Administrative Staff

There are many members of staff behind the scenes that you may not be aware of.

Your first point of contact with the surgery is usually through the receptionist. There are nine receptionists at Hanham Surgery. There are usually five receptionists on duty at a time. Their main duties are to book appointments, answer queries, run the reception desk, and scan documents onto the medical records. Each receptionist has their own additional duties and responsibilities, such as dealing with repeat prescription requests.

We have two summarisers at the surgery. They are in charge of translating the old paper records into the computer records we use today. Everything we need to record has a special code called a ‘read code’. The summarisers have the lengthy task of going through the paper notes of new patients and adding the appropriate read codes to the clinical system. They also look at, and code, all incoming documents that need to be put on the clinical system.

The secretaries have the important task of arranging all referrals. They type dictated letters, answer queries from GP’s, answer lots of telephone calls from specialists, patients, secretaries, and GP’s. They are also asked to create presentations for meetings, invoice for private services, take minutes during meetings, and many other things.