Referrals Coordinator + Patient & Practice Liaison RVN

Two positions available: one permanent and one 12-month fixed-term maternity-cover position.

About the role

Referrals coordination is the primary and most important part of this role. You will help manage the full range of referrals we receive from primary care practices: routine, urgent and emergency. Working closely with referring veterinary teams, our Customer Care team and The Ralph’s clinical services, you will help ensure that each patient’s referral is assessed, prioritised and progressed as efficiently as possible.

The maternity-cover position may offer the possibility of a permanent role in future, although this cannot be guaranteed.

When referrals coordination workload allows, you will also support our Patient & Practice Liaison work. This involves providing selected referring practices with brief, high-level updates about their patients while they are receiving care at The Ralph.

You will join an established team led day-to-day by the Referrals Coordinator and Patient & Practice Liaison Team Lead. Formal line management will sit with our Clinical Director.

Responsibilities

• Reviewing and clinically triaging routine and urgent referral requests received through our online portal and by email
• Reviewing relevant clinical records and gathering further information where needed
• Seeking input from the appropriate clinical service when required
• Prioritising referrals according to clinical need rather than simply the order in which they are received
• Receiving and coordinating emergency referral enquiries
• Acting as a central point of contact for Customer Care in relation to emergency referrals during your working hours
• Liaising with referring veterinary teams, Customer Care, clinical services and colleagues involved in patient workflow
• Helping to ensure that emergency referrals are directed to the appropriate service and progressed promptly
• Identifying and helping to resolve practical or workflow-related issues that may affect our ability to receive a patient
• Maintaining clear, accurate and timely records and communications
• Recognising and escalating clinical or operational questions appropriately

Requirements

You must be a Registered Veterinary Nurse currently registered with the RCVS. You may be working clinically or may have moved into a non-clinical role, provided you retain the knowledge, judgement and communication skills needed for the position.

• RCVS Registered Veterinary Nurse
• Eligible to work in the UK
• English speaker (native, bilingual, professional)
• Communicates clearly, calmly and compassionately
• Can gather, interpret and convey clinical information accurately
• Has sound clinical judgement and recognises when something should be escalated
• Can prioritise effectively in a busy and sometimes fast-moving environment
• Is organised, dependable and attentive to detail
• Takes a proactive approach to resolving problems and keeping referrals moving
• Works collaboratively and builds positive relationships across clinical and non-clinical teams
• Understands the importance of providing an excellent service to referring colleagues, carers and patients
• Is comfortable communicating by telephone and email and using digital systems

Experience within a referral setting, particularly a large multidisciplinary hospital, would be advantageous but is not essential.

Working arrangements

These are hybrid positions involving both remote and on-site working. The precise arrangements will be agreed collectively following recruitment and may vary according to the needs of the team. Applicants must be able to work at our hospital in Marlow when required.

The roles will normally operate from Monday to Friday across a mixture of early and late daytime shifts. The precise working pattern will be confirmed following recruitment. There is currently no requirement to participate in a weekend, Bank Holiday or out-of-hours rota.

The positions are ideally full-time at 40 hours per week. This includes a paid one-hour lunch break each working day, meaning that a full-time team member ordinarily undertakes 35 working hours each week. We also welcome applications from people seeking part-time hours. We have not set a minimum number of hours and are happy to discuss what may be workable while meeting the team’s overall service and coverage needs.

These are non-clinical positions and do not include direct responsibility for patient care. Successful applicants who do not already work at The Ralph will spend some time observing on the clinical floor during their onboarding to understand our services, workflows and ways of working, particularly in relation to emergency referrals. They will not have primary responsibility for patients during this familiarisation period.

If you miss hands-on nursing, there may be opportunities to undertake occasional additional clinical shifts. These would be separate from your substantive role, require prior approval and must not affect your availability or performance within the Referrals Coordination team.

About The Ralph

The Ralph is the UK’s largest independent (non-corporate) multidisciplinary specialist referral centre based in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, with around 260 team members. Our culture, values, vision and mission sit at the heart of The Ralph. Empathy, compassion, kindness, respect and integrity are some of our daily obsessions. As an independent hospital, we have the freedom and flexibility to chart our own course. We aim to deliver exceptional, compassionate and ethical veterinary care while treating our patients, their carers, our referring colleagues and one another with kindness.

Marlow sits on the River Thames between Henley and Windsor. The surrounding area offers beautiful walks, water-based activities and much more. Our hospital is conveniently located just off the A404, with easy access from the M4 and M40 and good connections to London.

Benefits

• Salary: £31,540–£36,540 per annum
• Paid lunch breaks
• Generous discounts on care for team members’ animal companions
• A generous CPD allowance
• Support for relevant professional development
• Support with relevant professional subscriptions and memberships