Clerical Officer - Microbiology, Band 2

at  Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

This is an excellent opportunity for a suitably qualified and experienced person to join the Microbiology Department as a Clerical Officer. The Microbiology laboratory is located on the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital site and provides an extensive service to the two acute hospitals, smaller local hospitals and to GPs in Gloucestershire and South Worcestershire. The current laboratory workload is approximately 380,000 specimens a year.
The successful candidate will be reliable, enthusiastic, motivated and forward thinking. They will demonstrate good interpersonal skills and must be a team player.
The secretarial team provides support for the Consultant Microbiologists and senior laboratory staff, with offices on both hospital sites.
Key duties for the clerical role include dealing with telephone enquiries, organising patient appointments and general clerical tasks.
The Department of Microbiology is based on the GRH hospital site in Gloucester, but also includes offices on the CGH site. The laboratory provides an extensive service to the two hospitals and GP surgeries in Gloucestershire. The laboratory has a staff team of about 60 people, including scientific and medical roles. The core working hours are 0830 to 1700, Monday to Friday.
The department has a long history of training and developing staff in different roles. It is approved as a training laboratory by the Institute of Biomedical Science, and has been accredited by UKAS to the ISO15189 standards.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required.
Educated to GCSE grade 4 or above (or equivalent) in literacy and numeracy
IT experience of Microsoft Office packages
Professional telephone manner to minimise conflict, resolve queries and maintain the reputation of the organisation when dealing with all calls
Good organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workload and to work to deadlines
Good written and verbal communication skills with a good command and understanding of English, punctuation and grammar
Good interpersonal skills for dealing with people internal and external to the organisation
Ability to work flexibly within a team
Ability to work quickly and accurately
Ability to use own judgement and initiative as appropriate
Specialist Areas
Andrology Appointment System
Administration of the telephone appointment line for patients booking semen analysis tests
Book patients into an Outlook calendar, within laboratory waiting time targets
Negotiate appointments with patients wherever possible, managing room bookings.
Process cancellation and re-appoint patients observing laboratory waiting times
Ensure that patients are aware of their appointment dates and all relevant information is sent out to them.
General Admin
Answering telephone enquiries for the department and for the Consultant Microbiologists
Taking telephone messages and forwarding to the relevant duty Consultant as appropriate
Receipting departmental invoices and deliveries for payment.
Delivering post within the department
General filing and photocopying duties
Checking tests results for the daily clinical file, ensuring the Consultant staff have all relevant information available for ward rounds
Highlighting to the clinical team members any results, correspondence or patient queries that need response and taking action e.g. booking investigations, transcription, etc.
Help maintain records required for the department’s quality management system (e.g. approved suppliers)
Team-Working
To work as part of an Administrative Support Team working flexibly to ensure that administrative work is shared out equally and performed to excellent, efficient and safe standards
To help provide cover for colleagues during absences/annual/sick leave as directed by the Clinical Scientist.
Take the initiative when required as well as working flexibly and adapting to the demands of the department/team as appropriate.
Liaise with relevant team members to ensure that any process changes run smoothly and efficiently

Please refer the Job description for details