Job summary
- Main area
- Administration/Ward Clerk
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 3
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 15 hours per week
- Job ref
- 196-A&C1425
- Employer
- Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Harefield Hospital
- Town
- Harefield
- Salary
- £30,630 - £32,346 Per Annum Inclusive of Outer London HCA - Pro-Rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 18/10/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Ward Clerk - Critical Care Unit Harefield
NHS AfC: Band 3
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.
Job overview
We are looking for a courteous and motivated person to join our friendly team in Critical Care for 15 hours per week, to ensure 7 days/week ward clerk coverage. The successful candidate will work closely with the critical care team to facilitate the smooth running of the ward.
The post holder will work as an integral part of the critical care team.
The Ward Clerk is an integral member of the Critical Care team, providing administrative and clerical support that contributes to the effective day-to-day running of the unit and supports the patient journey.
The post holder will frequently be a first point of contact for patients' relatives and visitors and must therefore demonstrate professionalism, compassion and sensitivity, recognising that families attending Critical Care may be experiencing significant anxiety, distress or bereavement.
Main duties of the job
The Critical Care Inpatient Ward Clerk role consists of three principal components:
i. Direct and comprehensive Critical Care administration
Accurate inputting, updating and maintenance of electronic patient information using the EPIC and other relevant Critical Care or Trust systems. The post holder will support the accurate and timely administration of patient admissions, transfers and discharges and contribute to maintaining an accurate and up-to-date Critical Care bed state.
ii. Patient record and documentation management
Support the effective management of patient records and documentation, including electronic and, where applicable, paper records, ensuring that information is appropriately maintained, available and handled in accordance with Trust policies and information governance requirements.
iii. General clerical and administrative support
Provide comprehensive clerical and administrative support to the Critical Care clinical team to support the patient journey and efficient functioning of the unit. The post holder will act as an important point of contact for relatives, visitors, members of the multidisciplinary team and other hospital departments.
The post holder will be required to work flexibly, use initiative within the boundaries of the role and prioritise workload appropriately in response to the changing demands of a busy Critical Care environment.
Working for our organisation
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK's best known hospitals - Guy's, St Thomas', Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield - as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.
We are among the UK's busiest, most successful foundation trusts. We provide specialist care for patients including heart and lung, cancer and renal services as well as a full range of local hospital and community services.
Harefield Hospital Critical Care provides specialist care for critically ill patients with complex cardiothoracic conditions. The unit supports a highly specialised range of services and works closely with the wider multidisciplinary team to provide safe, effective and compassionate care.
Critical Care is a busy and dynamic clinical environment, with patients requiring a high level of monitoring and treatment and with admissions, transfers and discharges occurring throughout the service.
The multidisciplinary team includes nursing and medical staff, allied health professionals, pharmacists, administrative staff and other specialist teams.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities below are representative of the Critical Care Inpatient Ward Administrator role and are not exhaustive. The post holder may be required to undertake additional or alternative administrative duties commensurate with the level of the post to support the effective functioning of Critical Care.
Patient Administration and Patient Flow
· Ensure that relevant electronic patient information systems are maintained accurately and as close to a live Critical Care bed state as practicable.
· Ensure patient admissions, discharges and transfers are recorded accurately and in a timely manner.
· Check and update patient demographic information as required.
· Ensure the correct responsible clinician, specialty, admission source and discharge/transfer destination are recorded.
· Support administrative processes associated with emergency, elective and inter-hospital admissions to Critical Care.
· Support the administrative aspects of transfers from Critical Care to other wards, hospitals or healthcare providers.
· Liaise with nursing staff, medical teams, Patient Flow and other departments as appropriate to support timely patient movement.
· Identify and escalate discrepancies or administrative issues that may affect the accuracy of the bed state or patient pathway.
Electronic Patient Information and IT Systems
· Maintain accurate patient information on EPIC and other relevant Trust or Critical Care systems.
· Undertake data entry accurately and promptly.
· Support staff in resolving straightforward administrative system queries within the scope of the role and escalate issues appropriately.
· Liaise with IT support services where required and support the dissemination of relevant system information to staff.
· Maintain awareness of data quality and highlight discrepancies appropriately.
Patient Records and Documentation
· Support the maintenance and organisation of electronic and paper patient records where applicable.
· Ensure documentation is filed, scanned, stored or transferred appropriately in accordance with Trust procedures.
· Ensure patient records and documentation are appropriately managed following transfer or discharge.
· Maintain confidentiality and security of all patient-identifiable information.
Clerical Support to Critical Care
· Provide general administrative and clerical support to the Critical Care nursing, medical and multidisciplinary teams.
· Answer telephone calls and appropriately manage internal and external enquiries.
· Accurately record and communicate messages, recognising and escalating urgent matters appropriately.
· Undertake general correspondence, photocopying, scanning, filing and other clerical activities as required.
· Support the provision and maintenance of appropriate patient and relative information.
· Assist with arranging appointments, transport and other administrative aspects of the patient's pathway where required.
· Liaise with other wards, departments and external healthcare organisations as appropriate.
· Report maintenance problems through the appropriate Trust systems.
· Monitor and order stationery and other agreed ward supplies in accordance with local processes.
· Liaise with relevant departments regarding stock and additional or urgent orders where appropriate.
· Support clinicians and other members of the multidisciplinary team with administrative requests commensurate with the Band 3 role.
Relatives and Visitors
· Receive and welcome relatives and visitors to Critical Care in a professional, compassionate and courteous manner.
· Act as an initial point of contact and appropriately direct relatives and visitors to the relevant member of the clinical team.
· Respond to general enquiries within the scope of the role while maintaining patient confidentiality at all times.
· Recognise that relatives attending Critical Care may be anxious, distressed or bereaved and communicate sensitively and respectfully.
· Recognise when an enquiry or situation requires clinical input and promptly refer the individual to an appropriate nurse or other member of the clinical team.
· Support practical arrangements for relatives, including information regarding accommodation, parking and hospital facilities where appropriate.
· Maintain clear professional boundaries and do not provide clinical information or advice outside the scope of the role.
General Administrative Responsibilities
· Assist team members with additional administrative duties as required to support the smooth running of Critical Care.
· Attend relevant training, departmental meetings and team briefings.
· Participate in relevant audits and data collection as requested.
· Work flexibly according to the needs of the service and agreed working arrangements.
· Contribute to identifying opportunities to improve administrative processes and patient experience within Critical Care.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Good general education with English and Maths to GCSE level
Desirable criteria
- Educated to Diploma/NVQ level
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Good knowlegde in IT and MS Office applications
Desirable criteria
- IT applications in hospital systems
Experience
Essential criteria
- Admin/reception experience
Desirable criteria
- Experience in customer service
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Nicky Fulbrook
- Job title
- Critical Care Administrator
- Email address
- [email protected]
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