Receptionists welcome service users into the healthcare setting and are usually the first point of contact for those visiting. Receptionists use their customer service skills and administrative skills to support the work of the healthcare setting and play a vital role in ensuring the service runs smoothly.
Working life
Working as a Receptionist in an NHS or Social Care setting means that you will support service users visiting the setting and other members of the healthcare team who work there. Receptionist’s work in areas such as:
- Acute hospitals
- Specialist departments or clinics
- GP surgeries
- Health centres
- For NHS England
- At the head office of an NHS Trust
A Receptionist’s job role focuses on tasks such as:
- Booking patients in for appointments
- Arranging transport to and from hospital
- Adding patient data to IT systems
- Being the initial point of contact for service users and external stakeholders
- Directing service users within the department or setting
- Answering telephones and dealing with enquiries
- Following up on reports
- Photocopying documents
- Ordering stationary
- Word Processing
Sometimes, service users or their families can be upset or anxious when coming into a healthcare setting so as a Receptionist, part of your role will be to reassure and calm visitors.
Receptionist’s roles are usually patient facing and have a lot of interaction with service users but there are also Receptionist roles based away from patients and service users such as in the reception area of the headquarters of a Trust.
Receptionists work with all members of healthcare staff and depending on the setting that you work in, you may have contact with other healthcare professionals such as GP’s and nurses. If you work in specialist clinics or within health centre settings you may also come into contact with other professions such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and dieticians.
Requirements
Becoming a Receptionist has no set entry requirements but NHS and Social Care employers will expect good literacy, numeracy and IT skills as these are an important part of working as a Receptionist. Depending on the role, some employers may ask for GCSEs or equivalent qualifications. When applying for a role as a Receptionist, there may be other skills or qualifications required but this will depend on the role and the team in which the role sits.
Employers may require you to have some relevant work experience or knowledge of having worked in a similar role previously. If you are considering a role as a Receptionist, it is a good idea if you can demonstrate where you have previously worked or volunteered in an administration or customer service role.
Working as a Receptionist will provide further opportunities to develop your career through apprenticeships and internal training and there are sometimes other ways to access employment as a Receptionist such as traineeships or internships depending on the setting you work for.
Personal characteristics
To work successfully as a Receptionist, you need to consider your own personal characteristics. You would need to have the following attributes or similar:
- Be welcoming and friendly
- Have patience and empathy
- Be able to support service users who may be angry or upset
- Be accurate and methodical and have good attention to detail
- Be able to work as part of a team but also be able to use your own initiative
- Be willing to follow procedures and take instruction from senior team members
- Be able to work with all people from various backgrounds with different experiences
- Be confident taking phone calls and speaking to people you don’t know
Skills required
To work successfully as a Receptionist, you need to consider the skills that you have. You would need to demonstrate the following:
- Be well organised and able to plan your time
- Be able to communicate with a variety of people using different methods
- Be able to successfully demonstrate a good level of IT knowledge
- Have positive customer service skills
Training and development opportunities
When you begin to work as a Receptionist, you will receive training you require to be able to undertake the role successfully. You will receive an induction which will introduce you to the department you will be working in, will support you to access the IT systems and will ensure you are away of the policies and procedures you will be required to following in the undertaking of your role. You will also have to complete any statutory and mandatory training that your employer requires such as fire training, data security training and customer service.
Depending on the healthcare setting you work for, you may be able to take additional vocational qualifications to support you to develop your knowledge and skills. These could include:
- Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists (AMSPAR)
- British Society of Medical Secretaries and Administrators (BSMSA)
Once achieved, you could become a full member of either AMSPAR or BSMSA who offer further development opportunities, email updates and networking opportunities so that you are able to continue to learn from others who work in the same role as you.
Career development opportunities
Once you have experience working as a Receptionist, there are many other roles you could progress into. You could lead a team, become a supervisor or develop your career into management. You could also transfer into other specialist healthcare roles such as becoming a medical secretary, personal assistant, working in human resources or as part of the finance team. There are also other opportunities to diversify into clinical coding or informatics, joining the digital team or working within an education or training team.
Pay and benefits
Receptionists usually work around 37.5 hours per week. Depending on the role and the setting you work in, you may be required to work shifts, nights, evenings or weekends.
Receptionists in the NHS are paid using the Agenda for Change (AfC) system and Receptionists will typically start their career on AfC band 2 but with experience, further training and additional qualifications, can progress further up the pay scale.
Receptionists working for Social Care settings will be paid according to the employer they work for and the remuneration for the role should always be shown on their job advert. Other benefits of working as a Receptionist in healthcare include access to a pension scheme, health service discounts such as a Blue Light Card and 27 days of annual leave in addition to bank holidays.