Medical secretary - NHS

If you are Kind, Fair, Ingenious and Determined then we want you to come and join our #PennineCarePeople

https://www.penninecare.nhs.uk/values

Job overview

Oldham Early Intervention Team are looking to recruit a medical secretary for a four month secondment from February to May 2025.

We are looking for someone who is friendly and approachable, with great communication skills , who can promote change and efficiency. As well as being a helpful team player, the postholder will need to work autonomously, prioritise workload, and delegate work to the administrative team.

Main duties of the job

This role will covers secretarial duties to the consultant psychiatrist and line management to the admin team, and to support the ongoing development of the service.

The post holder will undertake general office duties including typing of medical and other correspondence. They will be responsible for the management of administrative duties within their area of work . They will offer managerial supervision to the members of the administrative team.

Working for our organisation

We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.

Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We’re really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we’re a great place to work.

All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership are encouraged to apply for this post. We would also encourage applications from individuals with a lived experience of mental illness, either individually or as a carer.

If you come and work for us we will offer a range of benefits and opportunities, including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement for Agenda for Change and Medical and Dental staff.
• Flexible working opportunities to support your work/life balance
• Access to Continued Professional Development
• Involvement in improvement and research activities
• Health and Wellbeing activities and access to an excellent staff wellbeing service
• Access to staff discounts across retail, leisure and travel

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Provide a systematic and efficient team support service on a daily basis for relevant health professionals and their teams.

To manage the diaries of identified team members and to be responsible for planning and co-ordinating day to day activities by scheduling meetings, appointments and clinical commitments.

To assist in managing and maintaining the departmental systems ensuring accuracy and validation of all data that supports the delivery of clinical services.

To provide support to the Medical Consultants and manage, co-ordinate and organise the day to day administrative and operational activities within the team ensuring a high quality service.

To act as point of contact in dealing with complex telephone calls and enquiries; and to promptly, efficiently and tactfully deal with queries and complaints from patients / carers, referring on as necessary.

To link in and co-ordinate with other departments and organisations internally and externally to represent PCFT, where appropriate.

To assist in the coordination of relevant projects throughout planning, development and implementation.

To support the Team Manager in service improvement and develop/revise standard operating procedures in conjunction with colleagues where appropriate.

To be responsible for the maintenance and security of all manual and electronic filing systems.

To ensure at all times that the office is adequately covered and where necessary, work flexibly to cover secretarial/administrative duties in the absence of colleagues and where appropriate, deputise for your line manager.

Assist the Team Manager to undertake risk assessments and associated activity across the service.

Oversee the ordering and distribution of stock and non-stock items, ensuring adequate supplies are available and ensuring accurate recording for audit purposes.

Collect, collate, input and extract data into/from NHS systems as directed by Team Manager (National Care Records Service /Clinical Systems, SMART, CHIS, Electronic Staffing Records, Team activity, referral/discharge stats).

Responsibility for running Data Quality Reports (DQMT) to ensure regular Data cleansing is undertaken ensuring accuracy and validation of information inputted on systems to support submissions to CCG/NHSE

Line Manager functions: participate in recruitment & selection exercises, implement staff performance monitoring, ensure mandatory training is up to date for team members, provide appropriate training & induction for new staff, supervise administrative staff and carry out meaningful staff appraisal (IPDR).

Prepare agenda’s, assemble meeting papers, and take minutes of meetings as required, including follow up actions. Attend and chair meetings when appropriate.

To draft formal letters and papers on behalf of team members where appropriate.

Audio-typing and copy typing of clinic letters where appropriate.

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE Level or equivalent
• ECDL training or equivalent
• AMSPAR qualification
• NVQ 4 Level qualification or equivalent experience

• Customer care training
• NVQ Level 3 in Business Admin / Management

Experience

• Previous NHS experience
• Previous experience of administrator and supervisor role
• Experience of dealing with complex inquiries that require further investigation and identification of a resolution.
• Experience of using information technology, including word, excel and power point.
• Previous experience in managing own workload and able to prioritise effectively.
• Experience of supervising staff
• Experience of liaising effectively with a range of agencies, clinical and non-clinical.
• Knowledge or Experience of the departmental service.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of a full range of administrative and organisational policies and procedures.

Skills and Abilities

• Excellent communication verbal and written skills
• Excellent IT skills
• Good interpersonal skills
• Self-motivated and able to act on own initiative but recognise when additional advice is required.
• Able to develop close working partnerships with individuals, teams and other agencies
• Ability to work to deadlines
• Decision making skills
• Excellent organisational and planning skills
• Ability to demonstrate tact and diplomacy
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Ability to communicate in an appropriate manner to all staff and members of the public.
• Ability to maintain information in a confidential and secure manner.
• Produce reports and analyse them at an operational level

• Shorthand experience / qualification
• Audio typing experience / qualification

Work Related Circumstances

• Willing to undertake training required to carry out the job.
• Use of a car or access to a means of mobility to travel across the Trust footprint in line with service needs
• Willing to carry out all  Application Form  Interview AFC 09/05/17 JME-094-17
• Medical Secretary
• Band 4 duties and responsibilities of the post in accordance with the Trust’s Equal Opportunities and Equality and Diversity policies
• Appointments to regulated and controlled activities require an enhanced DBS disclosure.

Hints and tips for completing your application can be found here.

Sponsorship - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

What happens after your application has been received?

You will be informed about the progress of your application following shortlisting via email. Only applicants who clearly demonstrate the criteria listed in the person specification will be shortlisted for interview. Interview invites will be sent out via email.

What happens if I am offered the position after interview?

The hiring manager will make contact with you to verbally offer you the position. The hiring manager will then inform Recruitment of the decision and provide relevant paperwork. You will be sent a formal conditional offer via email.

What pre-employment checks will I need to complete?

By conducting pre-employment checks, the recruitment team will verify that you meet the pre-conditions of the role you have been offered. Pre-employment checks will be carried out according to NHS Employment Check Standards. The checks are:

• Identity verification
• Right to work check
• Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role)
• Professional registration and/or qualification check
• Occupational health assessment
• Employment history and reference validation

All applicants external to NHS will be required to provide HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years. This information will used to validate employment history and references as part of pre-employment checks.

If you are offer a position with is and you require sponsorship to support your right to work, we will review your eligibility in line with government guidance. If the role you have been offer is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not able to evidence your right to work, your conditional offer could be withdrawn.

What happens when pre-employment checks are complete?

Recruitment will liaise with you and the hiring manager to arrange a start date for your new position. You will then be booked on to a Trust Welcome Session and be sent your Pennine Care NHS Terms and Conditions.

• We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and recognise the importance of ensuring our diverse service user population is reflected within our workforce. Unfortunately, we know that, at present, there is underrepresentation of our communities in our workforce. We welcome applications from people from diverse communities to help us grow, learn, be better and consider brilliant innovation diverse people bring.
• If you would like to be considered under the disability confident scheme, you will be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria on the person specification for the post.
• If you require reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process please phone us on 0161 716 3181 at the earliest opportunity. We will support you to complete your application.
• Unfortunately we are not able to guarantee the transfer of lease cars, or cover the costs of early termination charges.
• We have a strict policy on unsolicited contact from recruitment agencies. Please do not contact our hiring managers directly.

We reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date if a sufficient number of applications have been received. To ensure you application is considered, please submit at the earliest opportunity.