Medical Secretary

Job responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibility for administration

· Ability to plan and prioritise their own workload on a day-to-day basis.

· Maintain the electronic diaries for CMHS Cumberland doctors, organise appointments and the allocation of their time to reflect priorities and demands of their workloads.

· Organise meetings including Case Conferences, meetings, Risk Management meetings, Care Planning meetings and provide all administrative duties associated with these meetings, including sending invitations, distribution of agenda, associated paperwork, take and transcribe minutes and follow up action points.

· Organise appointments as appropriate, liaising with patients, patient family members and other services.

· Liaise with MDT to arrange assessments etc as directed by the Consultant. Provide administration support including recording details on SystmOne, invoicing and monitoring payments received.

· Administrative support for Consultant’s appraisal including MAG.

· Arrange medical student placements and feedback sessions as appropriate.

· Arrange teaching sessions etc for Consultant as appropriate.

· Knowledge of medical terminology.

· Knowledge and experience to deal with difficult enquiries and situations.

· Collate data for Out of Area patients and produce statistical reports to provide data for locality manager.

· Maintain accurate, timely electronic records and ensure that they are kept safely in accordance with Livewell Southwest polices, including the Data Protection Act (1998) and the Livewell Southwest Confidentiality Policy.

· Work collaboratively with other secretaries/administration staff for both Avon House and Cumberland mental health service, including taking telephone calls, supporting colleagues during periods of high demand ensuring the team runs smoothly.

· Receive incoming mail, telephone calls and initiate action as required

· Assist with Medical staff regarding annual leave etc liaising with Medical staffing team.

· Liaise with senior medics regarding on-call swaps and leave cover

· Accurate audio transcription of various documents including patient letters, assessments, discharge summaries and psychiatric reports in preparation for Tribunal Hearings, ensuring deadlines are met.

· Attend weekly ward round MDT with the Consultants and multi-disciplinary team, taking notes and following up action plans as appropriate.

· Maintain sensitive and confidential information and filing systems.

· Maintain, at all times, the highest level of confidentiality in respect of information concerning the Livewell Southwest or any of its staff or patients.

· Provide non-clinical advice and information with regards to appointments and visitors to the unit.

· Undertake surveys/audits as required including staff surveys.

Responsibility for people who use our services

· Liaise with patients, other professionals and agencies to organise various meetings including Care Planning, Aftercare, Risk Management and Discharge Planning. Due to the urgency of some of these meetings are arranged at short-notice, requiring re-organisation of diaries to ensure service user needs are met.

· Demonstrate a positive attitude to patients, treating patients and their families with dignity and respect.

· Excellent knowledge of risk factors and be able to make judgements about client and staff safety and raise concerns with senior staff

· Ensure compliance with contractual and related quality standards, including acknowledgement of referrals and production of written correspondence with referrers.

Responsibility for implementation of policy and/or service developments

· Comply with all appropriate National, Livewell Southwest and local polices and protocols. These include Health and Safety, Fire Procedures and Confidentiality.

· Know how to report accidents and incidents and to do so promptly.

· Actively participate in line management supervision with a senior member of the Team.

· Actively participate in the Livewell Southwest appraisal system.

· Participate in team meetings.

· Responsible for updating Knowledge and Skills, including Livewell Southwest mandatory training.

· Identify new ways of working and make changes to own work, when agreed, to improve service.

COMMUNICATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS

· Liaise with GP’s, Solicitors, Police, Social Workers, ward staff, other teams, multi-agency professionals, probation officers, patients and relatives, management, medical staff in other specialities and professional staff in other departments.

· Provide and receive confidential, complex and sensitive information, orally, in writing or electronically, within the boundaries of confidentiality. At times the information can be distressing.

· Answer calls from service users, gain information and re-direct the call to the required health professional.

· Provide a communication link when the Consultant or associated Doctors are out of the office and pass all urgent and important issues on to the correct person.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF THE JOB

· Competent advanced keyboard skills including audio typing.

· There is a frequent requirement for concentration required for dealing with various complicated medical documents and correspondence, typing reports, letters etc. of complicated nature with frequent interruptions.

· There is a frequent requirement for sitting in a restricted position, maintaining correct posture, when sitting at desks; for example when (audio) typing or taking detailed minutes of meetings.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of secretarial/Personal Assistant role (or willingness to gain this) including:
• Diary Management
• Handling various telephone enquiries
• Receiving visitors
• Experience of arranging meetings
• Experience of using and maintaining filing systems
• Experience of taking and transcribing formal minutes

Desirable

• Experience working in a secretarial capacity.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team.

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to Vocational Level III (NVQIII) in a relevant subject or equivalent level of qualifications or equivalent previous knowledge & experience.
• Maths & English GCSE Grades 4 and above or equivalent.
• Relevant audio typing/secretarial qualification or experience (or willingness and ability to learn this).
• Ability to use Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Keyboard skills: minimum typing speed of 50 wpm.
• Excellent spelling, grammar and layout.

Desirable

• Medical Secretary/PA Diploma
• AMSPAR Level 2 Medical Terminology

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Knowledge of secretarial and administrative procedures and systems.
• Excellent communication skills dealing with patients, visitors and staff in an efficient and courteous manner over the telephone and in person
• Excellent written and verbal skills.
• Ability to work on own initiative and with minimal supervision.
• Ability to develop good working relationships with colleagues at all levels.
• Sensitivity to confidential information.
• Ability to manage own time to ensure priorities are met and quality is not compromised.
• Excellent organisation skills, with a demonstrable ability to manage and prioritise workload and work methodically, efficiently and accurately to meet tight deadlines.

Desirable

• Knowledge of Mental Health Services and wider NHS.
• Adult Safeguarding.
• Child Protection.
• Knowledge of SystmOne.
• Knowledge of specialist medical terms.
• Understanding/experience of supporting people with Mental Health issues.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).