Neighbourhood Service Coordinator
Job summary
The Neighbourhood Service Coordinator provides administrative and operational support to neighbourhood services, ensuring the effective coordination of patient pathways, referrals, appointments, multidisciplinary team activity and clinical administration across primary care, community services and partner organisations.
The post holder acts as a key point of contact for patients, GP practices, clinicians and partner organisations, supporting the smooth day-to-day operation of neighbourhood services and helping to ensure patients receive timely, coordinated and person-centred care.
Working within established procedures and agreed priorities, the post holder is responsible for coordinating service activities, maintaining accurate records, monitoring administrative processes, producing routine reports and supporting effective communication between services. The role requires excellent organisational skills, the ability to manage competing priorities and the confidence to identify and escalate issues appropriately.
The post holder will work closely with multidisciplinary teams, practice staff and partner organisations to support integrated neighbourhood working and the efficient delivery of neighbourhood services. The post holder reports to the East Northants Neighbourhood Programme Manager and has no direct line management responsibility.
Main duties of the job
- Handle complex, sensitive and confidential enquiries with discretion and professionalism, adapting communication for different audiences, including senior stakeholders.
- Coordinate multidisciplinary team activity across GP practices, community services and partner organisations.
- Act as a key operational contact for neighbourhood services and care pathways.
- Manage patient appointments, including booking, amending, cancelling and follow-up activity.
- Process and track referrals in line with NHS procedures, including e-RS pathways.
- Maintain accurate patient records using EMIS Web and SystmOne.
- Prioritise clinical and administrative tasks to ensure timely completion.
- Monitor patient flow, service capacity and operational risks, escalating concerns when required.
- Provide administrative support for clinical pathways and programmes, including organising meetings, taking minutes and monitoring actions.
- Produce reports, validate data quality and support performance reporting, patient recall and population health activities.
- Support service improvement and transformation programmes and assist with developing administrative procedures.
- Manage clinical correspondence, provide medical secretarial support and administer rotas.
- Support clinical coding, record management, audits and quality assurance.
- Provide guidance and training on clinical systems and administrative procedures.
- Work independently, managing confidential, time-critical workloads and sensitive situations.
About us
NHFT is an NHS Community and Mental Health Foundation Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in hospital settings and in the community. We provide over 200 services across the county - as well as some specialist services in bordering and nearby counties. We work together with our partners to ensure that everyone who comes through our doors receives compassionate, person-centred care, regardless of their background or circumstances.
NHFT promotes a culture of learning, to improve the care and safety of our patients and colleagues. We have achieved our 'outstanding' rating by encouraging opportunity, innovation, development and growth across our workforce.
At NHFT we believe that work should be rewarded in every sense which is why we are proud to an accredited living wage employer.
We aim to support financial wellbeing and create an environment where are people feel valued and able to thrive.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Patient Administration
- Contact patients by telephone, SMS, email, and letter regarding appointments and care pathways.
- Book, amend and cancel appointments in accordance with service requirements and patient needs.
- Send appointment reminders and follow up on non-attendance.
- Respond to, investigate and resolve routine and complex patient queries in a professional and timely manner.
- Support pathway administration activities.
- Monitor appointment utilisation and support initiatives to improve patient access and reduce non-attendance.
Referral Management
- Process referrals in accordance with NHS and local policies, standards and pathways.
- Manage e-Referral Service (e-RS) and choose and book processes and referral administration.
- Liaise with providers, clinicians, and patients regarding referral status.
- Track referral progress and ensure outcomes are recorded accurately and within agreed timescales.
- Investigate delayed referrals and liaise with providers, clinicians and patients to facilitate timely progression.
- Escalate pathway concerns, capacity issues and operational risks appropriately.
Clinical System Administration
- Utilise clinical systems including EMIS Web and SystmOne to support service delivery and programme objectives.
- Maintain accurate and comprehensive electronic patient records.
- Ensure data quality, coding accuracy and compliance with organisational standards.
- Support information governance and confidentiality requirements.
- Act as a local resource for administrative staff regarding clinical systems, processes and operational procedures.
Task Management
- Manage and prioritise clinical and administrative tasks across multiple workstreams.
- Process pathology-related administrative actions and follow-up activities as directed by clinicians.
- Monitor workflow activity to ensure referrals, pathology actions and operational tasks are completed within required timescales.
- Exercise judgement in identifying urgent concerns and determining appropriate escalation routes.
Reporting and Data Management
- Produce routine and ad hoc reports from clinical systems, programme databases and other sources.
- Analyse and validate performance data to ensure accuracy, completeness and consistency.
- Identify trends, risks, gaps and opportunities within service performance data.
- Prepare reports and summaries for programme managers, clinical leads and neighbourhood governance groups.
- Support audits, service evaluations and quality improvement initiatives.
- Assist with patient recall programmes and population health management activities.
- Present findings and recommendations to programme and clinical leads.
Service Coordination and Planning
- Coordinate operational activities across neighbourhood services, multidisciplinary teams and practices.
- Provide oversight and administration of clinical and operational rotas.
- Support service capacity planning and maximise effective utilisation of appointments and resources.
- Identify, investigate and report rota gaps, capacity pressures and scheduling issues.
- Coordinate service changes and communicate updates to stakeholders across organisations.
- Support delivery of neighbourhood priorities, programmes and operational objectives.
- Develop and maintain reporting tools, dashboards and performance monitoring systems to support neighbourhood decision-making.
Coding and Record Management
- Apply and maintain knowledge of clinical coding principles and data quality standards.
- Support accurate coding of patient interactions, diagnoses and outcomes.
- Ensure records are maintained in accordance with NHS and organisational policies.
Medical Secretarial Support
- Manage clinical correspondence and information requests.
- Prepare, process and distribute clinical letters and documentation.
- Support clinician administration requirements and e-RS related activities.
- Ensure timely filing, tracking and distribution of documentation.
Service Improvement and Transformation
- Support the implementation of new models of care and neighbourhood transformation programmes.
- Identify opportunities to improve administrative processes, referral pathways and patient experience.
- Contribute to the development, review and implementation of standard operating procedures and administrative processes.
- Participate in service redesign initiatives, audits and quality improvement projects.
- Monitor the impact of service improvements and provide feedback to programme leads.
- Lead small-scale service improvement initiatives within administrative and operational processes.
Training and Support
- Provide advice and guidance to colleagues on administrative procedures, referral processes and clinical systems.
- Provide day-to-day guidance and support to new and existing administrative staff.
- Share best practice and contribute to continuous improvement across neighbourhood services.
Person Specification
Knowledge and Experience
- NVQ Level 3 qualification, preferably in healthcare or business administration, or equivalent experience.
- Experience of working in a GP Practice, Primary Care Network, community service or NHS healthcare environment.
- Experience coordinating services, patient pathways or multidisciplinary teams.
- Experience using EMIS Web and/or SystmOne.
- Experience managing referrals and appointment systems.
- Experience dealing directly with patients, clinicians and healthcare professionals.
- Experience providing administrative support within a clinical environment.
- Experience producing reports and managing healthcare data.
- Experience of NHS referral pathways and appointment management processes.
- Experience of e-Referral Service processes and clinical administration workflows.
- Understanding of information governance, confidentiality and data protection requirements.
- Experience supporting service transformation or improvement programmes.
- Knowledge of population health management approaches.
- Understanding of integrated neighbourhood working and multidisciplinary models of care
- Experience of rota management and workforce coordination.
- Knowledge of clinical coding principles.
Behaviours and Values
- Demonstrates a patient centred approach to service delivery.
- Works professionally with honesty, integrity and accountability.
- Promotes teamwork and collaborative working across services.
- Demonstrates compassion, respect and inclusivity in all interactions.
- Maintains confidentiality and professional standards at all times.
- Committed to continuous improvement and delivering high quality services.
- Takes ownership of work and acts proactively to resolve issues.
- Demonstrates a positive attitude towards change and innovation.
- Supports service development and transformation initiatives.
- Acts as a role model for best practice and collaborative working.
Skills and abilities
- Excellent organisational and time management skills.
- Provide administrative and coordination support to service improvement initiatives.
- Problem-solving skills and ability to escalate issues appropriately.
- Ability to compile, maintain and present routine reports.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to build effective working relationships with patients, clinicians and partner organisations.
- Accurate data entry, record keeping and administrative skills.
- Competence in Microsoft Office applications.
- Ability to prioritise referrals, tasks and workload effectively.
- Ability to maintain accuracy when working under pressure.
- Competence in the use of EMIS Web, SystmOne and electronic referral systems.
- Maintain stock controls for the Neighbourhood Team
- Advanced reporting and data analysis skills.
- Experience supporting audits and quality improvement projects.
- Experience delivering training or supporting staff induction.
- Knowledge of service performance monitoring and operational planning.
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.
Employer details
Employer name
Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust
Address
Huxlow House, St Marys Hospital
77 London Road
Kettering
NN15 7PW
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.nhft.nhs.uk/