Admin Assistant - Respiratory

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust; Torquay; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider in England is seeking an enthusiastic Admin Assistant for its Respiratory department. This role involves providing administrative and secretarial support, requiring good education standards and customer service experience. Candidates should possess typing skills at a minimum of 40 words per minute, alongside proficiency in Microsoft applications and experience with patient records, ideally within a hospital setting. The position emphasizes teamwork and effective communication within a healthcare environment.

Qualifications

• Good standard of education with GCSE in Maths and English (A to C).
• Desirable to have RSA/OCR II typing skills or equivalent.
• Ability to type a minimum of 40 wpm, including audio typing.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the Respiratory team.
• Work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Handle patient correspondence accurately and in a timely manner.

Skills

Customer care experience

Good computer skills

Team player

Typing ability (40 wpm)

Knowledge of Microsoft applications

Education

GCSE in Maths and English (Grade A to C)

RSA/OCR II typing skills or equivalent

Tools

PAS system

Infoflex system

Job description

Go back Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust

Admin Assistant - Respiratory

The closing date is 02 January 2026

This is an exciting opportunity to join our existing Respiratory Administration & Clerical Team with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.

We are looking to recruit an enthusiastic, self‑motivated, Secretarial Assistant to provide administrative and secretarial support to the team.

The ideal candidate will have a good standard of education to include GCSE in Maths and English (Grade A to C); desirably will have RSA/OCR II typing skills or equivalent with the ability to type a minimum of 40 wpm, including audio typing. You will need to be a team player with customer care experience, knowledge of Microsoft applications, experience of working with patient’s records and using a hospital database, such as PAS and infoflex is desirable but training will be provided. Good computer skills are essential for this role.

Main duties of the job

Act with professionalism and integrity, being a role model to those around us and ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity.

Provide a service that is tailored to meet the needs of the individual and to understand what our patients/customers need and be adaptable and responsive.

Provide a high‑quality customer service which complies with relevant legislation and NHS Employment check standards.

Be honest and learn from mistakes, and help to create a "no‑blame" culture were people feel able to share and learn from experiences together.

To work as part of a team demonstrating effective communication, and working collaboratively with colleagues inside and out of the department.

Acknowledge that you need to continually deliver greater value to customers.

Be honest about your biggest challenges and create a culture of curiosity and openness.

Make a deliberate effort to connect with strangers from different walks of life and invite them to share their ideas.

Be curious and creative about new possibilities, whilst identifying what works well and to do more of it.

Help to develop and foster a learning environment where feedback is welcomed and valued.

About us

The Respiratory Department at Torbay Hospital is based in the Heart and Lung Unit.

We work as a close multi-disciplinary team which consists of Consultant, nursing staff, administrative team, Specialty Doctors, and Specialist Registrars.

We carry out assessment, investigations and treatment of patients with respiratory conditions.

Why work with us

— (Include brief point; original omitted details but retained placeholder note)

Job responsibilities

This position requires empathy and tact when dealing with patients that may be angry or upset regarding any aspect of their care.

Communicate effectively in writing and verbally with:

Internal

• Consultants
• Nursing staff
• Medical Personnel
• Admin and Clerical staff
• Ancillary Staff
• Management
• Across trust

External

• Patients and Carers
• Members of the general public
• Private Practices
• Other Hospitals both in and out of the district
• Locum medical agencies

To act with professionalism and integrity, being a role model to those around and ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity.

• Tracing patient notes accurately and in a timely manner
• Prioritising work in a busy environment
• To type clinical and non‑clinical correspondence and reports in accordance within local targets.
• To undertake a variety of office duties, such as monitoring and dealing with emails received via varied email accounts, filing, opening and distributing post, photocopying, support where necessary to the Heart and Lung reception, choose and book system, data inputting, moving and lifting of patient notes to ensure the efficient and effective support to the department.
• To accurately deal with E‑referrals and email to the relevant Consultant and action daily
• To comply with the Trust’s Patient Access Policy and Standard Operating Procedures.
• To ensure that all results/reports/correspondence are filed accurately & efficiently in the case notes as required, in line with Health Records standards.
• To answer telephone enquiries in an efficient manner and ensure appropriate follow through using initiative to deal with routine enquiries.
• To notify the designated person in order to maintain adequate stationery supplies.
• To provide cover for the other members of the secretarial and administration team, and other Long Term Conditions administration teams as required.
• To use the relevant IT systems to register patients, transfer medical records, input clinical letters and care planning summaries, as required.
• To enter Referral to Treatment (RTT) pathway events accurately.
• To ensure that all clinical and non‑clinical correspondence is typed within local targets, using the Infoflex system. (Audio and copy typing).
• Ensure appropriate follow up is actioned i.e. outpatient appointments, investigations, patients added to waiting lists, referrals to other departments etc.
• To identify areas for service improvement and support implementation.
• To enter, monitor and update all aspects of the Referral to Treatment (RTT) pathway events accurately and ensure Inter Provider Transfers (IPT) are completed and updated. Review statuses are to be updated at every patient interaction.
• Escalate to the Admin Team Leader any anomalies or concerns that arise.

Full Vacancy details can be found on the attached Job Description/Person Specification. Please refer to your suitability to the post in your supporting information from the role requirements or person specification.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• GCSE English & Maths grade C or above
• Typing ability to a minimum of RSA II (or equivalent)
• Knowledge of medical terminology

Experience

• Ability to work to deadlines
• Ability to use initiative and prioritise workload
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Excellent organisational skills
• Experience of audio transcription
• Knowledge of PAS/Infoflex systems
• Previous experience of working in a hospital/medical environment

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such 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.

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust