Ward Secretary

We love what we do and we think you will, too!

At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county.

We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care. We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking ‘what matters to you’.

We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and we are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality teams in all areas of the Trust.

Our application process aims to understand each candidates knowledge, skills and experience. We have found that candidates that use AI to generate their answers can lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.

It is really important to personalise your application to convey your individual skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively and for us to understand why you are applying for this role with GHC. We discourage over reliance on AI-generated applications as it will lessen your chances of success in securing an interview with us .

Job overview

The successful candidates will provide an administration service for Wards based at Wotton Lawn Hospital, Gloucester.

Wotton Lawn Hospital is a 88 bed Acute Mental Health Hospital situated near the centre of Gloucester and provides inpatient services for the county of Gloucestershire.

The Hospital has 5 admission wards. Service Users are supported by a variety of healthcare workers including Nurses, Doctors and Allied Health Professionals including Psychologists, Art, Physio, Occupational and Sports Exercise therapists.

Wotton Lawn Hospital tour - YouTube/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCRZnAPdSx8

Main duties of the job

The role of ward secretary is diverse and involves day to day management of the ward admin, ensuring that paperwork required by the ward manager, ward staff and medics is available when required, working as part of a wider admin team and providing cover when necessary.

The post holder will work closely within a multi-disciplinary team to provide administrative and secretarial support on a clinical inpatient ward setting in accordance with the requirements of the service as led by the Ward staff. You will project the professional image of the business through demonstrating excellent customer care in all activities.

The post holders will be expected to efficiently manage their own workload on a day-to-day basis and act independently to action and prioritise work to meet deadlines.

You will ensure that confidentiality is maintained at all times.

The successful candidate must possess excellent organisational and interpersonal skills, and have relevant recent Secretarial experience. They will be qualified to GCSE level and have a good understanding of MS Office. An ECDL and an administrative/secretarial qualification at level 2 and hold an RSA typing qualification is desirable.

Working for our organisation

We have in excess of 5000 staff working over 50 sites, providing a diverse range of services. We strive to support an organisational culture that is welcoming, builds and celebrates inclusivity and diversity and provides a sense of belonging and trust.

The annual NHS Staff Survey gives our people the opportunity to tell us about their experience working at the Trust. For the 2023 survey just over 2800 colleagues gave us their views (58.5%). It was great to see from the results that colleagues are saying that:

• 89.7% believe they are making a positive difference to patients/service users;
• 73.3% would recommend the organisation as a place to work;
• 82.4% agree that care of patients and service users is the organisations priority;
• 76.7% would be happy with the standard of care for a friend or relative

Our results put us as 5th nationally as a Community, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Employer of Choice and 1st equal amongst all NHS Provider Trusts in the South West. However, we know we have more to do and will continue to drive forward our commitment to making GHC a Great Place to Work.

• Communicating effectively with a wide range of people including colleagues, Managers and members of the public, ensuring at all times that a professional approach is presented
• Transferring internal and external calls, faxes, mail and emails and taking messages, ensuring that all issues are actioned or passed on and followed up in a timely manner
• To be responsible for a number of office systems including ordering stationery, ward stores and clinical supplies and the administration of petty cash
• Using Microsoft office applications to produce letters, reports spreadsheets, emails etc to a high standard
• Using Patient Administration Systems, i.e. RIO, PAS, stock ordering systems etc
• Ensuring that all departmental spreadsheets and Information Systems are accurate and are kept up to date
• Prioritise own workload, organising work to meet priorities and highlighting to appropriate colleagues when potential problems may occur
• Keep all files, systems, and paperwork up to date in line with departmental procedures, highlighting any difficulties or potential issues to line manager
• Ensure all paperwork is filed or shredded promptly and securely
• Carrying out general administrative tasks for the department to agreed standards and timescales, e.g. photocopying, sending out correspondence and documents, etc
• Actively participating in team meetings and discussions with colleagues and manager to make constructive suggestions as to how services could be improved within own work area, and implementing such changes with guidance from line manager
• Attending professional meetings and recording relevant notes from live discussion.
• As far as possible within own role, ensure a professional, proactive service is provided to customers, including helping as far as possible with the absence of colleagues to deal with enquiries and avoid potential problems
• Undertake other support functions as requested by the Manager
• Acts in ways that support equality and value diversity. Treat everyone with whom you come in contact, with dignity and respect & recognise and report behaviour that undermines equality and diversity

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Person specification

QUALIFICATIONS

• GCSE level education or equivalent (Literacy & Numeracy)
• OCR/RSA III, QCF/NVQ Level 2 Business Administration or equivalent
• European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) or equivalent

LENGTH AND / OR NATURE OF EXPERIENCE

• Substantial Admin/Secretarial experience, working with limited or no direct supervision in a busy office environment
• Previous experience of using software packages such as Microsoft Office i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
• Experience of Data Inputting and Retrieval
• Experience of maintaining a comprehensive filing system
• Experience of preparation of agendas, taking and distribution of minutes
• Experience of setting up and monitoring manual and electronic systems and processes
• Good understanding of Health and Safety and risk awareness
• Understanding of the need to maintain confidentiality and exercise judgement when dealing with sensitive information

• Previous experience in an inpatient hospital environment or NHS
• Previous experience of using a telephone switchboard
• Knowledge of managing patient property, assisting with patient’s personal finances, withdrawal of cash etc.
• Knowledge of bespoke patient personal data management systems, e.g. PAS, RIO
• Basic understanding of the Mental Health Act, legal procedures and documentation
• Knowledge of purchasing and stock control procedures

When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:

• Free car parking at many of our sites
• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
• A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
• A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
• Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
• Recognition and long service awards
• Fast Track physiotherapy
• Our Wellbeing line
• Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Good luck with your application.

For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.