Medical Secretary - (Obstetrics & Gynaecology)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Provide the focal point of communication for all medical, professional and allied healthcare staff, both within this Trust and with external organisations, using judgment to facilitate a successful outcome for all enquiries. Deal with concerned patients/relatives with tact, patience and discretion, especially when conveying sensitive information. Patient contact by telephone is an integral part of the departmental secretarial role, often to convey information, which could be difficult and distressing for patients to comprehend

Manage own workload, follow through queries and chase progress, in order to free up clinical time for clinicians, improving information and access for patients Act independently to sort, distribute and prioritise incoming mail, including fax and e-mail, using judgement and experience to prioritise and pass to clinicians or pass directly to other areas for action and information, using own initiative

Liaise with and support the departmental pathway coordinator with the partial booking process to ensure that appointments and clinics are managed efficiently to meet service demands. Be responsible for ensuring that patient pathways progress in a timely manner in order to meet required target dates in conjunction with the pathway co-ordinator Manage and communicate clinic changes including setting up additional clinics, changing, moving or cancelling clinics depending on clinician availability and/or service need. Have an overview of all absences to identify sufficient clinic cover and capacity utilisation. Conduct a monthly forward look review with clinicians to ensure that all availability is accurate and any changes are acted upon in a timely manner.

Support the 18/52 patient pathway by providing timely information to the medical 18-week team on a weekly basis on all tiers, 1, 2 and 3 as requested. This will involve the typing of outstanding letters on Big Hand, chasing approvals, chasing results/test/investigations and ensuring clinicians action to enable 18-week query to be reported on. Have an overview of timescales for best practice tariffs to ensure that all patients receive timely appointments

Maintain electronic diaries for the team, make appointments, plan and organise arrangements within the office. This will necessitate the post holder being able to prioritise

Ensure all correspondence for the clinicians including clinical letters*, medico-legal reports, results, meeting minutes, IPRs etc are typed and dispatched promptly. *The post-holder will be required to support the medical transcription team by typing clinic letters for an agreed number of hours each week. During periods of high demand, secretaries will type departmental letters highlighted by clinicians as urgent. Departmental secretaries will ensure that all actions are completed in a timely manner and typed letters are printed and dispatched promptly.

To print off all inpatient urgent referrals from ICE and ensure that clinicians are aware the day they are received and that they are actioned and reported on that day

At the request of clinicians arrange any procedures required

Scan documents to Evolve as necessary

Undertake audit work as required, e.g. collection, checking and interpretation of statistical data and departmental information where appropriate Maintain databases and provide reports from the databases as required

Order and maintain non stock equipment and stationery for the office

Organise and support regular/ad hoc meetings including business, clinical, educational and patient support group meetings. This will involve arranging the venue, equipment and catering and taking minutes if required. Occasionally meetings will be out of normal working hours. Prepare PowerPoint presentations for both clinical and educational meetings.

Implement policies for own area and office/department

Ensure that the administration function within the department is appropriately staffed at all times to ensure the smooth running of the department.

Support senior staff with the recruitment process within the department. To include, liaising with recruitment, preparing paperwork. booking interview rooms and ensuring facilities are available to support any presentations/tests which form part of the interview process. Induct/train new departmental staff, including taking all new starters through the local induction booklet, arranging security badges, car parking, IT training etc Advise junior staff of work pattern and inform of departmental procedures.

Ensure that the departmental webpage and intranet page are kept up to date

To carry out any reasonable work requests to meet the needs of the service.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Minimum of 3 GCSEs at Grade C or above
• Secretarial qualification RSA level 2/3 text / word processing (or equivalent)

Desirable

• Medical secretarial qualification / certificate in office management
• Computer courses

Experience

Essential

• Secretarial experience
• Computer experience to include Microsoft Word packages

Desirable

• Medical Secretarial Experience

Skills

Essential

• Able to produce clear, concise & accurate written reports
• Accurate copy and audio typing skills
• Able to produce statistical reports using Excel

Desirable

• Able to present information professionally in written, tabular & graphical formats

Communication skills

Essential

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills staff at all levels of senority
• Interprets information from a wide variety of sources and communicates appropriate content within the Department

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust

Lewsey Road

Luton

LU4 0DZ

Employer's website

https://www.bedfordshirehospitals.nhs.uk/working-here/ (Opens in a new tab)