Palliative Care Secretary

Job description

Job responsibilities

To provide a full and confidential secretarial/administration support to the Palliative Care Team. To provide secretarial support to the Specialty Doctor in Palliative Care with regards to the typing of all Outpatient letters for joint clinics and the making of appointments/registering of new referrals.

To record all new referrals, for Community Macmillan Team and the Consultant in Palliative Medicine, including making the first appointment for the Joint Consultant Clinic, request confidential patient information from GPs, consultants etc, to compile corresponding files, register on EPR (EMIS) and to inform District Nurses and ICCP Nurses.

To be responsible for prioritising work to ensure tasks are carried out in a timely and efficient manner (including the distribution of reports, letters, emails, provision of patient activity statistics etc), while respecting the Trusts security and confidentiality of information policy.

Manage clinical filing/patient information systems (EMIS)and ensure appropriate organisation and governance of this sensitive information.

To make Outpatient and Domiciliary appointments for both new patients and follow-up patients and to maintain the smooth running of the Speciality Doctor/Nurse Led clinics ensuring that all patient notes are on hand.

To co-ordinate, amend clinic times as necessary ensuring adequate cover is provided during times of sickness and annual leave.

Receive dictation or transcribe from tapes and type all correspondence generated by Team staff, type from handwritten notes, from verbal content at meetings, reports and other documents as required. To have a knowledge and understanding of medical terminology.

To organise, attend and take minutes of meetings, as necessary and requested. To accept responsibility for drafting agendas and undertaking any necessary administrative follow up.

To collate, produce and disseminate weekly, monthly, and yearly statistics to internal and external agencies including Minimum Data Sets and the Community Service Unit.

To co-ordinate the weekly Multi-Disciplinary Team Meeting at Halton Haven Hospice. Producing weekly and monthly statistical information specific to the Multi-Disciplinary Team meeting.

To plan, organise own time.

Manage the Team diary and prioritise commitments using own initiative and judgement to ensure time is used effectively and efficiently.

To support the Consultant and Specialty doctor in service development including audit, user feedback and quality improvement across Warrington and Halton Community teams

To develop patient and referrer information for the service, as advised and led by the Team.

To prepare draft responses to internal and external correspondence as necessary using own initiative and knowledge of the subject.

Communication

To liaise with staff from other services/departments and outside agencies and patients/carers with regards to Outpatient appointments and request of confidential patient information.

Be the point of first contact for all patient and referral enquiries and to deal with such enquiries in a highly skilled, sensitive, respectful and appropriate manner.

To develop good communication links with external contacts.

Co-ordinate/arrange meetings/seminars/course/ conference attendance, as required.

Information Technology

Undertake electronic ordering (via SBS system) on behalf of the service, as instructed (SBS training will be provided within-Trust, as necessary).

To use EMIS electronic patient records, to upload documents and retrieve information as well as record relevant conversations.

To have in-depth knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as well as being highly proficient with e-mail and internet use. Proficient in setting up, monitoring, and providing simple statistics from databases such as Excel and proficient to RSA Level 3/ ECDL level or equivalent.

General

To handle cash and cheque donations, recording and ensuring the correct agency is in receipt of the monies.

To maintain petty cash for stamps and to purchase them.

Audit office/ service supplies and order supplies.

To always maintain confidentiality of information.

To always act in the best interest of patients/clients.

To implement policies, and procedures within own areas.

Open incoming post, date stamp, organise and distribute all mail (Incoming and outgoing).

To be aware of and adhere to all Trust Policies and Procedures, in particular the Trusts Code of Conduct for staff.

To be conversant and comply with the Trusts Health and Safety Policy.

To keep up to date with general Trust policies (e.g. via intranet review) and to raise the Teams awareness of new policies and procedures, as they develop.

Deal courteously with incoming telephone calls from personnel both internal and external to the Trust and route as appropriate.

Perform any other secretarial/administration duties necessary to the provision of a professional secretarial support to the Palliative Care Service and to Consultant in Palliative Care.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Working within a customer facing environment
• Relevant experience in an administrative role
• Ability to work to and meet deadlines
• Experience of working in a pressured environment.
• Experience of Microsoft Office Packages

Desirable

• Experience of working in a clinic/ office environment
• Medical Secretarial experience
• Previous experience of working within the health or social sector
• Experience of medical terminology

Additional Criteria

Essential

• If you are related to a director, or have a relationship with a director or employee of an appointing organisation, please state the relationship:

Additional Criteria

Essential

• The ability to travel independently
• The ability to work flexibly in accordance with service needs
• Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels, overcoming barriers to communication including difficult or challenging conversations
• Ability to file records at high and low levels which may be unwieldly
• Self-motivated and able to work under a range of pressures
• Maintenance of confidentiality and diplomacy at all times

Desirable

• Ability to respond sensitively to emotional situations

Qualifications

Essential

• RSA 3 or equivalent standard
• Audio Typing

Skills and Attributes

Essential

• Experience of using Microsoft Word and other Microsoft packages to include external databases and system packages
• Motivated and able to work as part of a team
• Ability to work on own initiative
• Good organiser of self and workload
• Excellent telephone manner and excellent customer service skills
• Ability to take and produce meeting notes
• Diary maintenance both electronic and manual
• Ability to prioritise workload and delegate as necessary
• Attention to detail

Desirable

• Experience in using EMIS records

Additional Criteria

Essential

• Do you have the right to stay and work in the UK without sponsorship (share-codes will be checked if applicable)

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Halton Independent Living Centre

Collier Street

Runcorn

Cheshire

WA7 1HB

Employer's website

http://bridgewater.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)