University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Medical Secretary

The closing date is 02 June 2025

Job summary

An opportunity has arisen within the Oncology Department for an experienced hard working, efficient and self-motivated person to join our team as Medical Secretary working 37.5hrs per week. (12 month fixed term)This is a busy and interesting post in which you will be expected to communicate effectively with members of the Oncology team, other teams, Oncology patients and other service users. With excellent communication and interpersonal skills, you will need to be able to work well both independently and as a member of this dynamic team to deliver a high quality efficient service. Thorough working knowledge of Microsoft Office packages is essential. An RSA II qualification is desirable and understanding of medical terminology would also be an advantage. Reliability, punctuality, integrity and the ability to work calmly under pressure are key qualities and excellent organisational skills are required.

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

Main duties of the job

Main Duties

To provide administration support for 2 Consultants and other clinical staff.
Liaise and book patient appointments
Monitoring and validating primary target lists
Clinic Dictations to be Audio Typed
Action Data Quality Reports
Liaise with other Trusts and Multi Disciplinary teams

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

14 May 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£24,625 to £25,674 a year £24,625 - £25,674 Per Annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

216-LH-M7200915

Job locations

Derriford Hospital

Plymouth

PL6 8DH

Job description

Job responsibilities

Prioritise own workload including the typing of clinics, booking patients, discharge summaries and medical reports. Inform GPs of patient results via letter dictated by Consultant.

Manage RTT, Follow up and New PTL in line with the Trusts access policy.

Ensure effective communication with all members of the multi-disciplinary team.

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

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

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

Maintain an up to date diary for the Consultants / team, inform relevant staff of cancelled and reduced theatre and outpatient sessions due to Consultant leave, junior doctors leave, on-call commitments, CME, Audit and Directorate meeting.

To obtain hospital casenotes and x-rays from both within the Trust and external agencies when required by the Consultant and/or team.

To ensure that the casenotes are traced accurately using PiMS at all times and retuned to Health Records in a timely manner. To raise hospital casenotes as necessary, ensuring that accurate and full details are entered onto PiMS in line with the Trusts APN for health records.

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

Arrange patient admissions as directed by the Consultant/team, taking into account clinical priority ensuring that any relevant investigations or pre-assessment appointments are booked.

Inform the ward of patient admissions and provide hospital notes, rebook cancelled patients/informing patients of cancellations.

Ensure that appropriate clinic follow up is actioned as appropriate, i.e. outpatient appointments, investigations, add patients to waiting list, re-admissions and referrals to other Consultants/departments.

Work with the junior doctors to ensure that the discharge summary/proformas are completed.

Ensure timely dispatch of clinical letters to GPs.

Obtain results ensuring that the Consultant /or medical team see them and action in a timely manner.

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.

Exposure to distressing/emotional circumstances i.e. typing letters of a distressing nature, dealing with distressed, anxious and angry patients and relatives in person or by telephone.

Requirement to exert physical effort when dealing with quantities of notes and x-rays and when retrieving notes from outpatients after Consultant clinics each week and filing them in the office to await typing.

Requirement to work with DSE for at least 75% of the working day.

For further details please see the attached JD & PS