PA / Medical Secretary & General Administration

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Provide a comprehensive clinical PA / secretarial service to the Clinical Director, Directorate Manager (Consultants & Matrons) and Senior Administrative Teams to enable them to carry out their duties in an effective and efficient manner and ensure efficiency in patient care.

Ensure all correspondence for the Clinical Director / Directorate Manager and Senior Administrative Teams, including clinical letters, discharge summaries, medico-legal reports and results, minutes of meetings etc are typed and dispatched promptly. This may involve reading reports over the telephone. Some of the correspondence will be audio typing.

Manage e-mail correspondence on an on-going basis, proactively managing information generated by emails by using own initiative and judgement or as directed by the Directorate Senior team. To take own action to set up appointments / meetings from electronic communication and gather information relevant to the manager.

Provide the focal point of communication for all medical, professional and allied medical staff, both within this Trust and with external organisations, and patients, using judgment to facilitate a successful outcome of all enquiries.

Deal with telephone and face to face enquiries from patients, relatives, carers and all staff groups providing information, directing and prioritising queries as appropriate, to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery.

Provide cross-cover within the main theatre reception area to ensure the smooth and efficient running of the department.

Deal with concerned patients/relatives with tact, patience and discretion, especially when conveying sensitive information.

On receipt of test/investigation results, retrieve relevant patient notes and alert the Clinical Teams of any urgent or abnormal test results ensuring that relevant action is taken.

Oversee the patient pathway and ensuring that all necessary appointments, including outpatients, clinics, waiting list etc. are arranged on time, ensure that clinics are utilised to capacity, diagnostics and tests are processed as requested and that patients receive timely treatment thus meeting the Trust and national standards.

Use the relevant Trust databases and patient administration systems and ensure that all data is correct and up-to-date.

Coordinate Clinical Teams diaries to ensure effective time management.

Organise departmental meetings, recording and prepare draft minutes of meetings, specifying decisions made and follow up action required for subsequent approval by the Clinical and Senior Administrative Teams.

Responsible for stationery stock control, including ordering to ensure adequate resources available for team and departments, as and when required.

Plan and organise a range of meetings and events, including venue, attendees and travel arrangements.

Attend meetings, as required to ensure effective communication with all service users.

Demonstration and supervision of workplace activities to other members of the secretarial team as required, to maintain a high standard of service to the Clinical Teams.

Provide cross-cover within the administration team during any absence and follow relevant organisational policies such as notification of sickness absence and participation in individual appraisal.

Education & Experience

Essential

• Minimum 3 GCSE at Grade C or above, including English of equivalent
• RSA 3, Certificate in Medical Secretarial Studies or, extensive secretarial / administrative experience

Desirable

• AMSPAR, BSMS Qualification, NVQ3 Administration

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

• PA / Secretarial Experience
• Diary Management
• Minute Taking
• Very good written and verbal communication skills
• Courteous, tactful and efficient telephone manner
• Specialised functional and medical terms acquired through qualification or extensive experience
• Specialist knowledge related to the relevant medical or surgical specialty
• Knowledge or administrative and secretarial practice
• Proficient in Microsoft packages including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint
• Experience of working in the NHS
• Experience of working in a busy office environment
• Planning and organisational skills
• Advanced keyboard skills
• Analytical and judgement skills for problem solving
• Work well as part of a team

Desirable

• Previous experience as a personal assistant / secretary
• Experience in working with Patient Administration Systems, incl. CAMIS
• Specialist knowledge related to the relevant medical or surgical specialty
• Knowledge/awareness of 18-week RTT

Skills

Essential

• Developed attention to detail and accuracy
• Organisational skills and the ability to work methodically and prioritise
• Ability to cope under pressure and meet deadlines
• Ability to work flexibly in supporting the admin team to meet the service needs.
• Ability to help build effective working relationships at all levels with and outside the hospital
• Ability to communicate with all levels of staff including Clinicians, junior medical staff, practitioners, Managers and others as required
• Able to maintain confidentiality at all times

Desirable

• Touch typing

Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

Essential

• Self-motivated
• Ability to use own initiative
• Confident to establish and maintain good working relationships at all levels
• Must be able to understand the needs of patients and deal with them with tact and sensitivity

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).