Medical Secretary

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone.

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as "good" or "outstanding" in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King's College London's GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

We have an exciting opportunity in the Specialist Medicine Planned Care Division at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. We are looking to recruit a Medical Secretary to join the team, providing full secretarial support to consultants and other members of the team.

Previous applicants need not apply.

Main duties of the job

To act independently ensuring that daily tasks and ongoing workloads are prioritised and completed in agreed timeframes. The post holder will be based at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.

First point of contact on behalf of the consultant and the Trust and deal effectively and courteously with all enquiries from GPs, parents/carers, other departments within the Trust and external bodies.

To produce correspondence and reports by the use of audio transcription technology/digital transcription.

To type urgent clinical letters, including those of a sometimes distressing or emotional nature from audiotape or direct dictation as agreed.

To use the appropriate IT system for checking patient information and appointments.

To ensure any changes/cancellation to clinics are carried out using Book Wise and all relevant parties are advised of any changes.

To have an awareness of the referral to treatment (RTT) patient pathway journey in order to be able to respond to parents/carers calls and enquires as appropriate.

Working for our organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development Widening access (anchor institution) and employability Improving the experience of staff with disability Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To manage patient records appropriately, ensuring an up-to-date record is maintained of all case notes returned from the wards and clinics, that patient medical records are available for clinic and appointments are dispatched to other departments as necessary.

To maintain and update the diaries of the members of the clinical team as required, and to co-ordinate meetings, teaching sessions/venues as required.

To cover for medical secretary colleagues during periods of absence and annual leave.

To maintain and update the diaries of the members of the clinical team as required, and to co-ordinate meetings, teaching sessions/venues as required.

To take an active role in initiatives to improve the administrative service provided to managers and clinicians, and the service received by patients and relatives.

To organise own work schedule, adapt the schedule as required to meet commitments to others within the agreed timescales and, where this is not achievable, give notification promptly with reasons to line manager.

Please read the job description for further information about this role.

Person specification

Essential criteria

GCSEs or equivalent RSA3 Typing/Word Processing or other recognised qualification or equivalent experience AMSPAR qualification level 2/3

Desirable criteria

NVQ4 in admin EDCL or similar It qualification.

Experience

Essential criteria

Minimum of 2 years' medical secretarial and/or Personal Assistant to senior level staff Computer skills Excel , Word & Power Point Experience of managing competing and varied demands Audio Typing

Desirable criteria

Use of Digital Dictation System

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

Clear handwriting, spelling, grammar & numeracy. Ability to use initiative and work unsupervised. To have a systematic and methodical approach to work with attention to detail. Ability to demonstrate good interpersonal, oral and written communication skills especially when dealing with highly sensitive information and where there are barriers to understanding Ability to demonstrate good organisational skills and to prioritise/manage own workload in a demanding environment. Ability to meet deadlines. Ability to deal tactfully and sympathetically with members of the public and professionals. Sound experience working within the NHS or Medical Service Organisation.

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

Ability to demonstrate an understanding and respect for confidentiality Ability to work closely with team members and external parties.

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women's staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note, not all roles will meet the criteria for a skilled worker visa.

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.

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