Patient Services Manager

Practice: Millbrook Surgery
Location: Millbrook Gardens, Castle Cary, BA7 7EE
Working Hours: 37.5 per week, full-time
Reports to: Managing Partner

Salary: Commensurate with experience

Job Overview

At Millbrook Surgery, our Patient Services team plays a vital role in the day-to-day running of the practice, supporting patients and helping to ensure they receive a high standard of care and service.

We are looking for an experienced and approachable Patient Services Manager to lead and develop the team, support the smooth running of our patient-facing services, and maintain a positive, professional and supportive environment for both patients and colleagues.

This is a varied and rewarding role for someone who enjoys working with people and getting things done. A key part of the role is having a thorough, practical understanding of every function within Patient Services, including appointment management, patient registrations and deductions, telephone and front desk duties, and general patient enquiries. You will be confident stepping into any of these roles whenever needed, whether that is covering a busy reception desk, helping a colleague with a tricky query, or keeping things running smoothly during sickness and holidays. This hands-on knowledge will also put you in a great position to train and guide others and to spot where things could work better.

You will be at the heart of our daily operations, making sure the team feels supported, informed, and confident in what they do. You will coordinate workloads, keep track of outstanding tasks, and calmly manage the daily challenges of a busy general practice, escalating more significant concerns to the Practice Manager when appropriate. Working closely with the Practice Manager, clinical teams and colleagues across the practice, you will help keep communication clear, protocols up to date, and fresh ideas for improvement welcome.

Above all, we are looking for someone who takes pride in supporting their team, leads by example and is passionate about making a positive difference to patients and colleagues alike. Your aim will be an organised, informed and well-supported team that delivers a consistently excellent service every day.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Management and Patient Services

• Lead the daily running of reception and administrative services, ensuring appropriate staffing, effective workload allocation and consistently high standards.
• Maintain an accurate daily situation report (SitRep), monitoring outstanding tasks, backlogs, staffing pressures and operational risks. Prioritise work, track progress and ensure timely completion, handover and follow-up.
• Identify and resolve operational issues, adjusting workloads and providing practical support where needed. Keep the Practice Manager informed of performance, significant pressures and risks, escalating concerns promptly.
• Maintain full practical competency across all reception and administrative functions, including telephone and front desk duties, appointments, askmyGP, patient registrations and deductions, correspondence and record management. Provide direct cover during absences and busy periods.
• Oversee patient access and appointment management, working with clinical teams to optimise availability, clinic utilisation and patient experience. Ensure staff understand current booking arrangements and support QOF targets through effective scheduling and patient recalls.

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, supervise and support the Patient Services team, promoting accountability, professionalism, teamwork and a positive working environment.
• Manage staffing rotas, breaks, annual leave and absence cover, ensuring appropriate staffing levels, skills and fair distribution of work.
• Monitor individual and team performance, addressing concerns constructively and supporting the Practice Manager with appraisals, attendance management and HR matters.
• Lead recruitment, induction and ongoing staff development, maintaining a competency and training matrix, identifying skills gaps and promoting cross-training.
• Hold regular team meetings and briefings to communicate priorities, share updates, provide guidance and encourage staff involvement in service improvements.

Service Quality, Patient Experience and Improvement

• Maintain accurate, accessible and up-to-date protocols, procedures and team guidance, ensuring changes are communicated, staff are appropriately trained and agreed standards are followed.
• Work with the Practice Manager and wider team to improve workflows, reduce duplication, introduce effective systems and technology, and monitor service performance.
• Promote a compassionate, professional and patient-centred service, ensuring patients are treated with dignity and respect. Support the timely handling of enquiries, feedback and complaints.
• Support the Patient Participation Group, coordinate patient satisfaction surveys and use feedback to identify improvements. Ensure patient-facing information remains accurate and accessible.
• Ensure compliance with confidentiality, data protection, information governance and practice policies. Maintain accurate records, monitor administrative quality and support incident reporting, audits and governance requirements.

Practice Support and Accountability

• Support efficient use of practice resources, including staffing, overtime and administrative expenditure.
• Oversee the timely administration and billing of private work, including medical reports.
• Attend Practice Management meetings, providing operational updates, highlighting risks and contributing to service planning and improvements.
• Work collaboratively with clinical and management colleagues to support practice objectives and undertake other reasonable duties appropriate to the role.

Overall Accountability

The Patient Services Manager reports to the Managing Partner and is responsible for the effective day-to-day coordination, performance and development of the Patient Services team.

The role requires a proactive, accountable and hands-on approach, combining strong operational oversight with the ability to undertake all reception and administrative duties when required. The postholder is expected to maintain clear visibility of workloads, support and develop staff, resolve issues promptly and ensure consistently high standards of patient service.

This job description outlines the principal responsibilities of the role and may be reviewed in consultation with the postholder to reflect the changing needs of the practice.

Work Location: In person