University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Support Medical Secretary -Plastic Surgery

The closing date is 23 July 2025

Job summary

Provide secretarial and clerical support to the consultant and medical staff as required.
Take appropriate action with regards to telephone calls from patients, GP's and other agencies using initiative, some of which require analysis, and guidance from the medical secretaries, where needed.
To trace notes (within the Trust and outside Trusts) efficiently or to trace them back to Bush Park in the appropriate manner.
To arrange for copies of clinic letters to be forwarded to Surgeries or departments in an orderly and efficient manner.
Frequent requirement for concentration where the work pattern is not predictable i.e. when transcribing dictation and rearranging body of text, punctuation and grammar, especially with strongly accented dictation and to understand the context in order to do this.
Maintain an efficient filing system for easy retrieval of documents.

Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as 'Priority' and 'At Risk' status including NHS at Risk staff throughout Devon who is able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.

Main duties of the job

To follow Trust procedures for the requesting of patient casenotes in time to ensure adequate preparation and ensuring that the Patient Document Tracing (PDT) system is kept up to date with the movement of patient casenotes both into and out of the department.
To assist teams with sending out letters. Letters will be sent to patients, GP's, and other health professionals.
Carry out administration tasks as appropriate, this includes printing, photocopying, scanning, filing, collating information.
To assist with adhoc urgent administration requests.
To undertake typing in a timely manner.
To maintain confidentiality at all times and adhere to other Trust policies and procedures and implement any changes to the daily routine.
Prioritise own workload meeting requirements of medical secretaries including typing clinics, nurses work and x-rays.
Sorting and dealing with all correspondence i.e. internal/external post, emails, diagnostic reports etc.
To provide support in respect of the medical secretaries and clinical team.
Regular exposure to distressing/emotional circumstances i.e. typing letter of distressing nature, dealing with distressed patients over the telephone.
To assist in monitoring shared mailboxes.

About us

We are a people business - where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment. We offer all of this in a vibrant, modern city with a historic reputation for adventure. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY. If you have any issues with applying online and need additional support including reasonable adjustments with the application process please contact the recruitment team on 01752 432100. We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants around less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. Please contact the recruiting manager to discuss this prior to your application submission. We commit to giving this full consideration in each case. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply for our roles, as diversity strengthens our teams. It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

Date posted

09 July 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 2

Salary

£24,169 a year £24,169 Per Annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

216-EG-S7329981

Job locations

Plastic Surgery Dept, Derriford Hospital

Derriford Road

Plymouth

PL6 8DH

Job description

Job responsibilities

1. Work to the Trust values - Put patients first, Take ownership, Respect others, Be positive.

2. Adhere to Trust policies and procedures, e.g. Health and Safety at Work, Equal Opportunities etc.

3. Maintain personal and professional development to meet the changing demands of the job, participate in appropriate training activities and encourage and support staff development and training.

4. Attend statutory, essential and mandatory training.

5. Respect the confidentiality of all matters relating to their employment and other members of staff. All members of staff are required to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.

6. Comply with the Corporate Governance structure in keeping with the principles and standards set out by the Trust.

7. Comply with the codes of professional conduct set out by the professional body of which registration is required for the post.

8. Ensure they are familiar with the Risk Management Framework, follow policies, procedures and safe systems of work, make known any hazards or risks that they identify and take all necessary actions to reduce risk.

9. Ensure the welfare and safety of children within their care. This includes staff who come into contact with children and families in the course of their work as well as those staff who have a specific role with children and families not required for this post.

10. Ensure they attend Child Protection training at the appropriate level within the specified time frame.

11. Maintain the prevention and control of infection and fully comply with all current Trust Infection Control policies and procedures.

12. Take responsibility for any records that they create or use in the course of their duties, in line with the Public Records Act and be aware that any records created by an employee of the NHS are public records and may be subject to both legal and professional obligations.

13. Under the guidance of the Support Manager and Medical Secretaries provide secretarial and clerical support to the Consultants and Medical staff as required.

14. Prioritise own workload including the typing of clinics & discharge summaries.

15. Assist with tracing patients notes and x-rays using the PiMS and RAD.

16. Sort and deal with all correspondence, keeping a satisfactory record and filing system.

17. Collate results with patient casenotes, ensuring that they are seen and actioned promptly by the relevant clinician.

18. Take appropriate actions with regard to telephone calls from patients, GPs and other agencies using initiative, within Trust guidelines.

19. Ensure outpatient referrals are managed in accordance with the Trusts Waiting List Policy.

20. Required to cover for other colleagues during annual leave/sickness or peak workloads.

21. Ensure timely despatch of discharge summaries and outpatient letters to GPs.

22. Inform GPs of patient results via letter dictated by Consultant.

23. Ensure that all results, reports and letters are accurately filed in medical notes.

24. Ensure that appropriate clinic follow-ups are actioned.

25. Collect clinics from Main Outpatients.

26. Print and accept Choose and Book Referrals.

27. Provide other secretarial assistance to the team as required, typing up correspondence, references for junior staff and administration and maintain filing system of this correspondence.

for further details please see the attached JD