Job responsibilities
Directorate
of Specialty Medicine
JOB
DESCRIPTION
Job Title: Medical
Secretary
Grade: Band 4
Department/Location: Worcestershire
Royal Hospital
Reports to: Directorate Support Manager
Accountable to: Directorate Manager Specialty Medicine
Job
Purpose:
To
provide comprehensive administrative and audio typing support for the
Consultant Staff and their junior teams, assisting with achieving Trust and
departmental objectives through liaising with relevant people and teams.
Key Relationships:
Internal: Senior & Support Medical
Secretaries, Management, Consultants and junior staff both inside and outside
the department, nursing teams, other health care professionals, ward clerks.
External: GP surgeries, other hospitals,
patients and relatives.
Risk Assessment:
Works with display screen equipment for
prolonged periods.
Involves manual handling activities.
Key Responsibilities:
All
Secretaries should be able to undertake the following duties and are expected
to work in teams to fulfil the requirements of the service.
To undertake medical audio / copy typing
duties, including outpatient letters to GPs, discharge summaries and other
official correspondence.
To accept enquiries from clinicians, GPs Health
Service and Social Services personnel, other hospitals, voluntary agencies,
patients and their relatives. Patient
contact by telephone is an integral part of the role.
To work using own initiative with minimal
supervision, prioritising own workload in line with objectives of the
department and consultant teams.
To deal with all incoming correspondence,
phone, fax and email in an efficient and effective way.
To liaise with other members of the administration teams in order to provide a co-ordinated and efficient
secretarial service.
To support the Directorate Management Team with
the administration, tracking and validation of patients pathways to achieve
the National 18-week Referral to Treatment (RTT) target.
To liaise with patients, relatives and staff
demonstrating sensitivity and maintaining professionalism at all times.
To deal with any complaints, problems or issues
in a sensitive way, escalating to clinicians / management as appropriate.
Ensure confidentiality is maintained at all
times, complying with the Data Protection Act, Information Governance and other
Trust / Departmental Policies.
To assist in providing cover for other
secretaries in the Medical Directorate to ensure continuity of service to
Consultant, medical staff, service users and patients.
To undertake any other duties as may be
required / appropriate by the Directorate Management Team.
Vision and Values:
The
Trust aims to provide local services for local people. It has developed its
vision to reflect this commitment.
To
continue to be the major provider of acute/specialist services for the people
of Worcestershire (and wider) with a strong reputation for providing
outstanding, high quality, reliable, accessible and integrated healthcare for
local people
Driving
this commitment are the Trust-wide signature behaviours:
Do what we say we will do
No Delays, every day
We listen, we learn, we lead
Work together, celebrate together
Standard Clauses:
The purpose of this post should remain
constant, but the duties and responsibilities may vary over time within the
overall role and level of the post. The
post holder may from time to time be asked to undertake other reasonable
duties. Any such changes will be made in
discussion with the post holder in the light of service needs.
Competence
The post holder is responsible for limiting his
/ her actions to those which s/he feels competent to undertake. If the post holder has any doubts as to his
or her competence during the course of his / her duties then s/he should
immediately speak to their line manager or supervisor.
Codes of
conduct
All employees of the Trust who are required to
be registered with a professional body, to enable them to practise within their
profession, are required to comply with their code of conduct and requirements
of their professional registration.
Those staff that are not required to be registered with a professional
body are required to comply with the Trusts codes of conduct.
Confidentiality
The post holder must maintain confidentiality,
security and integrity of information relating to patients, staff and other
Health Service business.
Records
Management
All employees of the Trust are legally
responsible for all records that they gather, create or use as part of their
work within the Trust (including patient, financial, personnel and
administrative), whether paper or computer based. All such records are considered public
records and all employees have a legal duty of confidence to service
users. Employees should consult their
manager if they have any doubt as to the correct management of records with
which they work.
Health
and Safety
Employees must be aware of the responsibilities
placed on them under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and the Manual
Handling Operations Regulations (1992) and all relevant Trust Health and Safety
Policies and Guidance. This ensures
that the agreed safety procedures are carried out to maintain a safe
environment for employees, patients and visitors to the Trust.
Infection
Control
Employees must accept personal responsibility
and accountability for Infection Prevention and Control practice. Employees should ensure they are familiar
with, and comply with, all relevant Infection Control policies for minimising
the risk of avoidable Health Care Associated Infection. All Employees must undertake annual mandatory
updates in Infection Control.
Non
Smoking Policy
The Trusts approach to smoking is in line with
the governments on-going initiatives for an eventual smoke-free
environment. It aims to adhere to the Worcestershire Health Community
Campaign to help Worcestershire stop smoking.
A no smoking environment policy exists within
all Trust premises including entrances and exits to hospital buildings and on
other Trust property (with the exception of staff resident in
staffresidences, as these are the homes of staff). In June 2014 a ban was
implanted which meant staff, contractors and volunteers were no longer
permitted to smoke in any of the hospital grounds, including car parks.
Further to this, The Alexandra, Kidderminster
and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals, have all become smoke free to all patients
and visitors as of 17 June 2015. This
means that, as well as staff, members of the public, patients and visitors are
not allowed to smoke in any of the acute hospital grounds, including car parks.
Risk
Management
It is a standard element of the role and
responsibility of all employees of the Trust that they fulfil a proactive role
towards the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all
situations, taking appropriate actions, and reporting all incidents, near
misses, and hazards promptly. It is a
contractual obligation that all employees must co-operate with any
investigations undertaken.
Children
and vulnerable adults
You have a responsibility for promoting and
safeguarding the welfare of the children / young people / vulnerable adults
that you come into contact with or are responsible for in your job role and
sphere of competence.
Disclosure
and Barring Service
The Trust aims to promote equality of
opportunity for all, with the right mix of talent, skills and potential. Criminal records will be taken into account
for recruitment purposes, only when the conviction is relevant. As the Trust meets the requirements in
respect of exempted questions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974,
all applicants who are offered employment will be subject to a criminal record
check from the Disclosure and Barring Service before the appointment is
confirmed. This will include details of
cautions, reprimands or final warnings, as well as convictions. Postholders may periodically be asked to
undertake a re-check.
The Trust is legally required to check all
staff against the Disclosures and Barring Services Childrens and Vulnerable
Adults barring lists if they engage in what is defined as Regulated Activity
or Controlled Activity: Regulated Activity is defined as working closely with
children or vulnerable adults, paid or unpaid, on a frequent or intensive
basis. Controlled activity is work that
provides opportunities for contact with children or vulnerable adults.
Equality and Diversity
The Trust promotes policies and practices that
challenge discrimination, promote equality, respect individual needs,
preferences and choices, and protects human rights. The Trust has a clear commitment to equality
for all in employment practices based on an applicants ability, skills and
aptitude for the post. A range of
equality & diversity policy initiatives are in place and all successful
applicants are expected to familiarise themselves with these. It is therefore the duty of every employee to
comply with the detail and spirit of these policies and the law at all
times. Any issues or concerns you have
should be taken up with your manager or the human resource team as soon as
possible.
Dignity
All employees must treat each person as an
individual, offering a personalised service respecting peoples dignity and
modesty at all times.
Conflict
of Interest
The Trust is responsible for ensuring that the
service provided for patients and its care meet the highest standard. Equally, it is responsible for ensuring that
staff do not abuse their official position for personal gain or to benefit
their family or friends. The Trusts
Standing Orders require any member of staff to declare any interest, direct or
indirect, with contracts involving the Trust.
Staff are not allowed to further their private interests in the course
of their NHS duties.
