and put in case notes for nurse to review;
- scan ECGs to patients’ electronic note and file paper ECG to patients’ physical notes;
- request GP summaries where relevant;
- request for reports, letters, or any other clinical correspondence as per nurse’s email and place in patient’s note for review and inform nurse;
- arrange the multi-disciplinary Jehovah’s Witness meetings including anaesthetic clinics and echo clinics;
- organise best interest meeting;
- liaise with private hospitals regarding treatment to be undertaken on NHS patients prior to surgery;
- attend regular meetings with clinical staff and take minutes;
- ensure all scanning of individual patient documentation requested by the POA Team is completed daily and all documentation is sent to GPs daily;
- liaise with the transport department to arrange patient transport;
- assist with the team’s emails and incoming and outgoing post.
Staff Member: Clinical Typist (Band 3 x 3 WTE)
Role:
- all new appointment letters to be typed within five days;
- all follow up appointment letters to be typed within 10 days;
- send to Consultant to approve and monitor status;
- upload copy of letter to Bluespier and send copies to GP and patient;
- distribute post-op follow up requests to Outpatient team;
- notify OPD team of consultant-to-consultant referrals to be booked;
- check clinic outcome matches the letter dictated and amend accordingly.