Any Clinical Coders on here?! Tell me about your job!

[Clinicalcoding]

I’m currently a lab assistant at a busy hospital and some clinical coding vacancies have come up that look quite interesting.

I have a scientific background and a solid 3 years lab experience in a hospital. I’ve come across thousands of clinical details and procedures.

Is the job boring? Is it fast paced? It seems there is a big chance of working up the bands quite quickly, is this true? The job states you start at band 3 and can go up to band 5 after qualifying. Is there anything above 5? I’m assuming as you’re working with medical records there’s no home working, but I see remote working jobs advertised in a few trusts, what is this?

Sorry for questions overload, I think I really want to apply, but want more information before contacting them for a visit.

Bump!

For the level of knowledge required, it is (IMO) a massively underpaid job within the NHS 'admin' type jobs. That's without taking into account the extra work you end up putting in at home to revise for exams and keep books etc up to date.

Above a grade 5 in the trust I was working in were mostly management and training/audit. These are quite highly specialised positions within CC, and can be few and far between.

I loved this job, it is really varied and detail oriented. It can also be quite mentally challenging at times, and I found some of the work quite harrowing.

Strict (unrealistic) targets are set, and I heard some horror stories at other trusts about being made to work in total silence etc.

Progression can be fast, depending on whether your training would happen in-house, or if you would need to attend a course at a different trust.

There are people that offer coding work from home, but they do require that you have your ACC, usually a number of years service under your belt, and may ask for particular specialties.

I've sort of purposefully focused on the negatives, and as you already work for the NHS you will know how stretched it is already. It's a job that I think will be eventually phased out as more input from clinicians becomes automated online, so there's also that to bear in mind.

Actually, if you were starting as a trainee at a band 3, then you may find that band 6 would include supervisory/mentor roles, and specialist coders.

It seems to vary by Trust as to how they split the banding.

I liaise with clinical coding in my current role. It appears really fast paced and silent in their office. I think with the gradual transition from paper notes to online records it could be done from home in the future (not currently offered in my health board), but all the coders I know are always running around the hospital querying notes if patient has cancelled or not turned up and we haven't sent them the notes. Not sure what progression is like, but I know a few of the coders work overtime on reception etc because the pay doesn't reflect their skills.

Thank you for the response!

It does seem underpaid, but that’s understandable with the NHS. I think the training will be done in house, so I’m hoping fast progression. My current job is brilliant, and I love the people I work with, but for me, there’ll be no progression as I don’t have a biomedical degree. And I want to get out of the lab.

So can I ask why you left, and what you went on to do? What kind of jobs would this help you with in the future?

Thanks Lashes, that doesn’t sound promising.

I’m wondering whether asking if they offer part time roles would be a good idea? Or do they usually prefer full time workers?