Personal Assistant
Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism and community based services for the populations we serve.
As an integrated mental health, learning disability and community Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including:
- Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, forensic services including low and medium secure care.
- Specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
- Community physical health and well-being services for children and adults.
The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,000 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health and general nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers.
Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust supports flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, home/remote working, and flexi-time.
For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.
Please note that further communication from Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCft) will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCft to contact them.
Job overview
We are looking for a highly organised Personal Assistant who is responsible for providing high quality secretarial and administrative support to the Senior Leadership Team within Pennine whilst working with other PAs and Network Administrators.
The Personal Assistant role is to support the Pennine Network Leadership team by performing a variety of duties. These include diary management, screening of emails, agenda preparation, collating reports and supporting in minuting high level meeting.
The post holder will act as an effective ‘gatekeeper’ using their own judgement to resolve difficult situations, whilst making decisions regarding appropriateness and priorities, using negotiation, diplomacy and interpersonal skills.Knowledge of all the relevant administrative and secretarial procedures would be applicable to this role.
As a personal assistant you will be involved in contact on a daily basis with a wide range of people, both internal and external to the organisation and therefore requires a confident approach.The post holder will need to be a team player with strong communication skills and an eye for detail.
The successful applicant will require a flexible approach and the ability to work across other sites if required for the needs of the service.
As Personal Assistant to the Network you must understand the responsibilities, needs and priorities of the Network, maintain a high level of confidentiality and ensure delivery of the various requirements.
Main duties of the job
This role is for a highly organised, professional and committed PA who holds full responsibility to provide a comprehensive, confidential and high quality secretarial and administrative service to ensure the efficient and effective organisation of the network management team.
The PA must be able to act as an effective ‘gatekeeper’ and must therefore have excellent negotiation, diplomacy and interpersonal skills. The post holder will have knowledge of all the relevant administrative and secretarial procedures applicable to this role as well as the ability to deal with non-routine activities that arise.Problem solving is an integral part of the role.
The role will involve contact on a daily basis with a wide range of people – both internal and external to the organisation and therefore requires a confident approach. The post holder will need to be a team player and a ‘completer-finisher’, with very strong communication skills and an eye for detail.
The post holders are expected to manage their own workload and work flexibly in support of the wider PA service and network management team as required. The post holder must be capable of working on his/her own initiative, whilst maintaining a high level of confidentiality and discretion at all times.
Working for our organisation
Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.
The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.
Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust encourages flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, flexi-time and career breaks.We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role.
Person specification
Education/ Qualifications
Essential criteria- NVQ Level 4 in Customer Care or Business Administration – or equivalent experience
- Demonstrable commitment to continuous personal development.
Knowledge
Essential criteria- Awareness of issues in the Mental Health Network.
- Intermediate knowledge of a range of administrative procedures and practice.
Experience
Essential criteria- Previous experience as a Secretary/Administrator including diary management
- Previous experience of working in a fast moving, confidential, sensitive, pressurised deadline driven environment.
- Experience of supporting and minuting meetings.
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria- Takes a pro-active approach to tasks.
- Ability to communicate effectively at all levels using e-mail,
- Proven experience in producing minutes.
- Able to demonstrate skills in organising and prioritising of diaries and schedules.
- Ability to deal with confidential and sensitive issues with tact.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Please be aware, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when submitting an application is monitored and if you have used AI to generate an application, you are required to declare this on your application form. Failure to do so, may result in your application being withdrawn.
We want to highlight the importance of integrity and authenticity in your application form, and ask you to use AI tools responsibly to ensure your application form is a true reflection of your skills, knowledge and experiences.
We are looking for you to demonstrate personal experiences of how you meet the essential criteria and as an NHS Employer, we value authenticity and honesty.
Please consider that AI-generated content may lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description providing impersonal and inaccurate information.
Please ensure that you read the person specification attached below as your application will be measured against this document.
Applications from job share partners are welcome and other forms of flexible working will be considered for all posts.
For all posts which require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).
You are advised to consider applying for LSCft vacancies as soon as possible as in some instances vacancies are closed as soon as a sufficient number of applications have been received. If you are not invited to interview within three weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful, as it is not possible to contact all unsuccessful candidates.
LSCft is committed to celebrating difference as an asset and we know that recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds helps to create a more flexible, creative and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from people regardless of age, disability (particularly those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion or belief or sexual orientation.
Our goal is for the Trust to be truly representative of the communities we serve so we are particularly keen to receive applications from people in under-represented groups. If there is anything you’d like to discuss in relation to your application then please ask.