Job vacancy: Medical Secretary, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Ormskirk

Job summary

Main area: Paediatrics
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 4
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
Job ref: 409-6761265

Employer: Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Ormskirk Hospital
Town: Ormskirk
Salary: £26,530 - £29,114 Per Annum, Pro Rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 08/12/2024 23:59

Medical Secretary

NHS AfC: Band 4

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

KEY DUTIES

Typing clinical and non-clinical correspondence and reports including the transcription and management of audio sources (eg, digital / tapes) using initiative in managing and prioritising workload.
To act as first point of contact for patients, GP’s, external organisations and members of the general public seeking information and support from the hospital. The post holder must be able to triage the calls appropriately as well as deal sympathetically with people who may be bereaved, distressed or angry using tact, persuasion and discretion, assessing priorities and initiating action as required.
Answer telephone queries and provide non-clinical advice regarding patient care and appointments/admissions to patients, Trust staff, referring GP’s and Consultants, making appropriate judgement using acquired knowledge and experience.
Communicate with patients/parents regarding personal and highly sensitive information.
Compose routine and non-routine letters and produce typed clinical correspondence including the transcription of audio dictation.
Access the computerised Patient Administration System (Medway) for relevant patient details, updating records and registering patients as required.
Maintain and update specialty-specific databases.
Take action as necessary in respect of all patients who fail to attend in accordance with the Trusts policy and the consultants’ special instructions.
Ensure the timely despatch of all relevant information to GP’s, other medical staff and external organisations in relation to the locally agreed requirements.
To evaluate and re-prioritise own workload in accordance with competing demands from patients, medical staff, and others.
Prioritise work to ensure that medical staff are provided with necessary information to take appropriate clinical action.
Liaise with the Cancer Services Department of patients to be discussed at the Multidisciplinary Team Meetings.
In conjunction with the support medical secretary/ies and clerical officer(s) within the department ensure that administrative duties are allocated and completed in a timely manner and distribution of workload is done to utilise the resources and support available.
Ensure that all investigation results are shown to the relevant clinicians in a timely manner and make arrangements for any follow up actions required eg urgent appointments.
Where applicable ensure waiting time performance targets are achieved.
Type theatre lists and distribute as required.
Co-operate in the introduction of new technology as it may apply.
Be instrumental in preventing complaints from service users, resolving informal complaints, and supporting the formal complaints process.
In line with the Trusts standing financial instructions, handle cash/cheques for the Consultants and teams, patients, and other external sources.
Provide full secretarial support with respect to teaching/meetings as directed by medical staff, e.g. preparing PowerPoint presentations using clinical data and information via the internet.
Maintain database of clinical activity as required to assist in clinical audit.
Attend, take and transcribe minutes for ad hoc meetings as required within the Divisions and implement any follow up action points.
Provide guidance to the support medical secretaries and clerical officer(s) and self-supervision in terms of, liaising with other medical secretaries in the department to ensure an efficient service. When necessary, exercise initiative to allocate work to the support medical secretaries and clerical officer(s) in a fair and reasonable manner.
Make economical use of supplies. When necessary, maintain control of stock including stationery supplies.
Deputise for others and provide cross cover within the team during absences.
Working independently, plan and prioritise own workload following appropriate Trust and Medical Secretary policies and processes, suggesting improvements where necessary.
Private work may be undertaken by individual arrangement with Medical Staff but should not be done during NHS working hours and must be declared to the Medical Secretary Supervisor.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

NVQ level 3 or equivalent in administrative discipline
RSA II / III Typing or Word Processing or equivalent experience

Desirable criteria

European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL
British Society of Medical Secretaries Diploma or Advanced AMSPAR Diploma or equivalent experience

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria

Previous secretarial experience
Previous medical secretary experience
Knowledge of medical terminology
Demonstrable skills in problem solving

Desirable criteria

Previous NHS experience

Skills

Essential criteria

Audio and touch typing with a high level of accuracy
Shorthand
Good communication skills
Excellent interpersonal skills
Organisational skills
Customer service skills
Able to use own initiative
Ability to work in a pressured environment and prioritise workload
Ability to maintain high levels of concentration with frequent interruptions

Desirable criteria

Knowledge of Microsoft Office software packages

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. You are part of an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected]

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

· All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.

· There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.

· Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. 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.

The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here.

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.