Ashton-under-Lyne - Medical Secretary/Personal Assistant
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic individual to join the Haematology team as a Medical Secretary/ Personal Assistant within the Christie Haematology at Tameside service as part of the Networked Services Division. The post would be based at Tameside Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne.
You will be enthusiastic, flexible, willing to learn and play and effective part in a busy team environment. The postholder will be expected to work to a high standard and use their own initiative.
The successful postholder is expected to have experience of audio and copy typing, minute taking and planning departmental meetings and ideally to have experience working in a healthcare environment with good knowledge of medical terminology.
When applying for this position, please refer to the person specification and demonstrate within your application form how you meet the criteria, providing examples where possible.
Main duties of the job
As a Medical Secretary / Personal Assistant for the Christie Haematology at Tameside team, you will be responsible for completing, but not limited to, tasks such as:
- Liaise closely with all Consultants in your area of responsibility to provide a full secretarial service, including typing, dealing with queries from patients, relatives and colleagues from within and outside the Trust, scanning and maintaining case notes.
- Diary management for the consultant/s
- Organise and schedule consultant meetings and maintain an up-to-date diary for appointments, meetings and interviews.
- Liaise with staff at all levels both internally and externally, answering written and verbal enquiries when necessary, taking action on all matters which can be dealt with without further reference.
- Answer written and verbal enquiries from patients/relatives, referring enquiries to the consultant only when necessary .
- Liase with internal and external departments to arrange clinical investigations/procedures.
- Manage outpatient clinic templates to ensure smooth running of clinics
- Book patient appointments
- Take minutes for Trust and departmental meetings as appropriate.
- Contribute to the training of new members of staff within a given area as required.
- Type annotations and letters into the patient administration system accurately and timely, keeping to internal turnaround targets to ensure a high standard of service to referring consultants and GPs.
Working for our organisation
The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country.
We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services.We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years.
We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES- Liaise closely with all Consultants in your area of responsibility to provide a full secretarial service, including typing, dealing with queries from patients, relatives and colleagues from within and outside the Trust, scanning and maintaining case notes.
- Diary management for the consultant/s
- Provide secretarial service to the junior doctors and nurse clinicians within the team, as above.
- Appropriately disseminate a variety of correspondence/documentation, some of which is highly confidential.
- Organise and schedule consultant meetings and maintain an up-to-date diary for appointments, meetings and interviews.
- Liaise with staff at all levels both internally and externally, answering written and verbal enquiries when necessary, taking action on all matters which can be dealt with without further reference.
- Answer written and verbal enquiries from patients/relatives, referring enquiries to the consultant only when necessary
- Liase with internal and external departments to arrange clinical investigations/procedures.
- Ensure accurate input of patient details when entering data onto information databases and Patient Administration System (Medway).
- Receive new patient referrals and ensure timely registration and booking of appointments – liaise with the Tracking team to ensure accurate tracking of patients in regard to cancer and non-cancer targets.
- Liaise with day unit staff to ensure chemotherapy and other treatment appointments are booked appropriately.
- Manage outpatient clinic templates to ensure smooth running of clinics
- Book patient appointments
- Take minutes for Trust and departmental meetings as appropriate.
- Contribute to the training of new members of staff within a given area as required.
- Ensure electronic case notes are kept up-to-date, all investigations and other material (outside results and films) are available for clinic appointments/admission.
- Type annotations and letters into the patient administration system accurately and timely, keeping to internal turnaround targets to ensure a high standard of service to referring consultants and GPs.
- Provide sickness and holiday cover for other members of the administration team, ensuring that turnaround times are maintained.
- Assist clerical staff where necessary to ensure the timely scanning of correspondence into case notes.
- Provide information required to support the investigation of litigation cases.
- Work with clinicians, managers and administrative staff to review working practices, identify new improved ways of working and find solutions to problems.
Additional Requirements:
- Follow risk management procedures at all times including the identification, assessment and management of risk within the Division.
- To abide by all Trust policies and Procedures.
- To be responsible for own professional/personal development, including participating in ongoing appraisal and personal development planning.
This job description is not intended to be exhaustive but reflects the main responsibilities of the post holder. Other duties may be required from time to time, which are commensurate with the grade of the post. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- 5 GCSE’s grade C or above including Maths and English or equivalent.
- Evidence of further development
Experience
Essential criteria- Previous secretarial experience in a similar environment
- Experience of working in a health care setting for a minimum of two years.
- Experience of working as part of a team and in isolation.
- Experience in managing priorities under pressure, to meet service needs and strict deadlines
- Previous secretarial experience in Haematology or Oncology
Skills
Essential criteria- Audio typing
- Copy typing
- Sound knowledge of medical terminology
- RSA stage II
- Word-processing
- Willing to attend training courses appropriate to role
- Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint)
- RSA stage III
- AMSPAR Diploma (or equivalent)
Knowledge
Essential criteria- Excellent communication skills Typing - ability to produce accurate, well-presented work.
- Ability to work as part of a team.
- Organisational abilities to work to tight deadlines.
- Ability to use own initiative.
- Ability to work under pressure
- Reliability
- Flexibility to work within the team where necessary
Values
Essential criteria- Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours.
Other
Essential criteria- Ability to work as part of a team
- Ability to work on own and to use initiative
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Flexible and pro-active approach
- Self-motivated and Enthusiastic
The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.
We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect. The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels.In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.
We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.
As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy
All positions within the Christie are subject to the receipt of satisfactory written references, medical clearance and evidence of your Right to Work in the UK. Some roles will require a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. Please note if you are successfully appointed to a post with this Trust, you will be required to pay for your own DBS Disclosure.
By applying for this post you are agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.
If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.
The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.
Overseas candidates wishing to apply for this position and who would require immigration sponsorship, may wish to self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the post on the UKVI website.
You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.