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Job summary

Main area
Paediatrics - Neurology and Plastic Surgery & Burns
Grade
Band 4
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Part time - 25 hours per week (the second role is 30)
Job ref
387-WC5564-TJ-A
Employer
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
Town
Bristol
Salary
£27485 - £30162 pa pro rata (depending on experience)
Closing
18/07/2025 23:59
Interview date
29/07/2025

Employer heading

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust logo

Senior Medical Secretary

Band 4

As an organisation we recognise the value of a healthy work-life balance. When applying, speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate flexible working, so your work life fits around your home life.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within the Trust.

Click on this link to find out about our values https://www.uhbw.nhs.uk/p/about-us/our-trust-values

Job overview

We are excited to offer 2 Band 4 Senior Medical Secretarial roles at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children:

Role 1: Paediatric Plastic Surgery & Burns

25 hrs per week, with flexibility across 4 or 5 days — as long as you’re available for full days on Thursday & Friday.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a busy, supportive team where your organisational skills and calm approach will really shine. You’ll work closely with an experienced secretary to provide high quality support to a clinical service that has a real impact on children and families.

Due to the nature of the specialty, some clinical content may be sensitive, so emotional resilience is important.

Role 2: Paediatric Neurology

30 hrs per week, flexible across 4 or 5 days — with a full day on Friday required.

You’ll be joining a friendly, collaborative team who value initiative, attention to detail and a positive approach to a busy and varied workload.

For both roles, we’re looking for someone with strong Microsoft Office 365 skills, excellent proofreading/editing abilities and a professional, friendly telephone manner. You’ll be speaking with patients, families and healthcare professionals so great communication is key.

We offer a mix of home and office working, along with a flexitime arrangement to support your work-life balance.

Please let us know in the supporting information section of your application form which role(s) you are interested in and would like to be considered for.

Interview Date: 29/07/2025

Main duties of the job

Communication:

  • To act as a point of contact for queries from clinical and non-clinical staff
  • Liaise via telephone and email with other clinical/clerical teams to action urgent appointments or procedures where necessary and ensure that all relevant departments are notified accordingly
  • Act as a point of contact for patients, relatives and carers.  The post holder should be polite and empathetic to the patient’s needs at all times and be able to communicate effectively when dealing with difficult situations/conversations
  • Returning calls promptly and keeping callers updated with information in an effective and efficient way
  • Escalate patient queries, capacity problems and general issues to the role’s line manager or relevant clinical staff as appropriate

Organising and Planning:

  • Checking and sorting investigation reports and passing information on to clinical team as required        
  • Ensure the dispatch and production of all clinical correspondence is maintained by pro-actively monitoring the digital dictation and speech recognition system, and to escalate where delays are identified
  • Provide monthly key performance indicator information to the Line Manager and discuss with the team any appropriate actions that need to be taken

Working for our organisation

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) is one of the largest acute Trusts in the country, bringing together a combined workforce of over 13,000 staff and over 100 different clinical services across 10 different sites, serving a core population of more than 500,000 people across South West England.  UHBW has been rated by the CQC as ‘Good’ overall and our staff are proud to deliver excellent care to the people of Bristol, Weston and beyond.  As a forward-thinking multi-award winning Trust and a digital exemplar committed to improving patient care, our world-leading research and innovations are having a positive local and global impact.  Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone’s throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer.  UHBW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.  As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them.  Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For a more detailed job description and main responsibilities, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.

Person specification

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria
  • Effective and polite manner when dealing with people, both face to face and on the phone
  • Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines whilst maintaining a high standard of accuracy
  • Ability to work effectively in a busy team, adjust to change and motivate others
  • Ability to work independently, managing own workload, whilst providing supervision and support to others
  • Confidence to handle difficult conversations with patients, relatives and carers
  • Ability to adapt to use new computer packages and programmes
  • Effective organisational skills
  • Good IT skills including Microsoft packages
  • Attention to detail
  • Ability to deal with non-routine issues on own initiative

Knowledge and Experience

Essential criteria
  • Clerical/administrative experience/Secretarial
  • Understanding of specialist medical terminology
  • Experience of dealing with the public, both on the telephone and in person

Education and Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Educated to GCSE, grade C or above (or equivalent) in English Language and Maths
  • Qualified in word processing or audio typing (or equivalent)
  • Business and Administration Level 3 NVQ or equivalent experience

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Trust IDDisability Confident - two yearsVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyAge positiveCare quality commission - GoodMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerNHS Pastoral CareStep into healthMenopause Workplace PledgeDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - GoldPride In Veterans

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Claire Streete
Job title
Medical Secretarial Services Manager
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
011734 21061
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