1. JOB DETAILS
Job Title:
Eden Unit Ward Clerk
Accountable to:
Eden Unit Team Leader
Location:
Penrith Hospital
Band:
(Awaiting outcome)
2. JOB SUMMARY
To provide administrative support to the Team primarily on Eden Unit. Good
communication and organisational skills are essential to this key post within the Team.
The Ward Clerk is the first point of contact for a very busy ward co-ordinating workload,
messages and prioritising phone calls, as phones can be very busy and can change the
way of working. The post holder must be able to adapt to what is happening around
them and be prepared for unexpected situations.
The post holder will help co-ordinate and facilitate safe transfer/discharge/ admission in
and out of the ward and support the Registered members of staff in delivering a quality,
safe, seamless service for patients who flow through Eden Unit.
All staff are expected to work to the Trust Values:
 We act with kindness - We never forget we are here for our patients.
 We are ambitious - We never stop improving.
 We are fair - We strive to bring about social equity.
 We show spirit - We are energetic, resourceful and determined
3. ROLE OF DEPARTMENT
The role of Eden Locality is to provide services that improve the health and well-being of
the local community, offer value for money, are of the highest quality and meet the
needs of the local population. Wherever possible, services are delivered as close to
home as possible.
The Locality provides a range of community services across Eden including:






Community hospital services
Community nursing services
Therapy services
Short term intervention services
Specialist clinical services
Mental Health community services
Eden Unit Ward Clerk March 2013


Neurosciences
Dental services
Each community hospital offers a different range of services including inpatient
services, assessment services, day hospital services, out-patient clinics, rehabilitation
services, palliative care services and maternity services. As each hospital differs in the
range of services it offers, the management responsibilities will differ.
We aim to foster excellent working relationships across Secondary Care, Primary Care,
Social Services and the Third Sector to deliver high quality and cost effective health
service in line with the locality commissioning strategy.
4. ORGANISATIONAL CHART
Eden Unit Team Leader
Eden Unit Ward Clerk
5 KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
The post holder will liaise with the following to meet agreed objectives and secure the
success of the service:
 Ward Manager
 General Public
 Team Leader – Admin
 Colleagues
 Locality Manager
 Other NHS Trusts
 Other Statutory and Voluntary Organisations
 Patients
 Carers
Eden Unit Ward Clerk March 2013
6: KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POST
The post holder will be responsible for ensuring that the Eden Unit is provided with a
high quality administration service.





















Daily update of bed management
Update of white board every morning and as and when patients arrive and
discharge from the ward.
Delegated tasks from the ward handover for the workload of the day.
To be the first point of contact for the ward by telephone and liaise with a range
of callers from GP’s, Consultants, Bed Managers, Palliative Care Team, CMHT,
Social Services, family member and other teams, departments and agencies.
To communicate efficiently and effectively and deal with all calls in a professional
and courteous manner.
Report to Estates any faults that have arisen on the ward.
Facilitate paperwork with Funeral Directors and GP practices to enable a
sensitive closure.
Co-ordinate feedback questionnaires and first point of contact for patient leaflets
for their stay on the ward.
Take instructions from other hospitals for any patients going for procedures i.e.
Ultrasound scans – patients nil by mouth etc and pass this information on to
nursing staff.
Make contact with relatives of patient on ward and show them to the correct room
they are visiting and answer any queries they may have.
In an emergency situation to respond to instructions from ward clinical staff to
obtain an ambulance and gather all documents together to support qualified staff
to enable a quick and safe transfer to onward hospital.
To provide a direct face to face point of contact for patients and carers, to provide
appointment information and relay messages to the Ward Team.
Ordering of stationery and non-stock requisitions for the ward and distribute
accordingly.
Booking training sessions for staff and check out any queries staff have
regarding venues, times etc.
Dealing with all internal and external mail, opening and distributing to relevant
staff.
Recording of staff sickness and enhanced hours as staff are integrating between
the two units and making sure the staff enhancements are put through each
months to the co-ordinator for wages.
Typing confidential letters for the Ward Team and GP’s as and when required.
Booking transport for patient’s being discharged home.
Arrange patient outpatient appointments, book relevant transport making sure
relatives are aware and if they want to accompany the patient.
Collect from Pharmacy take home medication for patients.
Take quiet room bookings booking them on Outlook calendar and log them in the
appropriate diary.
Eden Unit Ward Clerk March 2013




















Filing of documents and patient notes and make sure they are kept confidentially
in the correct filing order. Recording of notes when sending back to Medical
Records CIC.
Requesting CIC notes from Medical Records for patients and other members of
medical staff as and when needed.
Clinical Coding for discharged patient on CPAS
Inputting of CPAS and EMIS for admissions and discharging of patients.
Scanning of documents to EMIS for ward staff and for other staff members i.e.
Physio and OT’s
Laminating of documents for the ward.
Photocopying of all documents for the ward and making up of care plans to
enable staff to keep paperwork up to date.
Ordering of Pathology supplies for the ward and distributing in the correct place
Recording of patient property – keeping a log of this, informing patient where
property has been put for safe keeping and make sure patient goes home with
property.
Recording of delayed discharges for the ward and emailing to relevant
department.
Support Nursing Staff with discharge planning meetings and deal with matters
arising from that and delegate tasks to co-ordinate discharge.
Tasks delegated from Ward Manager – co-ordinating Audits regarding inpatient
and discharge times.
Doing a final check for Dr on ward for Death Certificates before family/funeral
director collect.
Liaise with outside suppliers for the ward i.e. pricing of equipment and deliver
dates.
Support staff with any computer problems – obtaining passwords or unlocking
staff from EMIS
First port of call for staff queries on wages, check out details then if needed pass
on to co-ordinator for wages.
Telephone staff when needed to cover shifts during sickness.
Responsible for phone calls from Pharmacy requesting copies of drug charts to
be faxed to CIC for patient medication.
Ensure the office is kept tidy
Dispose of confidential waste appropriately
7. WORK SETTING AND REVIEW
The post holder is accountable to the Eden Unit Team Leader. The nature of the job is
such that she often has to make decisions without direct reference to the Eden Unit
Team Leader.
The post holder prioritises his/her own workload, juggling the demands of staff, patient
and other agencies.
Eden Unit Ward Clerk March 2013
8. INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITIES
The post holder is expected to



adhere to Trust policies and procedures and relevant legislation including the
requirements of the any professional bodies
attend mandatory training as identified by the Trust
adhere to Trust infection prevention policies, procedures, audits in line with the
Health Act 2006, to actively reduce Health Care Associated Infections
9. CONFIDENTIALITY
The post holder must maintain the confidentiality of information about patients’ staff and
Trust business in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Caldicott principles.
10. HEALTH AND SAFETY
Employees must be aware of the responsibilities placed upon them under the Health &
Safety at work Act (1974), to ensure that the agreed safety procedures are carried out to
maintain a safe environment for employees and visitors.
11. RISK MANAGEMENT
All staff have a responsibility to report all clinical and non-clinical accidents, incidents or
near-misses promptly and when requested to co-operate with any investigations
undertaken.
12. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY
All employees of the Trust have responsibility to:
 Act in ways that support equality and value diversity.
 Treat everyone with whom they come into contact with dignity and respect.
 Act in ways that are in accordance with Trust’s Single Equality Scheme, Equality
and Diversity policy, and Dignity in the Workplace policy.
13. SAFEGUARDING
All employees have a duty for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and
adults at risk. Staff must be familiar with the trusts Safeguarding Policy and the process
for raising concerns about the welfare of anyone with whom they have contact. Staff
must also ensure they receive the appropriate level of safeguarding children and adult
training depending on their role in the Trust.
Staff are expected to access supervision and support from their line managers and/or
the locality based safeguarding team when managing complex cases where applicable
to their role.
Eden Unit Ward Clerk March 2013
14. INFORMATION GOVERNANCE
The post holder must keep up to date with the requirements of information governance;
undertake mandatory training and follow Trust policies and procedures to ensure that
trust information is dealt with legally, securely, efficiently and effectively.
It is important that the post holder processes personal identifiable information only in
accordance with the Trust Data Protection Act notification to the Information
Commissioner. The post holder must check with the Data Protection Officer before
creating new systems to process person identifiable information to ensure that this is
carried out within the scope of the Data Protection Act 1998 notification.
The post holder must manage the records they create or hold during the course of their
employment with the Trust in an appropriate way, making the records available for
sharing in a controlled manner subject to statutory requirements and agreed security
and confidentiality policies, procedures and guidelines e.g. Data Protection Act 1998,
Freedom of Information Act 2000, Caldicott Guidelines NHS Confidentiality Code of
Conduct 2003, and professional codes of conduct on confidentiality.
The post holder must maintain the confidentiality of information about service user staff
and organisational business in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and
Caldicott principles.
It is likely that the post holder will be in contact at some time with a form of information
system, and therefore are responsible for implementing and maintaining data quality.
The post holder, when making entries into records, must ensure that these are legible
and attributable and that the record keeping is contemporaneous. It is essential that
information recorded within records either on paper, in an electronic format or both
paper and electronic is accurate, complete and relevant.
15. JOB DESCRIPTION AGREEMENT
Post holder’s signature
………………………………………..
Date
………………………………………..
Line Manager’s signature ………………………………………..
Date
………………………………………..
Eden Unit Ward Clerk March 2013
PERSON SPECIFICATION
POST TITLE: Ward Clerk
Factor
Qualifications
Essential
Minimum of GCSE level qualification
or equivalent
Experience
Experience of working in a service
industry dealing with a wide range of
people
Good written English language
Numeracy
Knowledge
Desirable
ECDL or equivalent
NVQ II in Customer Care (or
equivalent) or willingness to
undertake training
Working in a
telephonist/receptionist role.
NHS experience
Familiarity with patient
administration systems
Computer skills involving the use of
word processing packages
Skills and
Aptitudes
Personal
Circumstances
Other
requirements
Competent keyboard user
Ability to work unsupervised as
required
Ability to respond to potentially difficult
situations
Ability to work as a member of a team
Good communication skills in face to
face contact and on the telephone
Confidentiality
Non judgemental attitude
Ability to remain calm in the face of
competing demands
Flexible approach to their work
Good time keeping
PERSON SPECIFICATION AGREEMENT
Post holder
………………………………………..
Date
………………………………………..
Line Manager
………………………………………..
Date
………………………………………..
Eden Unit Ward Clerk March 2013