Team Medical Secretary

Job summary

Expected Shortlisting Date

09/12/2024

Planned Interview Date

16/12/2024

The HIV Outpatient Service is looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated medical secretary to join the administration team, based at the Leeds General Infirmary.

Applicants will require previous experience of secretarial / administrative processes and practices, and must also be proficient in audio and copy typing and be able to work accurately and to tight deadlines.

The post holder will work alongside the existing Assistant Patient Services Co-ordinator (APSC) as directed by the Patient Services Co-ordinator (PSC).

The successful candidate will be joining a friendly, patient focused office environment, attention to detail, organisational qualities, personal flexibility and excellent communication skills will be required.

Main duties of the job

Duties will include typing of correspondence and clinic letters and dealing with telephone enquiries. The ability to work in an office environment is essential. We are looking for a highly motivated, flexible and hard working individual. The ideal candidate should be organised and able to prioritise their own workload with the ability to work under minimal supervision. Candidates should have excellent communication skills and the ability to work as part of a team. Previous secretarial experience of working in an office environment is desirable. Maybe a requirement to take minutes for MDT meetings.

About us

Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk' members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all our job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.

Job description

Job responsibilities

To provide a comprehensive and high quality medical secretarial service to support clinical teams (Consultants, their medical teams junior medical staff or specialist nursing staff as appropriate) in delivering high quality care to the patients of Leeds and beyond. This role will additionally make a key contribution in improving the patient experience by supporting Directorate teams with the movement of patients through their 18-week pathway or other national waiting time standards as appropriate.

The post-holder will:

Work as part of a team to ensure that all clinical correspondence is turned around in a timely manner to allow patients to move through their pathway without any delays

Work with Consultants and their medical teams.

Manage their workload in line with departmental requirements or as identified by the Senior Medical Secretary.

Deal with patient enquiries.

Play a key role in ensuring that patients move systematically through their pathways by ensuring that the next steps are in the pipeline.

3. ORGANISATIONAL CHART

Service Manager

Patient Services Coordinator

Assistant PSC/Senior Medical Secretary

Team Medical Secretary

4. PRINCIPAL DUTIES & AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Clinical Correspondence & Support to Clinical Services

Typing/proofreading clinical correspondence relating to outpatient and inpatient attendances and other patient related correspondence on behalf of the consultant and clinical teams.

Use a range of IT skills to support the clinical work of the consultant use of databases and spread sheets.

Support administrative process as deemed appropriate by the PSC.

To support the clinical teams in the delivery of excellent patient care by actively working with colleagues and other Departments to ensure that all patients registered within the service are proactively supported through their patient journey (This would include but is not limited to: ensuring that follow-up and/or discharge appointments have been made for patients when required escalating to the Patient Services Co-ordinator where appointments have been booked outside the requested timescales).

Any other general administrative duties associated with the consultant/clinical team outpatient and inpatient workload.

Answer phone calls and deal with enquiries relating to patients and clinical work from a variety of sources, directly resolving where possible or transferring to appropriate personnel.

Liaise with GPs, hospital staff and others on behalf of consultant in relation to clinical workload.

Maintaining an effective administration service

In conjunction with other Team Medical Secretaries and under the supervision of the Patient Services Co to work collectively as a team proactively planning workloads to meet different deadlines and timescales.

Create and maintain appropriate record systems relating to clinical workload tests and results spread sheets

Provide guidance to clerical support officers as necessary.

Ensure that health records are tracked on entering and leaving the Department and stored in an appropriate manner in line with Trust Policy and patient confidentiality.

Ensure that health records are always maintained to a high standard. All documentation and investigation results must be securely filed in the correct section in chronological order. Support Data Quality Indicators by ensuring that patient information is accurate and updated on relevant paper and computerised systems.

Access information systems to obtain clinical information as required by the medical teams including investigation results or other information from results server, PPM or WinDIP.

Work as part of the team to ensure that all phone calls are answered within the department during core office hours.

Provide information to PSC/Assistant PSC, as appropriate, relating to workload and work outstanding.

Provide cover for other team secretaries/clerical staff when on annual leave or sick leave.

Additional duties

Any other duties that from time to time may be deemed necessary by the Trust/Directorates that is commensurate to the role.

5. THE LEEDS WAY VALUES

Our values are part of what make us different from other trusts, so we see this as a strength, as well as a responsibility. They have been developed by our staff and set out what they see as important to how we work. Our five values are:

Patient-centered

Collaborative

Fair

Accountable

Empowered

All our actions and endeavours will be guided and evaluated through these values

6. WEST YORKSHIRE ASSOCIATION OF ACUTE TRUSTS (WYAAT)

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is part of the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT), a collaborative of the NHS hospital trusts from across West Yorkshire and Harrogate working together to provide the best possible care for our patients.

By bringing together the wide range of skills and expertise across West Yorkshire and Harrogate we are working differently, innovating, and driving forward change to deliver the highest quality care. By working for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust this is your opportunity to be a part of that change.

WYAAT is the acute sector arm of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership, one of the largest integrated care systems in the country. The Partnerships ambition is for everyone to have the best possible health and wellbeing, and the work of WYAAT, and each individual trust, supports that ambition.

7. INFECTION CONTROL

The jobholder must always comply with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Infection Control policies, in particular by practising Universal Infection Control Precautions. Hand hygiene must be performed before and after contact with patients and their environment.

8. HEALTH AND SAFETY / RISK MANAGEMENT

All staff are responsible for working with their colleagues to maintain and improve the quality of services provided to our patients and other service users. This always includes complying with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Policies, including Health and Safety policies, in particular by following agreed security and safer working procedures, and reporting incidents using the Trust Incident Reporting system

9. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

The jobholder must comply with all policies and procedures designed to ensure equality of employment and that services are delivered in ways that meet the individual needs of patients and their families. No person whether they are staff, patient or visitor should receive less favourable treatment because of their gender, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion etc.

10. TRAINING AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The jobholder must take responsibility in agreement with his/her line manager for his/her own personal development by ensuring that Continuous Professional Development remains a priority. The jobholder will undertake all mandatory training required for the role.

9. COMMUNICATION & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

The post holder will be expected to establish, maintain, and respect good working relationships and communication with both internal and external organisations, institutions and individuals with whom they come into contact, including those associated with the specialty area and as appropriate within the role. The post holder will be expected to represent themselves and the service in a professional, courteous and respectful manner at all times.

- Consultants and other Senior Clinical Staff

- Junior medical staff

- Multidisciplinary team members nursing colleagues, AHPs etc

- Own Directorate Managers and others within the Trust

- Colleagues within the Trust

- GPs and administrative staff within Primary Care

- Patients and relatives

10. SPECIAL WORKING CONDITIONS

i) PHYSICAL EFFORT:

The role requires high levels of accuracy in producing clinical correspondence that meets a high-quality standard as part of the provision of an effective secretarial service.

There will be long and frequent periods where the post holder will be in front of a VDU either typing or proof reading.

The post holder may be required to lift small loads and handle stock and stationery paper in and out of their Department.

ii) MENTAL EFFORT:

Prolonged periods of concentration are required for transcribing or proofreading medical correspondence and using patient related information. This may frequently be interrupted with phone calls or via face-to-face contact with other members of the team Consultants.

iii) EMOTIONAL EFFORT:

The post holder will be handling sensitive patient-related information daily and as such may be regularly (daily) subjected to difficult and emotional situations such as serious illness, bereavement or anxious family members.

iv) WORKING CONDITIONS:

The post will require use of a VDU and keyboard on a daily basis.

Person Specification

Skills & Behaviours

Essential

Adaptability and willingness to learn skills associated with the role as may be required Interpersonal and communication skills. Ability to work as part of a team. Use of tact, diplomacy and sensitivity with wide range of people and in various situations. Ability to deal with enquiries in an appropriate and supportive manner Ability to deal with enquiries in an appropriate and supportive manner. Prioritising and managing workload to meet deadlines (essential) Ability to deal with sensitive and emotive information Understanding of customer care principles. Interpersonal and communication skills. Organisational skills and time management.

Qualifications

Essential

Audio typing/Word Processing Skills RSA II or equivalent experience GCSE Grade C or above (or equivalent AMSPAR Level 2) in English and Maths

Experience

Essential

Audio typing/Word Processing Skills RSA II or equivalent experience GCSE Grade C or above (or equivalent AMSPAR Level 2) in English and Maths Secretarial experience Using Microsoft office packages including word, excel and PowerPoint Prioritising and managing workload to meet deadlines Use of patient information systems, such as PAS. A broad understanding of medical terminology and its use within clinical correspondence Understanding of customer care principles. Knowledge and application of the Data Protection Act in relation to patient confidentiality and the appropriate care of patient information. Using patient information systems such as PAS (essential) and PPM (desirable) or the ability to quickly develop this knowledge in a short time frame. In some specific cases additional system knowledge

Desirable

Dealing with internal and external enquiries originating from a variety of sources including but not limited to: staff in other Departments, patients, staff in GP surgeries (desirable)

---