Medical Secretary

If you share our passion then apply for this opportunity and help us make our patients’ experience the best it can possibly be.

With a budget of around £365m, three hospitals and 5,500 staff, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital-based services to the population of Hartlepool, Stockton on Tees and parts of East Durham and Sedgefield as well as community, therapeutic and screening to a wider population across Durham and Teesside.

Job overview

Advert may close once sufficient number of applications is reached

Provide a comprehensive secretarial and administrative support service to clinicians and their associated staff, following all relevant operational policies, procedures and work practices, to ensure the timely processing of all patient related information, including clinic letters, reports, referrals, appointments etc.

Organise and plan own time, prioritising workload to ensure that all service requirements and priorities are met.

*Please note this vacancy may close early if sufficient applications are received*

Main duties of the job

Adhere to organisational targets relating to typing targets, waiting lists, patient referrals, elective admissions using appropriate technology.

Maintain the electronic diaries of clinicians, organising meetings, study leave, annual leave, etc, using appropriate technology.

Oversee clinic lists, ensuring that clinics are cancelled when consultants are not available, seeking agreement from clinicians to make amendments to clinic lists (i.e. cancelling and overbooking patients) and amending clinician’s rotas where appropriate.

Deal with queries from service users including patients and their representatives, in a manner that is consistent with legislation, policies and procedures whilst demonstrating understanding, empathy and discretion.

Organise and oversee the referral of patients to other departments/hospitals for further treatment/investigations/appointments in accordance with clinician’s instructions.

This role is supporting consultants/clinicians in the Cardiology Department, based at UHNT.

Working for our organisation

At North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust our main priority is, and always will be, to provide safe and high quality care to our patients every day; the kind of care we would want for ourselves and our loved ones. We want our organisation to be the best place to work with the right staff, in the right roles, at the right time, to ensure we deliver exceptional patient care and experience.

We will support staff through providing an inclusive and supportive workplace with health and well-being initiatives, staff benefits and opportunities for personal and professional development. Staff recognition is very important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Star and Team of the month, colleague recognition – a note of thanks, Managers Awards, Shining Stars and Service Awards.

We recruit for values and “Together we are North Tees & Hartlepool”

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Provide a comprehensive secretarial and administrative support service to clinicians and their associated staff, following all relevant operational policies, procedures and work practices, to ensure the timely processing of all patient related information, including clinic letters, reports, referrals, appointments etc.

Ensure that all work tasks are carried out to a high standard of quality which meets all departmental and organisations’ requirements for information governance, data protection and confidentiality.

Organise and plan own time, prioritising workload to ensure that all service requirements and priorities are met

Adhere to organisational targets relating to waiting lists, patient referrals, elective admissions etc

Taking and typing minutes of meetings and typing of complex documents, discharges, clinic letters, reports, etc for clinicians using appropriate technologies.

Maintain the electronic diaries of clinicians, organising meetings, study leave, annual leave, etc, using appropriate technology.

Oversee clinic lists, ensuring that clinics are cancelled when consultants are not available, seeking agreement from clinicians to make amendments to clinic lists (i.e. cancelling and overbooking patients) and amending clinician’s rotas where appropriate.

Deal with queries from service users including patients and their representatives, in a manner that is consistent with legislation, policies and procedures whilst demonstrating understanding, empathy and discretion, taking accurate written messages and passing

Deal with complex incoming post bringing information to the attention of clinicians and processing as directed.

Establish and maintain an effective file and ‘bring forward’ system for work related documentation to facilitate the timely processing of results, responses, information, correspondence and documents.

Organise and oversee the arrangements for chasing investigation reports, and bringing the results of key importance or abnormality to the relevant clinician.

Organising the processing of investigation results of key importance or abnormality in accordance with clinician’s instructions and the filing of reports in case notes in a timely manner.

Organise and oversee the referral of patients to other departments/hospitals for further treatment/investigations/appointments in accordance with clinician’s instructions.

Be proactive in the development of administrative services to support clinical activity and assist in the continuous assessment and review of administrative working practices and procedures.

Assist in the day to day supervision of support staff under the direction of the Admin Team Leader, ensuring that an effective and efficient service is maintained.

Assist in the appraisal process and training and development of support staff in their work area by giving appropriate feedback to Admin Team Leaders.

Assist in the promotion of a healthy, safe and secure working environment for the work team.

Assist the Admin Team Leader in ensuring that appropriate resources are available within the work area e.g., stationery stocks, equipment etc.

Any other ad-hoc duties as and when required in line with operational and service needs.

Person specification

Qualifications

• GCSE at grade C or above in Mathematics Key Skills at level 2 in Numeracy (or equivalent)
• GCSE at grade C or above in English Language, or Key Skills at level 2 in Literacy (or equivalent)
• Typing or word processing qualification at RSA II (or equivalent)
• AMSPAR Advanced Diploma for Medical Secretaries – Level 3 qualification (or equi
• Medical Terminology qualification
• Experience of Audio Dictation

• RSA III or equivalent typing qualification
• IT qualification (ITQ at level 2 or equivalent)
• Previous Medical Secretarial experience

**Please note - Once sufficient applications have been received this vacancy may close early**

Please check your email address on a regular basis as applicants invited to attend an interview will be notified via this method.

As part of our recruitment process, you will be required to undertake pre-employment screening: Disclosure and Barring Scheme (previously Criminal Records Bureau)

Where a post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 it may be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Scheme to check for any previous criminal convictions. Should you require a copy of the Trust's Disclosure and Barring Service Policy, please contact a member of the recruitment team on 01642 624023.

The method of payment for this is via salary deduction from your first month's pay on commencement with the Trust.

Please note the essential qualifications required for the post outlined within the Person Specification. You are required to hold and provide evidence of the necessary qualifications for the post at interview should you be shortlisted.

For any new employees commencing employment with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust , you will be subject to satisfactory completion of a 6 month probationary period. Please note that internal applications and individuals that are appointed to fixed term appointments of less than 6 months duration are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or a bank member of staff).

Personal references are not acceptable.

If the hours advertised for the post are up to full time (37.5 hours per week), applications are still welcomed from individuals who may be seeking to work less than full-time hours and all requests will be considered in line with the post being appointed to for the successful applicant.

North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust operates a No Smoking Policy.

If you experience any technical difficulties applying for this post please contact a member of our recruitment team on 01642 624023 quoting the vacancy reference.

Equal Opportunities

As such we welcome your application irrespective of your gender, race, disability, colour, ethnic or national origin, and nationality, and marital status, responsibility for dependants, religion, trade union activity and age.

Disability

If you have a disability, which makes it difficult for you to complete our application form, please do not hesitate to contact the recruitment team on 01642 624023.

Armed Forces Covenant

As a supporter of the Armed Forces and an employer of Reservists, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust are proud to be a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, which is a promise by the nation to ensure that those who serve or who have served in the UK Armed Forces (and their families) are treated fairly.

We recognise that reservists and veterans bring a variety of transferable skills and qualities to our workplace, developed through their military careers. Our commitment to supporting the Armed Forces Community has been recognised through the Armed Forces Covenant as a Silver Employer.

What does this mean?

We have supported employees through Reservist training, through additional leave for their training and ongoing support under our Special Leave policy.