Operations Manager (Patient Services)NHS

Job summary

Claremont and Holyport Surgeries are looking for an experienced, motivated and forward-thinking Operations Manager to join our management team.

This is an exciting senior management opportunity for someone who is passionate about delivering high-quality patient services, developing teams and driving positive change.

The successful candidate will have operational responsibility for our patient-facing services, including access and appointments, patient communications, enquiries, complaints, administrative pathways and the overall patient experience.

Working closely with the Practice Business Manager, Practice Partners, clinical leads and the wider practice team, you will play a key role in ensuring our services are safe, accessible, responsive, efficient and patient-centred.

You will have a high degree of autonomy within your roleand will be expected to identify opportunities for improvement, lead change and ensure that improvements are effectively embedded across the practice.

Main duties of the job

You will be responsible for:

• Providing leadership and operational oversight of Patient Services and the Prescriptions Team.
• Supporting and developing staff through effective leadership, supervision, appraisal and training.
• Overseeing the patient journey and identifying opportunities to improve access and patient experience.
• Monitoring patient feedback, complaints, Friends & Family Test results and other patient engagement activity.
• Working with clinical and administrative teams to improve appointment capacity, access and service delivery.
• Leading and supporting service improvement projects using data, feedback and staff insight.
• Ensuring appropriate policies, procedures and processes are developed, implemented and reviewed.
• Supporting practice governance, CQC compliance, risk management, safeguarding and information governance.
• Supporting the delivery of QOF, Enhanced Services and other practice requirements.
• Providing operational information and reports to the management team.
• Deputising for other members of the management team when required.

Job description

The following are the core responsibilities of the Operations Manager (Patient Services) in delivering health services. There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels:

Patient Services and Patient Experience

• Have operational responsibility for the delivery of patient-facing and patient-related administrative services.
• Ensure patients receive a professional, responsive, inclusive and patient-centred service.
• Oversee the patient journey through the practice and identify opportunities to improve access, communication and experience.
• Develop and implement effective systems for managing patient enquiries, requests and administrative processes.
• Monitor patient feedback and identify trends, concerns and opportunities for service improvement.
• Work with clinical and administrative leads to resolve recurring patient-service issues.
• Promote a culture in which patient experience and service quality are central to operational decision-making.
• Promote and support appropriate use of online and digital patient services.

Access and Appointment Management

• Work with clinical and administrative teams to ensure appointment capacity is effectively utilised.
• Monitor appointment demand, capacity and availability and identify areas requiring improvement.
• Oversee the management of Did Not Attend (DNA) appointments and associated data.
• Identify trends in DNAs and implement appropriate administrative responses.

Patient Complaints, Concerns, Compliments and Feedback

• Coordinate the operational aspects of the practice complaints process in conjunction with the Management team.
• Provide appropriate initial guidance to patients wishing to raise concerns or make a complaint.
• Ensure all relevant staff understand and follow the complaints procedure.
• Monitor complaints, concerns and patient feedback to identify recurring themes.
• Support the management team in implementing improvements arising from complaints and feedback.
• Ensure complaints and concerns are appropriately recorded, monitored and escalated.
• Regular review of the Friends & Family Test (FFT) with reporting to staff with theme and trend analysis and to regulatory bodies.
• Support the development of patient specific and Practice surveys for regular feedback
• Review of the annual national patient survey results

Patient Communications and Engagement

• Act as a key operational point of contact for patient-service matters.
• Oversee patient-facing information and communications, ensuring they are accurate, accessible and consistent.
• Support the management and updating of the practice website and other patient communication channels.
• Develop a patient newsletter with key information for sharing in conjunction with the Practice Business Manager and PPG.
• Promote appropriate use of patient online services.
• Ensure changes to services, access arrangements and practice procedures are communicated effectively to patients.
• Support initiatives designed to improve patient engagement.

Staff Leadership and Management

• Provide leadership and direction to staff within the Patient Services (including Senior Receptionist) and Prescriptions Teams.
• Line manage designated staff and undertake recruitment, induction, supervision, appraisal and development responsibilities as required.
• Ensure staff are appropriately trained and maintain mandatory training requirements.
• Identify and deliver team training where required.
• Develop and support staff development plans.
• Develop a staff newsletter with key information in conjunction with the Practice Business Manager.
• Promote a positive, inclusive and patient-focused working environment.
• Address performance, attendance, conduct and development issues in accordance with practice policies.
• Maintain an appropriate overview of staff welfare.
• Support the Senior Receptionist with team rota planning and cover plans.
• Ensure regular team meetings take place with the associated meeting paperwork

Patient-Service Policies and Procedures

• Review, develop and implement policies and procedures relating to patient services.
• Ensure patient-facing processes comply with relevant legislation, regulatory requirements and practice policies.
• Develop standard operating procedures where required.
• Regularly review patient pathways to ensure they remain effective.
• Ensure staff are informed of and implement changes to relevant procedures.

Quality, Governance and Compliance

• Support the Management team in maintaining effective governance arrangements including arrangement of and associated paperwork for regular meetings.
• Ensure patient-service processes comply with relevant CQC requirements and practice standards.
• Contribute to risk assessments, audits, quality improvement activity and practice development planning.
• Identify and escalate operational risks relating to patient services.
• Ensure confidentiality, information governance and data protection requirements are maintained.
• Maintain awareness of and comply with safeguarding requirements.
• Support the practice in preparing for regulatory inspections and reviews.
• Support the ongoing significant and learning event process within the Practice, championing open reporting & discussions amongst the wider team, monitoring outcomes and processing themes / trends for an annual report.

QOF, Enhanced Services and Service Delivery

• Support the practice in maximising QOF achievement.
• Support the delivery of Enhanced Services and other contractual requirements.
• Monitor operational processes that support contractual and service requirements.
• Identify and address barriers to effective patient-service delivery.

Service Improvement

• Lead or support patient-service improvement projects.
• Use patient feedback, complaints, operational data and staff feedback to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Review processes and implement changes that improve efficiency, access and patient experience.
• Monitor the impact of service improvements and report outcomes to the management team.
• Promote continuous improvement across patient-facing services.

Practice Development and Reporting

• Support the management team in the preparation of practice reports.
• Contribute to the practice development plan.
• Provide relevant performance information and operational data to the Practice Manager.
• Attend and contribute to management and operational meetings.
• Ensure agreed actions within the patient-services portfolio are implemented and monitored.

About us

Claremont and Holyport Surgery is a large training Practice operating over two sites in Maidenhead and Holyport, looking after a population of 18,800 patients. We are committed to providing high-quality, safe and patient-centred primary care to our local community.

We value teamwork, professionalism and continuous improvement and recognise the important contribution that effective operational management makes to supporting our clinical teams and delivering excellent patient care.

This is an opportunity to take a key role within the practice, working closely with GP Partners, clinical leads and the wider management team to develop effective systems and drive improvements across the organisation.