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Job summary

Main area
Administration
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 3
Contract
12 months (Fixed Term / Secondment to cease 22nd December 2025)
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
432-HR1719-24
Employer
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Colchester Hospital
Town
Colchester
Salary
£24,071 - £25,674 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
01/12/2024 23:59

Employer heading

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust logo

Support Secretary - Plastic Surgery

NHS AfC: Band 3

We are one of the largest NHS organisation in England. Our scale provides exciting opportunities for development, innovation, research, education and training.

Talk to us about our range of flexible working opportunities, apprenticeships and staff benefits

Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is at the heart of all we do; and it forms part of the ESNEFT’s core activities. The Trust operates and relies on everyone treating each other with dignity and respect, to receive equitable and fair treatment in the implementation of Policies, Procedures and in its Practices, to foster positive work relationships, and finally to act with integrity as a professional within ESNEFT as well as a representative of the NHS as a whole.  The EDI Agenda reflects the Trust values such as Optimistic, Appreciative and Kind. In line with the NHS Long Term Plan, People Plan, People Promise and a Model Employer intrinsic in the Equality Diversity and Inclusion Agenda, we consistently strive to improve, to take the learning into Action for a better ESNEFT.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge then we are keen to hear from you.

 

Job overview

Support Secretary - 12 month fixed term contract / secondment until December 2025

We are looking for an efficient, conscientious, well-motivated, and enthusiastic and secretary, with the skills to provide dedicated clerical support to both the clinical and administrative teams to the Plastic Surgery department. 

The key aspect of this role involves dealing with the public over the phone, booking appointments, dealing with clinical correspondence, updating in-house computer systems and audio typing for the department, hence you must be able to demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills and have proven IT experience.

If the successful applicant already works for ESNEFT then this will be on a secondment basis.

Main duties of the job

The primary function of this role revolves around the provision of day-to-day secretarial support for the department, however, it is essential to help and support all members of the team by having a flexible approach to both workload, additional tasks and working patterns. Flexibility and the ability to remain calm under pressure are key requirements for this role.

The Plastic Surgery department offer outreach services at Colchester Hospital for Mid & South Essex Hospital. The post holder will be responsible for working independently and as part of a team and be able to provide a full range of secretarial and administrative support and therefore must be highly organised and show the ability to prioritise a busy workload.

Working for our organisation

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients’ own homes. 

We are the largest NHS organisation in East Anglia, employing more than 12,000 staff. 

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options. 

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services. 

Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.   

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what’s widely regarded as the world’s best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients. 

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.   

Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Person specification

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Must maintain equilibrium in times of stress when dealing with anxious persons either by telephone, letter or in person.
  • Ability to work as part of a team
Desirable criteria
  • Show willingness to attend meetings, help with research and audits as requested.

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Good command of English
  • Excellent administrative skills
  • Excellent communication skills, and ability to communicate clearly, precisely and emphatically when providing and receiving sensitive information.
Desirable criteria
  • Knowledge of Medical Terminology and Medical Secretarial practices
  • Audiotyping qualification.
  • Word processing to RSA II or equivalent.
  • ECDL (or willingness to undertake ECDL).

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Proven previous experience as secretary or administrator
Desirable criteria
  • Knowledge of Hospital portal system. Bighand experience

Employer certification / accreditation badges

No smoking policyMenopause Friendly EmployerPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveInvestors in PeopleArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.NHS Pastoral CareDisability confident committedStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into healthHappy to Talk Flexible Working

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Karen Grove
Job title
Assistant General Manager
Email address
[email protected]
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