Health records clerk
Career outlook for health records clerk
UK Salary Ranges
Entry-level
£18,546
£18,546
Experienced
£24,882
£24,882
Currently employed in Scotland
9,700
Salary information is provided by the "National Careers Service". "Oxford Economics" supplies job forecasts and employment figures. Due to COVID-19 the jobs market is constantly changing. Some of the information may not reflect the current situation.
What's it like?
You would keep patients' medical records up to date. You’d make sure that their information is available to doctors and medical staff when they are treating a person.
You’d also keep records of the communications between health professionals about a patient’s treatment.
You would:
- Greet patients, book appointments and deal with enquiries from GPs (general practioners)
- Find and check patient records on the computer system
- Create new records and update existing ones
- File records
- Transfer information from paper records into the computer system
- Send test samples to laboratories
- Update patients’ records with test results and letters
- Record illnesses and treatments using a system of codes, known as clinical coding
You would keep a record of all patient admissions, transfers, discharges and deaths. You’d collect statistics such as the number of admissions, discharges and the length of waiting lists.
You might carry out all of these tasks or you could specialise in one area such as filing, admissions or clinical coding.
Respect for confidentiality is very important in this job as you will have access to personal information about people.
You’d also need to be sensitive and tactful in dealing with patient and their relatives, who may be anxious or upset.
You can see more about this role on the Health records staff page on the NHS Careers website.
Working conditions
Hours
Environment
UK employment status
Full-time
67%
Part-time
31%
Self employed
2%
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Find a jobTop skills
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- Cooperating
- Verbal communication
- Written communication
- Working with numbers
- Observation
- Attention to detail
- Sorting
- Time management
- Making decisions
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Qualifications
You do not always need formal qualifications to enter this role. Some employers will look for between two and five subjects at National 4 or 5 (SCQF Level 4/5).
Useful subjects
- English
- Maths
- Business
- ICT
- Administrative subjects
You will also need
You may need to pass a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Disclosure check.
Helpful to have
Qualifications that demonstrate ICT and administrative abilities and knowledge of the health sector.
Previous experience of office work, including word processing and spreadsheet computer packages.