Medical Secretary

Job description

Job responsibilities

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

To provide a timely and accurate copy and typing service to the department, producing letters, reports and other correspondence, as required.

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

To deal with telephone enquiries, taking and conveying messages appropriately

To transmit electronic mail, photocopy and scan documents and circulate information within Trust or departmental timescales

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 requesting 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 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

To manage electronic diaries, as required

To support arrangement of on call rotas, as required

To action all clinic cancellations arising from annual leave, study leave and on call rotas as quickly as possible

To monitor and action diabetes admin and urgent radiology shared inboxes and disseminate the information to the relevant Consultant/On call Consultant

To check and action SystmOne tasks sent in from GP surgeries, out of hours service etc and bring any relevant tasks to the attention of the clinical staff

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 take notes at informal meetings and transcribe, as required.

To maintain an up to date filing and archive filing system, disposing of archived records and documentation according to Trust policy

To provide cover as required during absence of colleagues

The post holder may be required to undertake the role of Information Asset Administrator or Information Asset Owner to provide support for the control and administration of information assets within their area/department (details available on the Health Informatics web page)

The post holder may be required to undertake the role of Registration Authority Agent/Sponsor which includes supporting the NHS Care Records Service applications using smartcards and appropriate access files

Person Specification

Special Skills & Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of computer packages eg. Word, Excel, Outlook and Powerpoint
• IT Skills Ability to use email and maintain and update electronic diaries Knowledge of Data Protection and Caldicott Principles and understanding of the need to maintain strict confidentiality
• Good interpersonal skills Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to deal with and prepare routine verbal and written correspondence and the ability to obtain information and pass on comprehensive and confidential messages Ability to communicate accurately, verbally, courteously and effectively with a wide range of staff, professionals and members of the public
• Able to use own initiative to resolve routine queries, in line with departmental procedures Able to work with minimum supervision following set procedures Ability to organise and prioritise workload in order to meet deadlines Ability to work as a member of a team Committed to quality customer care/delivering excellent customer service Flexible approach to work and adaptable to change Understanding of medical terminology.

Desirable

• Knowledge of clinical systems
• Previous experience in use of EPR, ERS and SystmOne. Understanding of medical terminology. Knowledge of Information Governance
• health and safety

Special Requirements

Essential

• Ability to work flexible shifts if necessary
• Willing to undertake any training
• required for the post
• Ability to travel independently across the County to fulfil the requirements of the post.

Desirable

• Aware of Information Governance
• health and safety

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 of setting up and maintaining office filing systems Experience of maintaining and setting up databases Experience in planning and organising meetings and taking minutes Experience of providing secretarial/administrative support to a team.

Desirable

• Experience of working within an NHS environment.

Qualifications

Essential

• Good Standard of Education Minimum of 4 GCSEs (or equivalent) at C Grade or above including English Language
• NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration or equivalent knowledge/experience (or working towards) Keyboarding/typing qualification equivalent to RSA 3/OCR Advanced text/word processing or equivalent proven typing skills to a high standard (or working towards).

Desirable

• Previous experience in use of EPR, ERS and SystmOne
• AMSPAR Medical Secretary Diploma

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)