Job summary
- Main area
- Administration
- Grade
- Band 2
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 17.5 hours per week (4 afternoons per week (Monday to Friday))
- Job ref
- 344-8411WHH
- Employer
- East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- William Harvey Hospital
- Town
- Ashford
- Salary
- £24,465 pro rata per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 04/02/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Outpatient Receptionist
Band 2
Job overview
Purpose of the Role
To provide high-quality customer service to patients attending the hospital. This includes ensuring outpatient clinic appointments are booked accurately, supporting patient pathways, and maintaining an efficient and welcoming reception environment.
Main duties of the job
- Act as the first point of contact for patients, relatives, and carers, greeting all visitors in a friendly, professional and helpful manner.
- Provide timely support to patients waiting in clinics, ensuring they are informed of any delays and communicating closely with clinical and administrative colleagues.
- Handle face-to-face and telephone enquiries, resolving issues where possible and escalating to the Operations or Service Manager when appropriate.
- Liaise with the PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) team when necessary to ensure informal complaints or unexpected patient arrivals are managed appropriately.
- Maintain patient confidentiality, ensure fair and equitable treatment of all patients, and support a positive patient experience at all times.
- Record clinic outcomes accurately each day and raise any queries with clinicians or their secretarial teams.
- Support the upkeep of departmental clinical information, filing, and patient correspondence.
- Maintain accuracy and completeness of electronic patient records.
- Maintain effective working relationships with colleagues, reception team members, clinical teams, and other departments within the hospital.
- Ensure a prompt and effective communication system is upheld within the service.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the 18-week Referral to Treatment (RTT) pathway and adhere to all national and Trust access policies.
Working for our organisation
We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference’. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.
Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for roles Band 5 and above.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Key Duties and Responsibilities
Patient Reception & Customer Service
-
Act as the first point of contact for patients, relatives, and carers, greeting all visitors in a friendly, professional and helpful manner.
-
Provide timely support to patients waiting in clinics, ensuring they are informed of any delays and communicating closely with clinical and administrative colleagues.
-
Handle face-to-face and telephone enquiries, resolving issues where possible and escalating to the Operations or Service Manager when appropriate.
-
Liaise with the PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) team when necessary to ensure informal complaints or unexpected patient arrivals are managed appropriately.
-
Maintain patient confidentiality, ensure fair and equitable treatment of all patients, and support a positive patient experience at all times.
Clinical Administration & Appointment Management
-
Ensure outpatient clinic appointments are booked accurately in line with patient pathways and Trust policies.
-
Ensure all clinic outcome sheets are available daily to relevant staff.
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Record clinic outcomes accurately each day (e.g., patients added to waiting lists, discharged, follow-up arrangements) and raise any queries with clinicians or their secretarial teams.
-
Support the upkeep of departmental clinical information, filing, and patient correspondence.
Electronic Records & Data Quality
-
Maintain accuracy and completeness of electronic patient records.
-
Follow all policies and procedures for recording data on hospital computer systems.
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Accurately track records to support the Trust’s commitment to data quality and confidentiality.
Reception Area & Health and Safety
-
Ensure the reception and waiting areas remain clean, tidy, and safe at all times.
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Take responsibility for identifying and reporting any health and safety issues, contributing to a safe working environment for patients and staff.
Communication & Liaison
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Maintain effective working relationships with colleagues, reception team members, clinical teams, and other departments within the hospital.
-
Communicate efficiently with external healthcare providers associated with the Consultant and their team to support smooth patient pathways.
-
Ensure a prompt and effective communication system is upheld within the service.
General Administration
-
Provide clerical support to the department as required.
-
Demonstrate knowledge of the 18-week Referral to Treatment (RTT) pathway and adhere to all national and Trust access policies.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- GCSE or equivalent in English and maths
Skills and Experience
Essential criteria
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills especially demonstrating tact and diplomacy
- Experience in dealing with patients/relatives/carers where there may be barriers to understanding eg language/emotional barriers.
- Excellent keyboard skills and effective use of IT systems ensuring accuracy and attention to detail
- Ability to prioritise workload and meet deadlines
- Excellent organisational skills with the ability to use own initiative
- Experience in using Microsoft systems
Desirable criteria
- Previous experience in customer care
- Previous experience in a receptionist role and knowledge of procedures and practice
- Previous experience of working in a hospital and use of hospital computer systems such as Allscripts
Governance
Essential criteria
- Appropriate use and management of confidential information
- Upholds and models the Trust Values
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of Trust values and how these can be applied
Personal/Professional Attributes
Essential criteria
- Great interpersonal skills demonstrating empathy, warmth and understanding and a genuine desire to help others.
- Ability to remain calm in a busy environment whilst working under pressure.
Desirable criteria
- Previous experience of a similar role in a clinical environment
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Katy Sherwood
- Job title
- Service Manager, Gen Surg and Gastro
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07929 878284
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