Job Vacancies

Reporting to – Patient Services Team Leader

Background/Purpose of Role:

This is a customer focused role that is process driven. You must be able to deliver to a set objective – navigating patient calls to reach the most appropriate outcome for the care need, with a solid understanding of the routes available to that patient. Full training and inductions on all relevant systems will be provided.

This role will involve:

• Answering all incoming patient calls
• Using integrated systems to-
• Book appointments with the appropriate clinician
• Signpost patients to alternative services or information sources
• Dealing with patient queries, primarily over the phone
• Administration duties and data entry
• Rota’d time of front desk at each site dealing with walk in patient appointment requests/other queries and/or requests
• Pulled list – 111 reports, put onto Klinik and send to duty GP

You might be suited to a Care Navigator role if you are:

• Friendly and welcoming
• Patient and understanding
• Good at working in a team and with the public
• Willing to take responsibility for a number of duties

Entry requirements and skills:

No set formal qualifications are required, but you will need to demonstrate:

• Good numeracy, literacy and IT skills, and/or relevant work experience
• Good communication skills
• Good customer service skills with a polite and personable manner
• Strong organisational skills with an ability to follow procedures and multitask

This is not exhaustive list, duties continually reviewed and adapted.

Job Summary

The candidate will need a flexible approach to change and be instrumental in the delivery of the practice/PCNs aims for patient centred care. The role may require movement around the 4 sites of Forest Health Group and working with a multi- disciplinary team.

This role gives the exciting opportunity to work with a committed team and to help shape the delivery of services and projects to the patient population. This role will be pivotal to supporting the patient population of both member Practices.

Purpose of the Role

Purpose of the role will be to support member Practices and Patients and to improve screening across all member Practices. This will be an evolving role as the Primary Care Network develops to the needs and health management of the population

General Duties/ Key Responsibilities:

• Case load management of patients on Long Term Condition registers; using a matrix of appointment/test requirements to make all necessary bookings for the patient in the timeframe required
• Baby book – new baby registrations 8-10 weeks post birth
• Management of childhood immunisation booking and completion rates
• As part of LTC recall management; complete new patient registrations inputting patient into correct LTC pathway as per their listed conditions
• Management and completion of EMIS tasks from clinicians
• Management and completion of Docman tasks – from clinicians off back of patient documents, ie appointment required
• Coordination and management of coil and joint injection clinics
• Booking of patient transport requests

This is not an exhaustive list, duties continually reviewed and adapted

Location: Boundary House Surgery (part of Forest Health Group), Mount Lane, Bracknell, RG12 9PG

Other sites – Bagshot Road Bracknell, Count Lane Bracknell, Skimped Hill, Bracknell 

Responsible for: Care Navigation 

Cross working with: Care Coordination Team Leader 

Reporting to: Group Manager Assistant

Hours: FTE, 37.5 hours a week worked between the hours of 0800-1830

Salary: Up to £26,000 per annum, plus a KPI related bonus scheme.

Background/Purpose of Role

Forest Health Group are a unitary practice Primary Care Network (PCN) in Bracknell, operating across four sites. We have a varied clinical and non-clinical multi-disciplinary team, working hard and innovatively to create improved health outcomes for our patients. 

Our Same Day Urgent Care hub is based at our Mount Lane site in Bracknell; where a team of Allied Health Professionals (Paramedics, Nurse Practitioners, Clinical Pharmacists) offer minor illness appointments with the support and escalation of a GP where required. The Supporting GP is available to review requests for care that present more complex criteria, and to ensure that overall acute capacity is used as effectively as possible. 

Our Care Navigation team is also primarily based from the Mount Lane site, with presence at our other sites for cover of front desks. The role of the Care Navigation team is to be the ‘face’ of the practice for patients calling with requests for care, whether acute or routine. These requests are primarily received via the phone, and also online, and via walk in. The Care Navigators need to demonstrate effective triage of the patient’s request for care at the outset, following the clinical system’s AI framework and other relevant protocols (documented and in their possession); whilst always demonstrating the highest levels of customer service. 

The practice expects a minimum level of productivity from the Care Navigation team in managing demand via the phone, and demonstration of accuracy and quality in this and all other tasks associated with the role. This is tracked via a KPI dashboard, of which the Care Navigation team lead and management meet regularly to track and discuss. 

We are seeking a Team Leader for the Care Navigation team with the ability to maintain the required level of performance from the team, across both productivity and quality. The candidate will pre-empt as far as possible issues which could affect performance against KPIs, taking the necessary intervention and keeping the management team updated. The team leader will have a robust appreciation of practice strategy and the ability to fully interpret their objectives as part of this. 

In return we offer a focused and rewarding environment, with a welcoming and supportive team. The practice is keen to support the right candidate with their ongoing professional development and work to ensure opportunities and the scope to achieve this is made available. 

Leadership Duties:

Overseeing the day-to-day operation of the care navigation team, involving-

• Tracking call wait times, ensuring maximum team capacity applied to call answering in peak periods of demand and productivity is monitored
• Monitoring all demand streams the care navigation manage, via EMIS, email, docman etc and that these are actioned in a timely manner
• Ensuring that the ‘book today’ actions sent through from supervising duty team are actioned in timely manner to aid overall capacity management
• Rota planning and ongoing management of absence ensuring phone cover, and cover across all areas remains sufficient
• Escalating any issues relating to phone, or other cover to Group Manager Assistant
• Taking steps where appropriate/assessing solutions with respect to cover when any issues arise

Performance Management

• Using the individual and team care navigation KPIs as a framework to track performance of the team and that this remains in line with these expectations
• Ensuring accuracy and quality are demonstrated by the team at all times in their adherence to practice protocols, addressing any issues/training needs as required
• Ensuring highest levels of customer service are demonstrated at all times
• Ensuring that any mitigating individual or team issues or concerns (personal or professional) that may affect performance are highlighted to management so that appropriate action can be taken
• Offering supervision to the wider care navigation team in terms of “which service” is appropriate based on patient need/output of Klinik AI
• To work openly and effectively with the Duty GP on any clinical patient queries across the team, proactively seeking support on triage/appropriate action whenever necessary

Collaborative Working

• Working is close collaboration with other team leaders across backend operational functions; specifically Care Coordination Team Leader
• Working closely with the Group Manager Assistant/Group Manager in the operationalisation of any action as deemed required for the Care Navigation team

Entry requirements and skills:

Essential criteria:

• Experience in a call-centre, call monitoring environment where call handling KPIs are in place and the requirement to address poor call handling is expected
• Proven track record in leading a successful team against targets, addressing performance issues and working with management to address these
• Good numeracy, literacy and IT skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Excellent customer service skills with a polite and personable manner
• Strong organisational skills with an ability to follow procedures and multitask
• The ability to form successful cross working relationships with fellow team leads

Desirable criteria:

• Experience in primary care in a patient facing role

(FOR INFO) Care Navigation Duties:

• Answering all incoming patient calls, triaging and booking at the outset to correct clinician/service, or fielding to duty GP/allied health professional for their input
• Dealing with incoming online Klinik requests for care, triaging/booking/seeking duty input in same way as phone calls.
• Dealing with walk ins, related to acute and or routine requests
• Using integrated systems to-
• Administration duties and data entry

You will be suited to a Care Navigator Team Leader role if you are:

• Friendly and welcoming
• Patient and understanding
• Good at working in a team and with the public
• Willing to take responsibility for a number of duties