Pain Administrator/ Medical Secretary

Job description

Job responsibilities

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, other Trusts and external bodies for the pain service.

To produce correspondence and reports by the use of 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 at all times.

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 and film 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 organise and maintain databases of key contacts and distribution lists.

To have expertise in use of Microsoft office applications and iCare (Cerner).

To provide administrative support for the pain nurse specialists.

To type clinic letters for the pain clinics (consultant and nurse led). To type ad hoc letters as requested by the pain teams.

To send letters to patients and GPs.

To cover for medical secretary colleagues during periods of absence and annual leave.

To ensure the department has adequate stocks of stationery and order supplies as and when necessary.

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 patients and relatives.

To send any referrals received to the central booking office for registration and booking and to action tertiary referrals as necessary. Complete Minimum data set (MDS) template when making onward referrals.

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/cancelation to clinics are carried out using Book Wise and all relevant parties are advised of any changes.

To advise parents of special instructions regarding medical tests, as directed by the medical team.

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

To book and move appointments for the pain service.

To liaise on a regular basis with Consultants, SAS, resident doctors, nurses and other health professionals.

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.

Managing the generic email account.

To have an awareness of the referral to treatment (RTT) patient pathway journey in order to be able to respond to parents/carers calls and enquires as appropriate.

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

Working 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.

Meet quality standards in the Unit for the work turnaround and accuracy directed by the Service and Line managers.

To update CLW with leave requests once they have been approved by the Clinical Director. To assist in management of the rota for the pain service.

To assist with initiatives in the service to improve the RTT (referral to treatment) status and reduce waiting times.

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

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.
• Responsive to change and ideas, adapt to new systems.
• Ability to work flexibly.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Motivation to participate in personal and professional development programmes.
• Ability to recognise when to seek support.
• Good leadership skills.

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)