Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Medical Secretary - Rheumatology

The closing date is 14 August 2025

Job summary

Join Our Growing Rheumatology Team as a Medical Secretary!

Are you an organised, proactive, and enthusiastic individual looking to make a real impact in healthcare? An exciting opportunity has opened up in our fast-paced and expanding Rheumatology Department for a motivated and adaptable Secretary to become a key part of our team.

In this vital role, you'll be the first point of contact for all departmental enquiries, so strong communication skills and a confident, professional manner are essential. You'll play a central role in ensuring the smooth running of our service, helping us deliver outstanding patient care through efficient and responsive administrative support.

We're looking for someone who brings resourcefulness and a solution-focused mindset, paired with a positive, "can-do" attitude. Flexibility and a forward-thinking approach are key, as you'll be supporting a service that's continually evolving. If you're passionate about excellence and thrive in a collaborative environment, we'd love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

Role Overview: Departmental Secretary - Rheumatology Team

We are seeking a proactive and highly organised individual to provide comprehensive secretarial support to our Rheumatology team, including consultants, specialist nurses, and other clinicians. As a key member of the department, you will play a vital role in ensuring the smooth and efficient running of the office.

This is a dynamic position that requires initiative, independence, and excellent problem-solving skills. You'll be the first point of contact in the absence of clinicians, handling enquiries with professionalism and ensuring positive outcomes.

Strong communication skills are essential, as you'll be liaising with patients, relatives, medical staff, and allied health professionals. Your ability to deliver a high standard of service will directly contribute to the quality of care we provide to our patients.

About us

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job

Date posted

01 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year Per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

418-RHEU7760-EH

Job locations

Luton and Dunstable Hospital

641 Dunstable Road

Luton

LU4 8RQ

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.