Appointments Lead

Overview

The Appointments Lead plays a pivotal role in ensuring patients move smoothly through their diagnostic journey. Sitting within the Operations Team and reporting to the Service Lead, this role leads the Appointments Coordinators and oversees the accurate, efficient and compassionate scheduling of appointments across the organisation. Your leadership will directly influence clinician capacity, patient experience and operational flow, ensuring appointments are managed with clarity, efficiency and care.

What you’ll be doing

• Line manage, support and develop the Appointments Coordinators team.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, provide feedback and guide performance and development.
• Support onboarding, training and ongoing development within the appointments function.
• Lead probation reviews, setting goals and monitoring progress.
• Foster a positive, collaborative and supportive team environment.
• Conduct or participate in formal meetings as required in your role as line manager.

• Oversee the accurate and efficient scheduling of patient appointments across all service areas.
• Ensure calendars, spreadsheets and tracking tools are kept accurate and up to date.
• Monitor scheduling activity to ensure optimal use of clinician capacity and availability.
• Support and approve decisions relating to appointment allocation, rescheduling and capacity adjustments.

• Address complex scheduling issues, conflicts and capacity challenges.
• Act as the escalation point for appointment-related queries from internal teams, clinicians and external stakeholders.
• Implement practical solutions to reduce delays, cancellations and inefficiencies.
• Proactively identify trends, recurring issues or process gaps and recommend improvements.

• Provide clear, supportive and professional communication with patients, families, clinicians and internal teams.
• Ensure coordinators deliver timely updates and consistent messaging.
• Liaise with the Clinical Operations Manager/Deputy and other departments to ensure alignment of workflows.
• Maintain positive working relationships with clinicians through clear scheduling expectations and processes.

• Ensure appointment processes and records meet internal standards and data protection requirements.
• Maintain oversight of documentation accuracy, data entry and tracking systems.
• Support audits of scheduling practices and ensure adherence to GDPR and confidentiality standards.

• Identify and implement improvements to scheduling workflows, appointment systems and communication processes.
• Monitor performance data, report key trends and recommend operational enhancements.
• Contribute to initiatives that improve patient experience, clinician satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Essential experience

• Proven management or leadership experience.
• Experience working within a healthcare, clinical or service-based operations environment.
• Strong organisational and time management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Confidence managing scheduling, bookings or coordination functions.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to handle sensitive conversations professionally.
• High attention to detail in documentation, data and scheduling accuracy.

Desirable experience

• Experience using healthcare or clinical systems such as Semble.
• Experience analysing scheduling or appointment data to improve performance.
• Experience contributing to service or process improvement initiatives.

• Full-time, permanent role based in the Chichester office.

• Competitive salary (dependent on experience).
• Generous annual leave entitlement – 28 days PLUS bank holidays (pro-rata if part time employee).
• Festive days! A few days off around Christmas time to spend with loved ones.
• Employee Assistance Programme – 24/7.
• Company Sick Pay
• Contributory Pension scheme
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.

• Reports directly to the Service Lead.
• Responsible for…