Case studies

"Friendly staff, opportunity for development and interesting work – what more could you need?"

What does the job involve?
My job involves reading the clinical documentation relating to a patients stay in hospital and translating that into alphanumeric codes, using the ICD-10 and OPCS-4.8 classifications. Not everything fits neatly into the classifications so to ensure accurate coding I am often in contact with consultants, nursing staff and other non-clinical ward staff.

Our coding is primarily used to ensure that the Trust is paid correctly for the care that it provides to patients but the data we create is helpful in other contexts such as epidemiological analysis and to set resource management targets.

What you love about your job?
The variety of work is the thing that keeps the job so interesting. There are coding offices at the RVI and the Freeman with totally different specialties to code. Even within a specialty there is so much variety patient to patient that there’s always something that’s a little bit different to keep you interested.

I would also say that I’m a bit of a collaborative worker so I always really enjoy being able to talk to other coders in the department or speaking to the clinical staff to work through a problem.

Proudest moment so far?
I think my proudest moment in coding so far has to be getting 100% on the final module of my Clinical Coding Standards Course.

Any tips for finding a job that you love?
For me it was finding something I was interested in – even if it was by accident!

Tell us about any travel and / or unusual aspects of the job
I think the thing that breaks the mould of the usual coding day is definitely coding on the ward. There are a couple of different specialties that are coded on wards and it’s a very different environment to the coding office.

What are your usual working hours?
8:30-4:30, Monday to Friday - though there is flexibility within those shifts.

What training is needed for your job?
The training required initially is a 21-day training course, the Clinical Coding Standards Course. The course is designed to allow you to get to grips with the extensive standards that dictate how we code, as well as to give you a bit of practical coding experience.

After the standards course the whole job is training really! Even coders who are NCCQ qualified are still learning new specialties and keeping up-to-date on any changing policies and procedures.

Why should someone come and work in your department?
Friendly staff, opportunity for development and interesting work – what more could you need?