Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen due to theatres expansion to join the surgical waiting list office as a Waiting List Team Leader.
The post holder will be proficient using excel, word and outlook and be able to use multiple NHS application systems. Candidates must have excellent organisation skills and the ability to multi task and prioritise with a flexible approach to work and remain calm when under pressure.
The post holder will need excellent communication and customer service skills and be able to lead and manage a team with attention detail.
Main duties of the job
Responsible for the day-to-day management and leadership of the Waiting List Team.
To hold an overview of all waiting list demands and capacity to admit patients including an understanding of consultant’s waiting lists and staffs’ workload, taking into account waiting list initiatives and prioritisation of urgent and cancer case patients.
Proactively liaise with key partners in the organisation including pre-assessment, Anaesthetists, Surgeons, Wards staff, theatres scheduling, MDT team, 18 week team, service managers, general managers and bed management.
Work with the line manager and general manager to produce data and information to support all waiting list validation activities.
Provide line management, training and leadership support for staff and cover where appropriate.
Effective communication, organisation skills and excellent keyboard skills are essential for this post.
The post holder will be required to work with minimal supervision and have the ability to work to tight deadlines, under pressure, and be able to exercise sound judgement, problem solving and decision making skills with full understanding of, and adherence to the Trust’s Access, Booking and Choice policy.
The post holder is expected to have in-depth knowledge of the Trust PAS system IPM and ICE to ensure that they can analyse and problem solve and patient discrepancies.
Working for our organisation
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology.
Our Values
We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.
Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For full details, please read the attached Job Description and Personal Specification documents.
Duties of the role will include:
Provide leadership and support to the Waiting List Office staff and offer hands-on training for new staff and or new processes to all staff and to participate in the recruitment and selection for the team.
Carry out objective setting and appraisal for all direct reports.
Train and mentor staff in waiting list procedure coding, train on appropriate ATOM times, allocating the right operating time for each procedure whilst leading all staff in effective utilisation of all available theatre sessions and population of lists in line with agreed priorities.
Prepare and attend the weekly theatre operational group meeting and report any operational requirements or adjustments needed to ensure a smooth flow through theatres.
Train and mentor staff in the use of the 18 week PTL and the IPM waiting list entries.
Create and develop staff rotas in conjunction with the Waiting List Manager to ensure cover of vital key areas and maintain leave trackers to ensure up to date records are held in a central area to be accessible to all staff that required the information.
Ensure that all leave and sickness is appropriately recorded and applied for according to due process. Monitor allocations and provide forward notice to staff with regards to managing their leave.
Act as a central point of contact for Waiting List staff who are unexpectedly absent from work and to ensure the service is covered by assessing workloads and contributing to help cover the teams core activities. Carry out return to work interviews and ensure the Health Roster system is updated.
Ensure that when any bank staff are required to support the Waiting List office that they are requested on Health Roster in sufficient time.
Working closely with clinicians and theatre scheduling/theatre teams to ensure optimal utilisation of theatre time; using all available sessions and populating lists against agreed priority criteria and problems escalated to the Operating Theatre Teams and the General Manager as appropriate.
Ensure patients are communicated with in a timely and professional manner against agreed standards for TCI and cancellations.
Ensure full compliance with suspension and cancellation policies, providing timely information to surgeons, theatre staff and divisional leads.
Review patient correspondence on evolve and info flex on a regular basis to interpret and assist in managing the patients pathways to preventing any 52 week breaches.
Responsible for auditing the ICE system on a daily basis to ensure that all ETCI forms have been dealt with in accordance with the department policies and procedures. Addressing any issues as and when they arise.
Responsible for auditing the waiting lists on the IPM system on a daily basis, ensuring accurate data quality highlighting any potential issues and addressing these with the appropriate staff.
Interpret and analyse the IPM system. Problem solve any discrepancies across the wider Trust; reporting any issues to senior management where admissions may need to be corrected to ensure the patients waiting list entries are appropriately used on the wards at the point of admission.
Maintain continuity of communication with the clinician in the administration of the waiting list. Liaise with surgeons, anaesthetists, pharmacist, pre op assessment nursing and secretaries regarding the status of patients whose waiting list entries have been recorded as deferred or suspended.
Attend the 18 week PTL meeting on a weekly basis reporting any potential service risks.
Assist the PALS and complaints department investigating areas of concern with patient information regarding waiting list or surgery dates.
Meet regularly with specific consultants to review waiting lists and theatre utilisation.
Monitor closely on a daily basis the Waiting List. Report and action accordingly, reporting on bottlenecks and avoiding patient breaches escalating any issues to the service managers.
Complete and record outcomes of offer on IPM, ensuring accurate information reflecting refusals of reasonable offers of admission for non-clinical reasons thus providing an audit trail on all episodes.
Provide regular validation reports as directed by the Waiting List Office Manager.
Work in conjunction with the Waiting List Manager to monitor and manage the surgical inpatient list, ensuring that reportable waiting deadlines are not breached.
Liaise with the Theatre Leads, Service Managers, Surgeons and any other key administrative staff to validate waiting list information and to develop effective administrative process to ensure and maintain the accuracy of said information.
Create spreadsheet reports by collecting daily audit data and provide initial summary analysis on operations cancelled on the day of surgery as part of the theatre management process to track all operations cancelled on the day and flag all hospital initiated cancellations ensuring that the patients are offered new dates for surgery within 28 days in accordance with the Cancelled operations policy. Escalate any potential breaches to the Waiting list manager and specialty Service Manager.
Treat emotionally distressed patients with sensitivity, dignity and respect either 1:1 or by telephone and advise where possible the best course of action. i.e. GP, consultant
Occasional exposure to verbal aggression from patients and relatives. You must be able to handle these situations in a professional manner
In accordance with the Trust Access, Booking and Choice policy, to remove patients from the waiting list and ensure full notification to relevant parties (including patient and GP).
Attend seminars, training and briefings that are beneficial to both personal and departmental development and feedback to the teams as appropriate
Oversee the department’s stock levels; using Lyreco and Insight to process orders required.
Undertake any duties relevant to the purpose of the post.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. Educated to degree level, or relevant experience in an NHS administrative environment, with GCSE Maths and English
Desirable criteria
2. Qualification in Leadership and Management
3. ECDL
Experience
Essential criteria
4. Substantial experience in an NHS administrative role
5. Experience leading and managing a team within the NHS
Desirable criteria
6. Experience working in a waiting list management environment
Knowledge
Essential criteria
7. Competent use and understanding of PIMs, ICE, Evolve, Excel
Desirable criteria
8. Understanding of the Key principles of waiting list management and current NHS performance standards