Practice Secretary

Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB TITLE Medical Secretary

REPORTS TO Patient Services Manager (Facilities and Estates)

Job Summary:

The purpose of the role is to:

· Provide secretarial services to the clinicians and the wider HH team when required. The work in volved will mainly be based at 1501 Hedon Road, but you may occasionally be required to work at any one of the other 7 Holderness Health Sites and will therefore need to have access to your own transport.

The post holder will

· project a professional, positive and friendly image to patients and other visitors, either in person or via the telephone.

· Undertake a variety of secretarial duties to assist in the smooth running of the business.

· Facilitate effective communication between patients, staff and other healthcare organisations ensuring confidentiality is always maintained.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The duties and responsibilities to be undertaken by members of the secretarial team may include any or all of the items in the following list. Duties may be varied from time to time under the direction of the Management Team. All duties are to be carried out professionally.

· Transcribe dictations

· Process textual communications

· Process and send referrals to appropriate services

· Add relevant codes to patient records once work is complete

· Liaise with medical professionals both inside and outside of the practice

· Where appropriate, liaise with patients and carers offering appropriate advice and guidance to assist in the management of their referrals and appointments

· Other general administrative duties

· Incoming electronic documents accessed through workflow and actioned

· Ensure tasks in EMIS are managed and actioned daily

· Provide cover within the team when required.

· Occasional reporting and monitoring of own and team work as well as for the wider organisation

· Ensure that training is completed

· Attendance at courses and meetings when required

· Scanning and emailing of information using encryption

Confidentiality:

· While 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

Health & safety:

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others’ health, safety and security as defined in the practice health & safety policy, the practice health & safety manual, and the practice infection control policy and published procedures. This will include:

· Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines

· Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks

· Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills

· Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards

· Actively reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised

· Keeping own work areas and general/patient areas generally clean, assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the job holder’s role

· Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually)

· Reporting potential risks identified

· Demonstrate due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

Equality, diversity and inclusion:

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 people’s 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

· Responsible for undertaking own mandatory training as per practice policy

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 team’s 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 people’s 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

Additional Criteria

Essential

• Willingness to help occasionally covering for holidays and sickness or if there is a temporary increase in workload.
• Prepared to travel to and work out of any Holderness Health premises if required

Qualifications

Essential

• Typing Qualification
• English and math's qualification
• Understanding of confidentiality, Data Protection and Caldicott

Desirable

• Medical terminology qualification
• Computer literacy qualification
• Audio typing experience

Experience

Essential

• Customer care
• Experience of using various Microsoft software

Desirable

• Experience working in a Primary care environment
• Experience of EMIS would be beneficial
• Ability to prioritise

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

Holderness Health

Address

Church View Surgery

5 Market Hill House

Hedon

HU12 8JE

Employer's website

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