Job vacancy: Medical Secretary, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Plymouth

Job summary

Main area: Administration - Secretarial
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 3
Contract: Fixed term: 13 months (Part Time - 30 hrs per week)
Hours: Part time - 30 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
Job ref: 216-AJ-S7240405

Employer: University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Rowan House
Town: Plymouth
Salary: £24,625 - £25,674 Pro Rata, Per Annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 17/06/2025 23:59

Medical Secretary

NHS AfC: Band 3

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Following the introduction of voice recognition technology to take responsibility for clinic admin preparation and distribution in a timely and effective manner.
Responsible for the full secretarial and administrative service to the Consultant(s) and their Medical team (as appropriate).
Prioritise own workload including the typing of clinics, discharge summaries and medical reports.
Ensure accurate messages are taken for the Consultant(s) team and delivered in a timely manner.
Undertake routine office duties including note tracing, photocopying, faxing, filing of correspondence and results and maintenance of records as required.
Be versatile and adaptable to the demands of the team. Work without supervision and take the initiative as and when required.
Ensure all hospital case notes are traced into and out of the department accurately on IPM. Obtain/forward case notes to/from other Trusts as and when required.
Be responsible for dealing with all correspondence by keeping a satisfactory record/filing system and ensure all clinic typing is held on the shared drive appropriately named and in the correct folder.
Collate results with patient case notes, ensuring that they are seen and actioned promptly by the relevant clinician.
Take appropriate actions with regard to telephone calls from patients, GPs and other agencies using initiative, within Trust guidelines.
Maintain an up to date diary for the Consultants/team. Inform relevant staff of cancelled and reduced theatre and outpatient sessions due to Consultant leave, junior doctors leave, on-call commitments, CME, Audit and Directorate meetings etc.
Ensure effective communication with all members of the team.
Provide support in respect of Consultants clinical audit responsibilities.
Ensure outpatient referrals are managed in accordance with the Trust’s Waiting List Policy.
Required to cover for other colleagues during annual leave/sickness or peak workloads.
Ensure that clinic follow up administration is actioned as appropriate, i.e. outpatient appointments, investigations, add patients to waiting list as appropriate and internal referrals to other Consultants/departments.
Ensure timely typing and despatch of outpatient letters to GP’s in accordance with Trust policy.
Obtain results ensuring that Consultant /or Medical team see them and action in a timely manner.
Ensure that all results, reports and letters are actioned in accordance with Trust Policy and filed accurately in medical notes.
Provide other secretarial assistance to the team as required, typing up correspondence, references for junior staff and administration and maintain filing system of this correspondence.
Ensure Choose and Book referrals are processed in line with Trust Policy.
Be responsible for liaising with the peripheral hospitals, admin and clinical teams to ensure all patients seen by the Consultants are registered on IPMS and treated in a timely manner.
Supervise the training of support staff.
The post holder will undertake any other duties commensurate with the role and grade for this post

Person specification

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria

Previous demonstrable secretarial or support secretary experience
Previous demonstrable experience in the use of word processors/data base/spreadsheet packages
Demonstrable experience of patient management systems
Demonstrable experience of audio transcription
Excellent organisational skills
Proven ability to use initiative
Ability to handle difficult/distressed patients in a sensitive and empathetic manner

Desirable criteria

Previous demonstrable experience within a large clinical setting
Proven knowledge of Primary Target Lists and waiting list management
Previous demonstrable experience in a support/medical secretary role
Demonstrable experience in using digital dictation or voice recognition software

Qualifications

Essential criteria

NVQ level 3 in Business Administration or equivalent demonstrable experience
Recognised secretary qualification or equivalent demonstrable experience

Aptitude & Abilities

Essential criteria

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, written and verbal, with ability to demonstrate fluency, clarity and effectiveness at all levels
Good time management skills & organisational skills
Ability to accurately touch type
Ability to proof read documents quickly and accurately
Ability to work calmly and methodically whilst working within a busy environment with a varied workload
Ability of work on own initiative but also as a member of a team demonstrating the ability to work unsupervised within stated guidelines
Excellent telephone manner
Ability to handle difficult/distressed patients in a sensitive and empathetic manner

Desirable criteria

Understanding the Trust’s waiting list policy within the work place

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY INCLUDING YOUR JUNK FOLDER.

If you need support with the online application process or require reasonable adjustments with the application and/or interview process please contact the Recruiting Manager for this post.

We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants about less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. We recommend contacting the manager of the role prior to applying and we commit to giving requests full consideration.

We welcome and encourage applicants who identify with all protected characteristics to apply for our roles. We believe that diversity strengthens our teams and improves our patients' experience. At UHP we aim to create an inclusive workplace and hospital where everyone feels they belong and included.

It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

Providing false information is an offence & could result in the application being rejected or summary dismissal/police action if an applicant is successful.

Please note that if you are successful in your application & accept the position you agree that the Staff Health and Wellbeing Department can access your health records from your current/previous employer in order to check the status of your inoculations & screening tests. This is an automated process & the information will only be used for these purposes prior to your taking up the position with us.

For Doctors Roles:

Unsolicited CVs and Candidate Profiles/Details
University Hospitals Plymouth has a commitment to sourcing candidates directly and as such we do not accept speculative CVs from agencies.

We do, however, work with a defined list of preferred HTE Framework suppliers who may be invited to support us in sourcing candidates for particular roles.

In line with our preferred supplier list, we only pay agency fees where we have a signed agreement in place and an agency has been instructed by a member of the Trust’s Medical Workforce team.

We do not pay agency fees where speculative and unsolicited CVs are submitted to the Trust or Trust employees by any other means than the official route above. Where this is not observed the Trust reserves the right to contact these candidates directly and initiate discussions without payment of any agency fee.

Any candidate details (whether written or spoken) or CVs that are referred directly will not constitute an introduction. The Trust will under no circumstances be responsible for any recruitment fees in relation to these contacts.

Submission of any unsolicited CVs, candidate’s details and/or proposals to the Trust will not be considered further and will be deemed evidence of full and unlimited acceptance of this Agency Protocol.

In order to establish and maintain good working relationships with the Trust’s agency suppliers, we ask that this Protocol is adhered to and thank you for your co-operation.