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Access to Health Clerical Officer
The closing date is 05 August 2025
An opportunity has arisen for aband 3 Access to Health Clerical Officer role based at Shotley Bridge Hospital.
This is a key role working as partof the Access to Health Team you will be responsible for processing SubjectAccess Requests from solicitors and patients, requests for information fromvarious Government Organisations including the police.
You will be educated to 2 A Levelsor NVQ Level 3 in Business & Administration and have relevant experiencewithin a busy office environment. Knowledge of the Data Protection Act 2018 isessential. Previous NHS experience and knowledge of Patient AdministrationSystems would be advantageous but is not essential.
Candidates must be interested inensuring patient satisfaction, have good organisational skills, a sensitivemanner when dealing with patients and work to a high level of accuracy. Aconscientious, flexible approach is essential along with the ability to workeffectively within a team
The ability to work underpressures both individually and as part of a team is important to ensure thatdeadlines are met. Good organisational and interpersonal skills are essentialin order to be able to achieve this.
Main duties of the job
You will be responsible forprocessing Subject Access from patients, solicitors alongside requests forinformation from various government organisations including the police.
You will liaise closely withconsultants, medical staff, nursing staff, senior managers and externalstakeholders.
The successful candidate will bebased at Shotley Bridge Hospital but the post includes hybrid working betweenthe ofice and home working.
About us
If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager
You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks
We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.
We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented
Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents
Over reliance onAI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances ofsuccess
For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.
From April 9th 2025 - Healthcare assistants - You must have a minimum of two yearsof experience working within the NHS as a HCA for the Trust to considersponsorship (we will only consider sponsorship if you meet this criteria andhave a current visa expiring within 3 months)
Job responsibilities
Responsible for processing Subject Access Requests with thetrust. This will include;
* Receipt and recording of requests for medical Informationfrom solicitors, patient, Government organisations, other NHS organisations and the policeaccording to the Data Protection Act 2018, Access to Health Records Act 1990and common law duty of confidentiality within the legal deadline.
* Responsible for accurately recording all requests onto theTrust Safeguard Ulysses System in relation to Access to Health requests,updates, response times and audit trails in a timely and accurate manner.
* Ensuring the appropriate ID checks have been carried outor that a signed and dated consent form has been received, or action the sameto ensure compliance with confidentiality and data protection. When the IDprovided is deemed sufficient to process the subject access request, therequestors ID must be destroyed in line with GDPR.
* Identify clinical teams involved with service users byinterrogating various clinical systems.
* Responsible for all consents and identification checkprocesses are consistent, transparent and legally compliant.
* Liaising with all relevant consultants and medical staffinvolved in a patients care to gain authority to release the information. If aconsultant has left the trust authority to release the medical records must begained from the lead consultant in that speciality. Cascade to theReception/Overseas Manager or Patient Access Operational Manager regarding anyconcerns raised regarding the release of copies of healthcare records. Ifauthorisations cannot be obtained, liaise with the Caldicott Guardian to gainpermission to release the records.
* Undertake a full search of paper and electronic records toensure the full healthcare record is identified and copied when dealing withrequests for access from Trust Patient Administrations Systems, for exampleCerner Millenium, CITO, Auditbase, Medisoft, Systm One, GUM, Podiatry,Physiotherapy, and PACs
* Collating the relevant information from several NHSsystems taking into account the circumstances of the request and deciding whetherthe information is relevant to the request. Liaise with the x-ray department torequest a disc containing any radiology that is required.
* Collecting, printing and photocopying documentation forrelease. Daily monitoring of outstanding requests in order to comply with theData Protection Act legal timescales of processing data subject accessrequests.
* Responsible for removal of third party information forevery subject access request completed. There are often large volumes ofrecords to go through, this requires an extremely high level of concentration.
* Redaction for police requests for medical information andmedical statements is often required quickly to ensure that an arrest can bemade and a potential perpetrator is not released. You will be reading throughthe medical records of victims of crimes.
* Dealing with court orders from the council producingmedical records which will be used in safeguarding court cases and medicalstatements. This includes family court cases. You will also need to redactchildrens safeguarding information which is often distressing and sensitiveinformation
* The nature of this job requires the post holder to readrecords that contain emotional, sensitive and distressing circumstances such asabuse and self harm, including graphic images. For these reasons it isnecessary for the post holder to have a high degree of emotional resilience.
* Adhering to a strict timescale when processing requests toensure that the trusts best practice policy of processing all requests within21 days of receipt. This will ensure that the trust should always stay withinthe GDPR guidelines of a month to process requests and should avoid breachesthat incur financial penalties
* Daily monitoring of outstanding requests on the breachreport to comply with Data Protection Act.
* Maintain accurate and timely audit trails that describe achronology of events and decisions made. These audit trails are used incomplaint investigations, e.g. complaints made to the Information Commissionerfor requests that the requester may not be satisfied with the process.
* Re-barcoding of patient documents for scanning if theyhave been returned from the external scanning bureau due to incorrect barcodingby other departments.
* Re-indexing of documents within CITO to ensure they arefiled in the correct folder and patient record if incorrectly electronicallyfiled.
* Processing requests for right to erasure, the right torectification and the right to restriction.
* Dealing with queries regarding location of documentswithin CITO
* Liaise with wards and departments within the Trust inrelation to data subject access requests and CITO.
* Overcoming any barriers that may occur as will becommunicating with cultural and language differences.
* Answer service user queries on access to their healthrecords. Contact is usually by telephone, email or letter but a limited amountof face to face contact may be required, for example if an individual wants topersonally collect copies of their records.
* Dealing with distressed patients and relatives of deceasedpatients and some patients who may lack mental capacity while remaining calm,polite, empathetic and compassionate whilst being assertive where necessary.
* Autonomously organise and prioritise own work loadaccording to the variable demands of the department, adjusting the prioritiesthroughout the day as further work is emailed into the department or whenprocessing more complex requests.
* Support all new members of staff through the inductionprogramme and orientation ensuring they complete work based trainingsuccessfully.
* Provide training, advice and guidance to other Trust staffon the process for providing copies of healthcare records.
Person Specification
Special Skills & Knowledge
* Excellent keyboard skills and proficient in all Microsoft Packages.
* Experience of using computerised databases and paper based filing systems.
* Knowledge of Data Protection Act 2018 and awareness of the requirement to maintain confidentiality.
* Highly organised and self-motivated, with the ability to prioritise own workload while dealing with frequent interruptions.
* Ability to work autonomously with minimal supervision, able to deal with conflict and have the ability to make decisions and use own judgement to deal with queries or escalate where necessary.
* Ability to work as part of a team, supporting and encouraging enthusiastic team work and ability allocate work within and between team members.
* Excellent attention to detail.
* Excellent communication skills at all levels with the ability to communicate effectively with other staff members and outside organisations via telephone e-mail and in person.
* Ability to communicate clearly and sensitively with a wide range of patients, where there may be barriers to understanding (e.g. language difficulties, anxious or distressed patients or relatives).
* Ability to maintain calmness while working well under pressure with unpredictable workload demands.
* Experience of working to tight deadlines while maintaining concentration at all times.
* Ability to handle sensitive information and communicating in a kind and compassionate manner.
* Ability to manage significant exposure to sensitive, distressing or emotional circumstances, text and images.
* Able to provide training to new colleagues within the department.
* Experience of problem solving and resolving issues as they arise.
* Ability to maintain strict confidentiality.
* Knowledge of NHS Patient.
* Interrogating bespoke NHS Patient Administration Systems.
Special Requirements
* Able to travel across Trust sites to meet the requirements of the post.
Qualifications
* Educated to 2 x A Levels/NVQ Level 3 in Customer Care or Business Administration or equivalent experience.
Experience
* Working in a busy office environment.
* Working in a large complex organisation.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer name
County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
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