Medical Secretary

Job description

Job responsibilities

As a Medical Secretary in a General Practice (GP) setting, you will play a crucial role in facilitating the referral process for patients, ensuring timely and accurate communication between the GP practice, specialists, and other healthcare providers. Your responsibilities will include managing referral requests, coordinating appointments, and maintaining organised and up-to-date referral records.

Referral Management:

- Receive and process referral requests from GPs and other healthcare professionals including 2 week wait referrals.

- Verify patient information and ensure that all necessary details are included in referral documentation.

- Communicate with patients to provide information about referrals and schedule appointments with specialists and other healthcare facilities.

- Type accurate and professional referral letters, ensuring quality.

- Stay up to date with referral guidelines and pathways, communicating to practice and PCN staff.

- Participate in the training and on-boarding of Practice staff in relation to secretarial work and referrals pathways.

Private Work:

- Coordinate private work such as Insurance reports and requests for records.

- Raise invoices associated with private work and ensure timely payment.

Appointment Coordination:

- Liaise with hospitals, diagnostic facilities and private consultants to schedule appointments for referred patients if required.

- Ensure that appointments align with patient preferences, urgency and clinical guidelines.

- Communicate appointment details to patients and provide necessary instructions.

- Support the QOF team with any associated referral or secretarial work such as referring to stop smoking or weight management services.

Record Keeping:

- Maintain accurate and organised electronic and / or paper records of all referrals and related correspondence.

- Update patient records with referral information and outcomes.

- Generate reports on referral activity as needed.

Communication:

- Facilitate communication between GPs, specialists and other healthcare providers regarding referral statuses and patient care.

- Handle enquiries from patients, healthcare professionals and external organisations regarding referrals and private work.

Quality Assurance:

- Monitor and track referral processes to identify areas of improvement.

- Collaborate with the healthcare team to implement quality assurance measures and ensure compliance with relevant protocols and regulations.

- Implement and manage processes to safeguard referrals i.e. managing the C-the-Signs dashboard to ensure patients have accessed their referral in line with waiting time guidelines.

- Ensure the clinical team follow up on referral outcomes especially in the event of a rejected referral.

Training and Development:

- Stay updated on changes in referral procedures, healthcare regulations and medical terminology.

- Participate in training programmes to enhance skills and knowledge relevant to the secretarial role.

- Participate in Practice improvement programmes and assist the administration team in identifying areas of improvement.

- Support the Practice and Partnership with development programmes and display flexibility and willingness to adapt to change.

Administrative Support:

- Provide administrative support to the Practice including managing phone calls, scheduling appointments, raising AskmyGP and performing general clerical duties.

- Support with holiday and sickness cover.

- These duties are not an exhaustive list and you may be required to take on additional duties in line with the requirements of the Practice.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• - 3 GCSEs (Including English and Maths)
• - An understanding of the issues of equity and diversity.
• - An understanding of team dynamics, including what factors make a team work well and what can go wrong and why

Experience

Essential

• Previous experience of working in a similar role within a Primary Care setting
• - Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• - Experience and knowledge in Primary Care referral processes and guidelines, remaining up to date
• - Experience of using clinical systems such as EMIS and askmyGP
• - Experience of working in an environment which is governed by a large range of internal and external policies that have an impact on the day to day running of the organisation.

Skills, Knowledge & Competencies

Essential

• - Excellent communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with patients, clinicians and external healthcare providers over the telephone, face-to-face and via email
• - The ability to manage time effectively and be able to work on several tasks at once, prioritising the most important to achieve the best outcomes for our patients

Work related Personal Qualities

Essential

• - Excellent accuracy and attention to detail
• - Good problem-solving skills to enable the practice to work efficiently and effectively
• - IT Literate, with the ability to work with a number of different systems containing confidential information
• - Positive attitude towards change and participating in development programmes, willingness to undertake further training to learn new skills.

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

100Fold CIC

Address

Millbrook Surgery

Millbrook Gardens

Castle Cary

Somerset

BA7 7EE

Employer's website

https://www.100foldcommunity.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)