Access Team Leader

An exciting opportunity has arisen to appoint an Inpatient Access Team Leader. We are looking for an enthusiastic and competent individual to provide managerial and administrative support to the Inpatient access team. The Inpatient Access Team manages elective inpatient and day-case pathways by coordinating waiting lists, booking TCI patients, arranging admissions, and ensuring patients receive treatment within national waiting time standards while maximising theatre utilisation, Contribute to the continual review and evaluation of all administrative systems and procedures and associated policies in order that improvements and developments can be made. The post holder will carry out their duties in such a way as to make a direct and positive contribution to the organisation of the work. Supporting the organisation in achieving the vision of excellence in everything we do by promoting equal opportunities, fairness, equity and inclusion through best practice working, monitoring, training and evaluation. Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust is an integrated Trust and the only provider of NHS acute care in Walsall, serving a population of 284,300. It provides inpatient and outpatient services at the Manor Hospital as well as a wide range of services in the community. Walsall Manor houses the full range of district general hospital services under one roof. The £170 million development was completed in 2010, and ongoing upgrades ensure the Trust now has state-of-the-art facilities, including a Critical Care Unit, Neonatal Unit, Obstetric Theatre, and Integrated Assessment Unit. A new Urgent and Emergency Care Centre, opened in March 2023, has significantly improved emergency care facilities and capacity, providing almost 5,000 square metres of additional clinical space. Lead, supervise, and support the Inpatient Access Team to ensure the effective delivery of booking and waiting list management services. Allocate workload and manage team resources to maintain service delivery and performance standards. Monitor team performance against RTT targets, waiting list standards, and key performance indicators.Ensure elective patients are booked appropriately into available capacity in accordance with Trust policies and national guidance.Provide day-to-day operational leadership and make decisions relating to patient scheduling, capacity utilisation, and escalation of risks.Conduct regular waiting list reviews and validation exercises to ensure data quality and pathway accuracy.Escalate capacity issues, long waiters, RTT risks, and patient safety concerns to operational and clinical leads.Liaise with Care Groups, consultants, theatres, pre-assessment, bed management, and other stakeholders to coordinate admissions activity.Support the delivery of elective recovery programmes and backlog reduction initiatives.Ensure compliance with Trust policies, standard operating procedures, and data quality requirements.Develop and maintain team knowledge through training, coaching, mentoring, and performance management.Manage attendance, annual leave, appraisals, recruitment, and employee relations issues in line with Trust policies.Produce and analyse performance reports, identifying trends, risks, and opportunities for service improvement.Investigate and respond to complaints, incidents, and queries relating to patient access and admissions.Lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance patient experience, efficiency, and performance.

The successful applicant will be responsible for the line management of the Inpatient Access Team whilst occasionally providing wider support to other teams in the division. You must be a flexible team player with good communication skills and previous experience of a busy office environment in a healthcare setting. In addition, skills, knowledge and experience required for this post:

• Demonstrate excellent leadership, management and supervisory skills.
• Excellent organisational skills - ability to organise and co-ordinate effectively and be able to work under pressure.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with patients, relatives and GP's and staff,
• You will be required to have excellent IT skills including proficient knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Word.