Medical Receptionist inSunderland inSunderland PUBLISHED THU 13 FEB 2025

Experienced Medical Receptionist

Sunderland GP Alliance (Monument Surgeries)

Employer: Sunderland GP Alliance

Salary: £23,599.61(pro rata if part-time)

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Location: Washington, Tyne and Wear

We are currently seeking to recruit a permanent Medical Receptionist to provide a comprehensive reception service. Hours of work will be between 8.00am 6.00pm Monday to Friday. The post holders will be required to work flexibly across all SGPA practices as required. As well as greeting patients and carrying out general reception duties you will also be expected to process prescriptions and fully utilise EMISWeb and other IT systems.

Applicants must have experience of working in a NHS setting and have a working knowledge of medical reception duties.

For further information, or an informal discussion, please contact:

Kevin Doran, Assistant to Head of General Practice on or at

About us

Job summary

To provide a comprehensive reception service to achieve an efficient and effective service in providing the best possible care to patients.

Receptionists will:

• Greet people in a professional and courteous manner
• Pass on relevant information and answer queries
• Assist people to access the services they need
• Undertake a variety of reception duties to assist in the smooth running of the Practice

Duties and Responsibilities in line with Practice policies and procedures:

• Answer the telephone as a priority
• Book/cancel appointments
• Take messages accurately and pass on in a timely manner
• Organise home visit requests
• Deal with general enquiries and complaints
• To forward any queries relating to prescriptions to the Pharmacy Technicians
• Give out pathology results
• Register new patients and temporary residents and make up paper records
• Process deducted patients and send records to Primary Care Services Agency
• Greet and direct patients and visitors
• Organise translators
• Respond to the needs of GPs and Nurses to enable efficient clinics
• Input and extract information from the Practice computer system
• Update the clinical system with information eg smoking, ethnicity
• Action change of address notification
• Any other filing, record keeping and distribution of documents as appropriate
• Effectively liaise with Practice, Primary Care Organisations, patients and other external organisations to assist promptly with the resolution and administration of queries
• Fully utilise EMISWeb and other IT systems
• Monitor and check tasks and work flows
• Communicate effectively with the reception team to ensure policies and procedures are kept up to date
• Keep directories and data bases up to date to ensure an efficient work flow
• Demonstrate duties to new or less experienced staff
• Resolve job related issues, including patient documentation and help resolve minor problems
• Photocopying
• Dealing with mail internal and external
• Attend meetings when required
• To work safely at all times in accordance with legislation and Practice policies and procedures
• Be flexible both in the availability and being able to cover for colleagues absent from work due to annual leave or sickness
• Any other reasonable duties requested by the Practice Manager or GP
• This list is not exhaustive

In addition to the above, the post holder will show respect and courtesy to patients and colleagues, maintain confidentiality of patient and other Practice information at all times. Working occasional extra hours may be required.

The job description is not exhaustive and may be adjusted periodically after review and consultation. You will be expected to carry out reasonable duties which may be requested from time to time.

Working relationships

• General Practitioners
• Practice Manager and Team Leader
• Other members of secretarial team
• Members of the Practice/community nursing team
• Other members of the Primary Health Care Team
• Patients
• Outside agencies eg Secondary Care Trusts, Community Services

All members of staff may be asked to attend periodic Staff Meetings, which may be held outside their normal working hours. They may also be required to work extra hours covering for holidays and sickness. This may include Saturday mornings and possibly weekend work in future on a rota basis.

Conditions of employment including hours of work, holidays etc are covered in your Contract of Employment. The staff handbook contains employment policies.

Review:

The post and the job description reflect the current requirements and objectives of the post. As the duties of the post develop and change, the post holder may be required to carry out other responsibilities.

Whilst there will be consultation on such issues, employees should understand that, if agreement cannot be reached, then the employer reserves the right to make changes to job descriptions where it considers such changes necessary.

Confidentiality:

In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately. In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients, carers, Practice staff and other health care workers. They may also have access to information relating to the Practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential. Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other health care workers or the business of the Practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with Practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & Safety:

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to Practice guidelines
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards
• Reporting potential risks identified

Equality and Diversity:

• The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:
• Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
• Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights

Personal Development:

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the Practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own skills development.
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Communication:

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

Contribution to the Implementation of Services:

The post-holder will:

• Apply Practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
• Participate in audit where appropriate