Patient Services Facilitator

• Document management, clinical coding and filtering of clinical correspondence, ensuring clinicians receive correctly processed information and patient records are accurate, well-coded and well-governed.
• Referral coordination, including processing and tracking referrals via the NHS e-Referral Service and monitoring 2-week-wait / urgent suspected cancer pathways.
• Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) support, including processing repeat prescription requests and managing EPS nominations.
• Care navigation and signposting, acting as a first point of contact for patients and directing them to the most appropriate service or professional.
• Call handling and triage support, following practice telephone, triage and escalation protocols.
• Email and inbox management, triaging incoming messages and routing those requiring clinical review.
• Patient task management, prioritising by urgency and contributing to practice safety-netting.
• Supporting audits, quality improvement and data quality initiatives, in line with practice policies, SOPs, and NHS and CQC requirements.

• Process and track referrals (including via the NHS e-Referral Service) once completed by clinicians, ensuring all required information and attachments are included.
• Monitor referral status, including 2-week-wait / urgent suspected cancer pathways, ensuring they are sent promptly and acknowledgement or appointment confirmation is received.
• Chase outstanding referrals, appointment letters, and outcomes with secondary care and community services.
• Maintain referral trackers or safety-netting systems in line with practice protocols and escalate delays or rejected referrals to the clinician and/or line manager.
• Support patients with queries about referral progress, choice, and appointment booking.
• Process and signpost non-clinical referral routes (e.g., social prescribing, community services, self-referral pathways) where appropriate.
• Undertake audit as appropriate.

• Process repeat prescription requests received by agreed practice protocol and turnaround times.
• Manage EPS nominations, including setting, amending and removing nominated pharmacies in line with patient consent.
• Resolve routine EPS issues (e.g., prescriptions not appearing at the pharmacy, cancellations, tracking), liaising with community pharmacies as needed.
• Prepare prescriptions for clinician authorisation and ensure that medication reviews, monitoring and blood test requirements are flagged correctly.
• Identify and escalate unusual, high-risk, or early requests, and any queries that fall outside administrative scope, to a prescriber or clinical pharmacist.
• Support High Risk Drug Monitoring and call and recall.
• Handle prescription-related queries with accuracy and sensitivity, ensuring appropriate security of patient data.

• Act as a first point of contact for patients, using approved care navigation protocols and training to direct patients to the most appropriate service or professional (e.g., GP, advanced practitioner, nurse, pharmacist, physiotherapist, social prescriber, community pharmacy, NHS 111, self-care).
• Collect relevant, non-clinical information to support appropriate appointment booking and prioritisation, following practice-approved scripts and escalation criteria.
• Recognise red-flag symptoms and situations and escalate immediately to the duty clinician or emergency services according to protocol.
• Support patients to use digital tools (NHS App, online consultations, patient portal) and promote digital access appropriately.
• Treat all patients with respect, empathy, and inclusivity, recognising individual needs, including communication or accessibility requirements.

• Answer incoming calls promptly and professionally, resolving queries at the first point of contact wherever possible.
• Follow practice telephone, triage and escalation protocols, ensuring urgent cases are directed to the duty team without delay.
• Make accurate, timely records of calls in the patient record and create tasks as required.
• Make outbound calls to patients for reminders, appointment follow-up, results messaging (as authorised), and administrative queries.
• De-escalate challenging calls and escalate to the Practice Manager or a senior colleague where necessary.

• Monitor and manage practice email inboxes and online consultation platforms, responding to or redirecting messages within agreed timescales.
• Triage incoming messages, identifying those requiring clinical review, and route them accordingly.
• Ensure patient-identifiable information is shared only through approved, secure channels (e.g., NHSmail, approved patient messaging platforms).
• Record relevant correspondence in the patient record and close tasks once actioned.

• Manage assigned tasks within the clinical system on a daily basis, prioritising by urgency and following up to completion.
• Create, route, and monitor tasks for clinicians, administrators, and external organisations.
• Support patient recall processes, including long-term condition reviews, screening, immunisations, and medication reviews.
• Maintain accurate task logs and escalate delays or risks to the Patient Services Lead or Practice Manager.
• Contribute to practice safety-netting by ensuring outstanding actions (e.g., results, referrals, recalls) are tracked to resolution.

• Comply with practice policies, SOPs, and NHS and CQC requirements, including information governance, safeguarding, infection prevention, health and safety, and equality and diversity.
• Report incidents, complaints, and significant events through the practice system, and take part in learning and improvement.
• Support audits, quality improvement projects, and data quality initiatives.
• Work collaboratively with clinicians, receptionists, administrators, PCN colleagues, and external providers.
• Cover other administrative duties and support colleagues during peak demand or absences, as reasonably required.
• Undertake mandatory training and continuing professional development, including care navigation, coding, and clinical system training.

Essential

• Previous experience in a GP practice or other primary care setting.
• Competent IT skills, including Microsoft Office and email.
• Strong organisation and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage workload under pressure.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience with patient messaging or telephony systems.

Desirable

• Experience with EPS, NHS e-Referral Service, and NHS Spine applications.
• Experience using EMIS Web, SystmOne, or similar clinical systems.
• Knowledge of SNOMED CT / Read coding and medical terminology.
• Awareness of safeguarding and the Accessible Information Standard.