Emma Louise Stevens

I am currently the Operational Lead for the Respiratory and Gastroenterology departments at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. I am responsible for the medic, nursing and admin teams across both Trust sites. My day to day role involve all aspects of business management for the departments I look after. This involves conducting performance reviews to identify areas of improvement, monitoring and implementing risk management strategies to minimise risks and losses, negotiating contracts with suppliers with the help of the procurement team for cost reductions.

As Business Support Manager my role was to support my Speciality Business Manager (SBM) in the day to day operational running of the Emergency Departments as well as act as deputy for them when they were on leave or unavailable. I was direct line manager to the ED patient flow coordinators, the ED secretarial team, the secretary for acute medicine, the reception supervisors and reception teams at both Lancashire Teaching Hospitals sites. I produced and managed their rotas, annual leave, sickness, allocation of bank shifts to ensure safe cover, ensured training and appraisals were completed to meet trust targets and safety and managed other workforce issues and processes such as attendance management, formal complaints between staff, supporting disability agreements and flexible working arrangements. This meant I had to be aware of Trust policies and the role helped me develop relationships with the workforce team and introduced me to union representation. I played an active role in recruitment for the admin teams, putting jobs onto Trac, attending recruitment meetings and completing EQIAs where necessary to evidence the need for the staff. I conducted interviews and welcomed new members of staff ensuring their paperwork was complete. I produced a summary of our medical staff fill rates to analyse our agency and bank expenditure which formed part of the recruitment and retention and finance reports and my SBM presented divisionally. I monitored and ordered stock ensuring the department were not over spending which is especially important given the financial recovery the Trust had to make. I enquired and gathered quotes to ensure procurement of the most cost effective arrangements. I investigated incidents and complaints to produce responses and surmise if any training or disciplinary measures needed to be instigated. I validated the mental health and 4 hour breach data giving the Trust an accurate position and also knowledge of the pressures affecting the 12 hour or 4 hour targets. I was responsible for adding safeguarding alerts and plans to PAS systems to keep staff and patients safe. I produced a monthly report on assault data which is used collaboratively with the Trauma Intelligence Group and Council teams to improve services and reduce assault rates in the area. I managed the log ons for One Response the NWAS ambulance system. I attended regular improvement and safety meetings with the department and Exec team to discuss and implement improvements. I attended the thrice daily bed meetings where I was responsible for liaising between A&E and the bed management team to coordinate bed moves, maintaining the flow through the department and escalated problems and risks within the department. I was also part of the medicine manager of the day rota in which I was the on call manager for medicine. I assisted with discharges by chasing plans, discharge summaries and medications to further support flow through the hospital. This was especially relevant as I could see both sides by working in ED and witnessing what a difference good flow can have on the departments wait times and 4 hour compliance.

I was part of the Respiratory team from 2017 to 2024, and in my role as Performance Manager for 2 years, giving me in depth knowledge of both the medical and administrative/support teams. Respiratory has a blend of acute and outpatient work which is both interesting and fast paced. I was responsible for overseeing the 7-day rota for the consultant team to ensure that both ward 23 and enhanced high care the level 2 ward was safely covered including the overnight telephone rota. I was part of the strike action planning, putting together job plans to ensure the safe coverage of the wards whilst aiding ED by providing speciality in reach. I had to do this whilst bearing in mind the need to maintain outpatient activity as much as possible as well as activity in endoscopy to ensure our compliance with the trust targets such as suspected cancer and RTT was not too disrupted. I managed a team of 16 secretaries across both sites as well as 2 performance support staff and a lung cancer patient navigator. This included day to day problem solving, staff sickness management, workforce management and various outpatient queries, expedite requests and referrals. I monitored outpatient clinics and endoscopy lists. I conducted appraisals for my band 4 team and support my band 4's to manage their teams efficiently. I regularly used E-Learning, HealthRoster, Corporate Forms, E-Referral Service and Advice and Guidance as well as all Windows packages, Teams, Solus, Flex, The Bi portal apps, Alma, T-Pro and Evolve. There are not many applications I have not used. I closely managed the suspected lung cancer team, taking part in patient tracking meetings, planning meetings and Big Rooms. I have been involved in the development and implementation of a successful Lung Cancer Whiteboard. I took part in setting up job plans and service plans by supplying supporting data through the BI portal with focus on the Trusts targets of patient flow and 4 hour standard. We ensured that ED in-reach and virtual ward work was job planned daily to aid flow through A&E. I updated my capacity and demand data sheets to better understand the outpatient capacity I had and where our gap was. I have aided in capacity and demand analysis models and trajectories through Excel to support the speciality business manager. I also successfully cleared the Respiratory department of any 78-week breaches when the Trust targets on 18-week breaches came into place and maintained and worked towards 52-week compliance. This was through the use of non-clinical validation as well as getting my consultants on board with clinical validation and closing pathways efficiently. I was part of the team that compile and manage the daily medical sleepout (outlier)reports. This consists of managing an Excel spreadsheet by browsing the wards on Flex to ensure that any medical patients requiring a review were included in the list. We also used a medically fit whiteboard. I then distributed the patients throughout the medical teams. This also included managing an email inbox for outlier queries and aiding in discharges.

My role as performance manager in Gastro was varied and fast paced. This was a temporary role where I acted up to provide maternity cover. I was responsible for managing the 6 week rolling rota the Gastro team adhered to, ensuring that first and foremost Ward 24 was covered adequately and safely. I ensured that there was endoscopy cover which included capacity for emergency bleeds and other urgent inpatient procedures. I worked closely with the endoscopy unit to ensure that patients were listed for their procedures in a timely manner, bowel prep prescriptions were organised and that patients were importantly put on the correct list. I also aided in making sure that the bowel cancer screening lists were staffed to ensure compliance for the Trust. I am proficient in the use of Excel, One Drive, Harris Flex in both a booking management and endoscopy booking capacity as well as Solus Endoscopy. I managed a team of secretaries at both Royal Preston and Chorley Hospital. This included day to day problem solving, staff sickness management, workforce management and various outpatient queries, expedite requests and referrals. I monitored outpatient clinics to ensure they were used to capacity. I conducted appraisals for my band 4 team and encouraged my band 4's to manage their teams efficiently. This meant the regular use of E-Learning, HealthRoster, Corporate Forms, E-Referral Service and Advice and Guidance software's. I set up new 2WR suspected cancer iron deficiency anaemia clinics and ensured the referrals were triaged quickly and the outcomes actioned. I worked closely with the corporate cancer team to meet the various 2WR targets including 14 days to first apt and 28 days to diagnosis. I took part in setting up job plans and service plans by supplying supporting data through the BI portal. I updated my capacity and demand data sheet to better understand the outpatient capacity I had and where our gap was. This aided in capacity and demand analysis models through Excel to support my speciality business manager. I also successfully cleared the Gastro department of any 104 week breaches when the Trust targets on 18 week breaches came into place, as well as making a start in working through the 78 week breaches. This was through the use of non-clinical validation as well as getting my consultants on board with clinical validation and the efficiency in closing patient pathways. As performance manager I was also part of the team that compiled and managed the daily medical sleepout (outlier)reports. This consisted of managing and updating an Excel spreadsheet by browsing the wards in the hospitals on Flex to ensure that any medical patients requiring a review were included in the list. I then distributed the patients throughout the medical teams. This also included managing an email inbox for outlier queries.

I was medical secretary to the clinical director for Respiratory Medicine along with supporting other consultants and specialist nurses in Respiratory. This role gave me vast experience in diary management, setting up meetings including departmental and international ones and functions on behalf of the consultant I have great knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Excel and Word because of this. I also have experience in taking minutes. During my time as a medical secretary my duties included management of clinics including maintaining follow up patient waiting lists using the Qlikview system. I have experience in setting up clinics including waiting list and suspected cancer as well as clinic cancellations and reinstatements. I have experience in clinical room booking using the organizations booking system Bookwise. As medical secretary I produced clinic correspondence and other letters from dictation and have a typing speed of over 60 words per minute. I also tracked test results including those of patients on the two week rule cancer pathway. As I was a band 4 I also had the responsibility of managing 3 band 3 staff members. I ensured their performance was to Trust standard as well as ensured their mandatory training and appraisals were up to date. I also managed sickness and annual leave requests on HealthRoster. I promoted a positive patient experience through professional telephone etiquette in my role and supported hospital staff for smooth day-to-day operations. I also managed and scheduled appointments to reduce patient waiting times.

I had a dual role at Moss Side Medical Centre. My duties as practice administrator were to scan and code hospital and other clinical correspondence to patient records in a timely manner to ensure records were up to date. I also typed GP referrals and other letters from digital dictation and forwarded accordingly including prioritising urgent and two-week rule letters. As reception supervisor I managed a team of receptionists. I took calls from patients and dealt with appointment bookings, test results and various other queries via telephone, email and face to face. I dealt with patient complaints and corresponded with other health organisations. I oversaw front desk operations and improved efficiency and professionalism in reception services. I coordinated staff rotas, ensuring there were no staffing gaps at the reception desk.