Medical Secretary

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

To provide a full secretarial and clinical support with the Medical Oncology Service to consultants and members of their teams in respect to their general medical duties, diary management and specialist work. The post is a vital link between the patient, the Consultant, the wider Trust and other people involved in the provision of health care. To act independently ensuring that daily tasks and ongoing workloads are prioritised and completed in agreed timeframes.

Key Result Areas & performance

1. Key Responsibilities

To act as a central point of information and communication for the clinical team.

To act as first point of contact on behalf of the consultant and the Trust and deal effectively and courteously with all enquiries from GPs, parents/carers, other departments within the Trust and external bodies.

2. Key Tasks

To produce correspondence and reports using audio transcription technology.

To type urgent clinical letters, including those of a sometimes distressing or emotional nature from audiotape or direct dictation as agreed.

To organise and support meetings on behalf of the Consultant and the Consultants team, taking and distributing minutes as required.

To deal with all telephone calls relating to the service, ensuring patient focus is maintained and enquiries are handled in a courteous, tactful and prompt manner and respecting patient confidentiality always.

To prioritise and process incoming correspondence and ensure that it is dealt with promptly by the appropriate member of staff.

To ensure that external investigation reports are brought to the attention of the appropriate medical team and signed off by the appropriate member of staff. Arrange for the request and/or safe onward transmissions of patient investigation reports to other sites where necessary.

To maintain filing systems that facilitates the effective running of the department.

To open, date stamp and distribute post according to local standing operating procedure. Maintain up to date filing of external reports and correspondence in patient medical records. To use the appropriate IT system for checking patient information and appointments.

To manage patient records appropriately, ensuring an up-to-date record is maintained of all case notes returned from the wards and clinics, that patient medical records are available for clinic and appointments are dispatched to other departments as necessary.

To maintain and update the diaries of the members of the clinical team as required, and to co-ordinate meetings, teaching sessions/venues as required.

To co-ordinate and process work of a medico-legal nature and other medical reports as required.

To draft responses to routine enquiries as appropriate.

To take an active role in initiatives to improve the administrative service provided to managers and clinicians, and the service received by the department and their families.

To send any referrals received to the central booking office for registration and booking and to action tertiary referrals as necessary.

To organise own work schedule, adapt the schedule as required to meet commitments to others within the agreed timescales and, where this is not achievable, give notification promptly with reasons to line manager.

To ensure any changes/cancellation to clinics are carried out and all relevant parties are advised of any changes.

To liaise with the central booking office as required if an appointment requires rescheduling.

Completion of forms and documentation as requested such as adoption, child protection, police statements, disability and doctor references as requested to do so by the consultant.

Manage the generic email account.

To have awareness of the outreach clinics and wait lists to be able to respond to calls and enquires as appropriate.

Undertake non-clinical typing as requested by the consultant or their teams as necessary such as complaint letters.

Work as part of a team; assisting with the training of new and temporary staff providing support and advice as appropriate.

To locate, retrieve and book patients case notes in and out of department as required.

To comply with all Trust and departmental procedures.

To participate in appraisal and performance reviews.

To undertake mandatory training as required by the Trust

3. Ordering, Receiving and Despatching Goods

Order all stock for services within site as relevant.

Maintain skills in ordering on SBS system.

4. General Administration/Clerical

To take messages ensuring complete confidentiality in accordance with Trust policy.

General filing duties as required.

Accurate data entry.

To be aware of Trust Complaints Procedures and be able to act accordingly and assist in the process by obtaining medical notes, photocopying and scanning etc. when required.

Maintain confidentiality at all times.

To book translators when requested by clinicians ensuring they are given a relevant code for the service.

To be aware of existing processes and offer suggestions for improving services.

Take minutes as required.

Any adhoc typing required, i.e. letters etc.

Track Medical records on iCare.

Any other equivalent duties consistent with the level and purpose of the post.

5. Partnerships:

Internal:

External

Nursing Staff

Medical Staff

Allied Health Professionals

General Managers

Service Managers

Medical Secretaries

Bereavement office

Medical Records

Pharmacy

Security

Patients / Carers

Other Local trusts/Providers

Social Services

General Practitioners

Person Specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential

• GCSEs or equivalent
• RSA3 Typing/Word Processing or other recognised qualification or equivalent experience
• AMSPAR qualification level 2/3

Desirable

• NVQ4 in admin
• EDCL or similar It qualification.

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 2 years' medical secretarial and/or Personal Assistant to senior level staff
• Computer skills Excel , Word & Power Point
• Experience of managing competing and varied demands
• Audio Typing

Desirable

• Use of Digital Dictation System

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Clear handwriting, spelling, grammar & numeracy.
• Ability to use initiative and work unsupervised.
• To have a systematic and methodical approach to work with attention to detail.
• Ability to demonstrate good interpersonal, oral and written communication skills especially when dealing with highly sensitive information and where there are barriers to understanding
• Ability to demonstrate good organisational skills and to prioritise/manage own workload in a demanding environment.
• Ability to meet deadlines.
• Ability to deal tactfully and sympathetically with members of the public and professionals.
• Sound experience working within the NHS or Medical Service Organisation.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Ability to demonstrate an understanding and respect for confidentiality
• Ability to work closely with team members and external parties.

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

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Address

University Hospital Lewisham

Lewisham High Street

London

SE13 6LH

Employer's website

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