Band 8a - Coding Quality Assurance Lead, Clinical Coding Department

The Clinical Coding Department at WHTH is undergoing a complete transformation to be more responsive to the changing demands of the organisation, especially, with the Trust adopting Electronic Patient System (EPR) recently.

There is a requirement for high quality data collection and reporting with implementation of EPR to accurately reflect clinical activity and outcomes. This in turn will ensure that our services are set up to support our patient case mix enabling us to provide the right care for our patients.

As part of this restructure, we are looking to recruit a highly competent and experienced individual with strong interpersonal skills who enjoys multitasking and thrives under pressure to join our team as the Coding Quality Assurance Lead.

You will be an experienced NHS Digital Approved Auditor and Trainer who can conduct coding audits in compliance with the latest version of the Clinical Coding Audit Methodology and deliver training that complies with the Approved Clinical Coding Trainer Framework.

The post holder will play a key role in the design, development, delivery, and management of coding quality assurance programmes at WHTH to ensure a high-quality coding data that satisfies the internal clinical data quality and Information Governance / Data Security & Protection Toolkit, Clinical Governance, and other NHS regulatory body requirements for the Trust.

We welcome applicants who have previous, significant experience conducting coding audits and System. You will have excellent knowledge of HSMR, SMR and other mortality benchmarking indicators.

You will assist the Coding Quality Assurance Lead in effecting an in-house coding audit programme to improve the accuracy of the coded data submitted to SUS.

You will conduct coding audits in compliance with the latest version of Terminology and Classifications Service Clinical Coding Audit Methodology to satisfy internal data quality, Data Security and Protection Toolkit Standard 1, Clinical Governance, and other NHS regulatory body requirements.

You will be required to work alongside the clinicians, coders, and managers to enhance the accuracy and completeness of the clinical documentation provided for coding purposes.

You will have proven expertise and specialist knowledge in the application of rules and conventions of the coding classifications and the national standards

You will respond to external FOI requests, disseminate audit feedback, advise the coding team of new coding guidelines and updates to national standards and local policies, and provide appropriate support where required.

• Please refer to the job description and person specification documents for more details on the responsibilities and requirements for this role.

There has never been a more exciting time to join West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust! Major redevelopment works are planned as part of the New Hospital Programme. These will be most dramatic at Watford General Hospital where up to 90% of buildings will be new.

The trust has recently gained ‘teaching hospital’ status which reflects the dedicated work of many teams and individuals who have set the standard for delivering high quality training, learning and education at all levels of the workforce.

We encourage and welcome people with disabilities. If you need help, please ask.

We reserve the right to close this advert early due to the volume of applicants. Please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

If you do not hear back within 3 weeks of your application, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.

• You will be responsible for, but not limited to the following:
• Conducting regular individual coder audits, speciality audits and random audits of coded data, identifying knowledge gaps and training needs of the team members
• discussing and resolving coding queries from the coding team as well as providing expert advice for coding information requests from other divisions and departments within the Trust in a timely manner
• disseminating audit feedback to the team members and devising action plans to improve coding performance
• producing audit reports at short notice as required
• sharing responsibility with the Coding Quality Assurance Lead in providing constructive feedback on coding performance and ensuring knowledge and learning points are communicated effectively across the team
• assisting the Coding Quality Assurance Lead in developing and implementing a robust clinical coding audit programme for the coding team
• regularly liaising with clinicians, coders, and managers to enhance the accuracy and completeness of the clinical documentation provided for coding purposes.
• advising the team of new coding guidelines and updates to national standards and local policies and providing appropriate support where required
• maintaining own productivity by ensuring accurate, timely, complete, and consistent clinical coding is carried out within strict timescales, using ICD-10 and OPCS-4 classifications, and adhering to the national coding standards and local clinical coding policies of the Trus
• Please refer to the job description and person specification documents for more details on the responsibilities and requirements for this role.