Secretary

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Handle and follow up patient enquiries, exercising initiative and liaising with the doctor, hospital, relatives and others with regard to actions necessary remembering always that the doctor remains accountable for clinical decisions.
• Type all correspondence as requested by doctors and health professionals, accessing work flows via personal and practice nhs.net e mail accounts, Docman, EMIS Tasks and Lexacom dictation system as well as other sources. This includes the typing and sending of letters, reports, investigation requests, patient referrals (manual and e-RS), minutes, medical information, memoranda etc. ensuring they are accurately typed and well presented.
• Make electronic referrals through the ERS system, selecting specialities and sub specialities, booking/requesting appointments as necessary and sending paperwork out to patients.
• Manage advice and guidance referrals through the ERS system, monitor responses and liaise with the Drs to ensure these are fully followed through and recorded on a spreadsheet.
• Check daily for rejected referrals and action as appropriate, recording on spreadsheets and informing the relevant Doctor.
• Receive and dispatch mail and maintain a pending system.
• Check and action the practice emails on a rota basis, including forwarding onto relevant departments/scanning/folders as well as checking the secretarial email regularly throughout the day, actioning appropriately.
• Enter all correspondence on to the Practice clinical system using read codes where appropriate and log all referrals.
• Prioritise all correspondence, working with and supporting colleagues to ensure urgent correspondence is undertaken in a timely manner.
• Provide cover for colleagues at times of annual leave and sickness to ensure the service to doctors and patients is unaffected at such times.
• Communicate and liaise with all staff teams and disciplines within and attached to the practice.
• Arrange appointments as required and take messages when appropriate. Deal with any telephone enquiries in a polite and professional manner.
• Establish and maintain filing and administrative systems so that written or computer information is easily accessible and secure.
• Retrieve medical records and assist the completion of medical/insurance reports, photocopy as required and invoice accordingly.
• Handle correspondence with Solicitors requesting patient records, updating practice records and typing invoices as appropriate.
• Process and chase patient results, liaising with the doctor or appropriate health professional, contacting patients and receiving telephone calls from patients as required.
• Attend Multi-Disciplinary Team or other meetings taking minutes and actioning any relevant points where necessary.
• Act as a point of contact for staff and doctors phoning to report sickness or delays in the mornings and to initiate appropriate action.
• Liaise with the clerk responsible to maintain adequate supplies of office stationery in order to perform an efficient secretarial service.
• Design/import and populate template letters and forms for use throughout the practice as required.
• Perform any reasonable administrative tasks as requested.
• To liaise and arrange meetings (to include the booking of rooms) as required and to attend meetings and take minutes.
• Support the Practice team to maintain the quality and accuracy of all patient records by:
• Entering all appropriate patient information using the clinical system.
• Assisting with the management of disease registers where appropriate.
• Accurate input of all data.
• Maintain the safeguarding spreadsheet, completing all secretarial and administrative tasks associated with safeguarding, working to the adult and child safeguarding protocols.
• Make the Doctors drinks on a rota basis, and cover for others if they are off.

Health & Safety

• Assist in promoting and maintaining your own and others health, safety and security as defined in the Practice Health and Safety policy. Ensure that any hazards in your working area are reported immediately to your line manager.
• Carry out routine checks to ensure your work station is clean and tidy at the start and end of your shift.
• Ensure all equipment in your work station is operational and up to date and report any issues to your line manager.
• Ensure that confidential patient information is stored and handled according to protocol and report any concerns to your line manager.
• Demonstrate due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

Confidentiality

• In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.
• In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.
• Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.
• Ensure patient and Practice information is kept confidential and secure at all times, in accordance with the Information Security and Confidentiality protocols and in line with General Data Protection Regulations 2018.

Safeguarding:

It is the responsibility of all staff at Faversham Medical Practice to:

• Safeguard and promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.
• Ensure their safeguarding adults and safeguarding children training is up to date at the level appropriate to their role.
• Ensure the safeguarding policies and procedures in place within the Practice are adhered to during employment.

Equality and diversity:

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

• Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
• Behaving in a manner that is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Personal/professional development:

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, with such training to include:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Communication:

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

Contribution to the implementation of services:

The post-holder will:

• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
• Participate in audit where appropriate

Person Specification

Personal

Essential

• Good communicator (verbal & written)
• Ability to work autonomously and initiate / self-direct own workload.
• IT literate, including use of Word to at least a basic-to-intermediate level.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality as per job description and in line with GDPR 2018.
• Evidence of the ability to grasp new concepts and work on a self-directed basis.
• Ability to relate to the interviewing team and exhibits personality to match culture of Practice.
• Interest in/ attitude for learning new skills.
• Willingness to work bank holidays.
• Demonstrate due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

Desirable

• Evidence of organisational skills.
• Checkable employment history (more than 3 years).
• Ability to work ideal hours as stated.
• Evidence of recent self-directed learning or development.
• Evidence of job stability (e.g. fewer than 2 employers in last 10 years).

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• English GCSE grade C/Equivalent or above.
• Excellent organisational and problem solving skills.
• Ability to deal with external organisations in a pleasant and professional manner.
• Ability to understand and learn new software and administrative procedures.
• Excellent literacy skills.
• Typing skills.
• Familiar with email.
• Accurate and thorough approach.

Desirable

• Professional Medical Secretary qualification (i.e. AMSPAR Diploma or equivalent, RSA typewriting skills level 1-3).
• IT literate, including experience in using Word at intermediate level.
• Experience in using EMIS clinical software.
• Familiar with E-referral system.
• Experience of dealing with members of the public.
• Experience in primary care/NHS/caring profession.
• Knowledge of medical terminology.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Faversham Medical Practice

Address

Faversham Health Centre

Bank Street

Faversham

Kent

ME13 8QR

Employer's website

https://www.favershammedicalpractice.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)