Medical Secretary

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Information:

This job is now closed

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated, calm and methodical team player to become a medical secretary and provide an essential administration and secretarial service within the Acute Medical Unit which is part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Directorate.

We are currently recruiting for a Medical Secretary for which the nominal base will be the University Hospital of North Durham, offering flexible working following a period of training.

Working in a friendly team, our Medical secretaries are an excellent resource, ensuring Consultants and the department have all the administrative support they require.

The Acute Medical Unit is a friendly, supportive, busy but welcoming directorate.

Main duties of the job

Full Range of secretarial and Administration duties to the Acute Medical Unit and Consultants

Audio Typing

First point of contact for department enquiries

Minute taking

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented

From April 1 2024 we are unable to offer sponsorship for healthcare roles that do not meet the minimum salary, If you are in the UK on a VISA please ensure you have no restrictions that would prevent you from taking this post.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents

Date posted

17 January 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£24,071 to £25,674 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

C9439-25-0069

Job locations

University Hospital Of North Durham

North Road

Durham

DH1 5TW


Job description

Job responsibilities

To provide a full range of confidential secretarial/administrative support to all clinical staff, working with minimal supervision

To undertake typing and distribution of clinical and other patient-related general correspondence, dictated by Consultants and supporting clinical staff, to achieve Trust standards of accuracy and timeliness

To be the point of contact for staff, patients and others within and outside the organisation, responding to external and internal telephone enquiries, taking appropriate and timely action required, including making appointments, giving non-clinical advice, onward referral to relevant department etc

To receive and respond to internal and external correspondence, taking appropriate and timely action as required, in accordance with Trust and/or departmental standards and processes

To book investigations and any necessary follow-up appointments, as directed by clinical staff, ensuring test results are presented to medical staff on receipt, where these are not available electronically

To maintain accurate patient and GP details on the Trusts central and local Patient Administration and Clinical Systems, as required

To ensure patient information is bar-coded correctly for scanning into the electronic clinical document management system (ECDMS)

To manage electronic diaries, as required

To organise meetings, including arranging venues, preparing agendas, collating and issuing papers and attending for taking and production of minutes, as required

To operate efficient and up-to-date administrative systems and processes for all office tasks

To maintain accurate and timely data entry to databases to meet service requirements

To prioritise own workload to meet the needs of the patients and Consultants and ensure all deadlines are met

To support new and/or less experienced staff, as directed by line manager/head of service

To provide cover as required during absence of colleagues

Job description

Job responsibilities

To provide a full range of confidential secretarial/administrative support to all clinical staff, working with minimal supervision

To undertake typing and distribution of clinical and other patient-related general correspondence, dictated by Consultants and supporting clinical staff, to achieve Trust standards of accuracy and timeliness

To be the point of contact for staff, patients and others within and outside the organisation, responding to external and internal telephone enquiries, taking appropriate and timely action required, including making appointments, giving non-clinical advice, onward referral to relevant department etc

To receive and respond to internal and external correspondence, taking appropriate and timely action as required, in accordance with Trust and/or departmental standards and processes

To book investigations and any necessary follow-up appointments, as directed by clinical staff, ensuring test results are presented to medical staff on receipt, where these are not available electronically

To maintain accurate patient and GP details on the Trusts central and local Patient Administration and Clinical Systems, as required

To ensure patient information is bar-coded correctly for scanning into the electronic clinical document management system (ECDMS)

To manage electronic diaries, as required

To organise meetings, including arranging venues, preparing agendas, collating and issuing papers and attending for taking and production of minutes, as required

To operate efficient and up-to-date administrative systems and processes for all office tasks

To maintain accurate and timely data entry to databases to meet service requirements

To prioritise own workload to meet the needs of the patients and Consultants and ensure all deadlines are met

To support new and/or less experienced staff, as directed by line manager/head of service

To provide cover as required during absence of colleagues

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Good standard of general education
  • Keyboarding/typing qualification equivalent to RSA 3/OCR Advanced text/word processing or equivalent proven typing skills to a high standard (or working towards/equivalent experience)
  • Educated to at least NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration (or working towards /equivalent experience)
  • Understanding of medical terminology

Desirable

  • Experience of Bespoke/Therapeutic clinic management

Special Skills and Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of Data Protection and Caldicott Principles and understanding of the need to maintain strict confidentiality
  • Ability to use email and maintain and update paper and electronic diaries
  • Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to deal with and prepare routine written correspondence.
  • Excellent verbal communication skills, with the ability to obtain information and pass on comprehensive and confidential messages.
  • Ability to organise and prioritise workload in order to meet deadlines
  • Ability to use own initiative and work with minimal supervision

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of a secretarial/administrative role providing general provision of secretarial/administrative duties in a challenging and constantly changing environment
  • Demonstrate Experience of using Microsoft Word
  • Experience in setting up and maintaining office filing systems
  • Experience of maintaining and setting up databases
  • Experience in planning and organising meetings and taking minutes
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Good standard of general education
  • Keyboarding/typing qualification equivalent to RSA 3/OCR Advanced text/word processing or equivalent proven typing skills to a high standard (or working towards/equivalent experience)
  • Educated to at least NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration (or working towards /equivalent experience)
  • Understanding of medical terminology

Desirable

  • Experience of Bespoke/Therapeutic clinic management

Special Skills and Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of Data Protection and Caldicott Principles and understanding of the need to maintain strict confidentiality
  • Ability to use email and maintain and update paper and electronic diaries
  • Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to deal with and prepare routine written correspondence.
  • Excellent verbal communication skills, with the ability to obtain information and pass on comprehensive and confidential messages.
  • Ability to organise and prioritise workload in order to meet deadlines
  • Ability to use own initiative and work with minimal supervision

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of a secretarial/administrative role providing general provision of secretarial/administrative duties in a challenging and constantly changing environment
  • Demonstrate Experience of using Microsoft Word
  • Experience in setting up and maintaining office filing systems
  • Experience of maintaining and setting up databases
  • Experience in planning and organising meetings and taking minutes

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

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Address

University Hospital Of North Durham

North Road

Durham

DH1 5TW


Employer's website

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


Employer details

Employer name

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Address

University Hospital Of North Durham

North Road

Durham

DH1 5TW


Employer's website

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


For questions about the job, contact:

Caroline Stapley

caroline.stapley@nhs.net

01913332260

Date posted

17 January 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£24,071 to £25,674 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

C9439-25-0069

Job locations

University Hospital Of North Durham

North Road

Durham

DH1 5TW


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)