Administrative Assistant

NHS; Dartford; On-site; GBP 26,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in Dartford is seeking a dedicated Admin Assistant to support the new NHS Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit for women. This pivotal role involves administrative tasks, direct support to clinical teams, and teamwork. Ideal candidates will have experience in mental health settings and various administrative skillsets, receiving a salary inclusive of a high-cost area supplement.

Benefits

High Cost Area Supplement

Ongoing professional development

Comprehensive induction program

Qualifications

• Experience of working with people with severe mental health conditions.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Teams or equivalent video conferencing software.
• Ability to keep to deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Advise patients, carers, and visitors as the first point of contact.
• Maintain stock of office supplies.
• Ensure accurate filing and upkeep of reception office.

Skills

MS Word

MS Excel

Diary Management

File/Record keeping

Handling difficult situations

Education

GCSE Minimum Grade 4 or above in Maths, English and ICT

Business Admin NVQ or Equivalent

Job description

Are you a dedicated, compassionate Admin Assistant? Do you want the chance to help shape a new and genuinely innovative service for the women of Kent and Medway?

We're creating Kent and Medway's first, and only, NHS Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for women, and are seeking a talented Administrative Assistant to help us deliver this vital service.

The start date for this post will be March 2026, to allow for sufficient time for onboarding, induction, and training before the anticipated arrival of the first patient in April 2026.

You will be providing direct admin support to members of the clinical team.

We are an adaptive, cross-functional service. Whilst being assigned to directly support a department, you will be providing support (as a team) throughout the Directorate. Teamwork is an essential part of this role, good time-keeping, the ability to keep to deadlines and adapt your way of working is vital.

As a support service, we adapt to the needs of the service; we are regularly reviewing ways of working and optimising our internal processes.We need an someone that can think on their feet and adapt to day-to-day circumstances as they arrive.

If this sounds like the opportunity you have been waiting for, come and join our diverse and compassionate team committed to delivering excellent care and support for service users and their loved ones.

All positions also benefit from a High Cost Area allowance.

Main duties of the job

This role provides direct secretarial and administrative support to our in-patient care, PIC Liaison Service, Main Reception, Management, Consultant Psychiatrist, Lead clinicians and the wider team.

The successful candidate will work closely with the teams:

• Providing up to date information to the teams, production of simple reports
• Providing Reception Support
• Creation and maintenance of spreadsheets and internal forms within designated timescales
• Maintaining and updating displays
• Scheduling of clinical meetings
• Diary and meeting management
• Generic team mailbox monitoring and maintenance and any other administrative duties requested.

About us

Working in a PICU is very rewarding but we want to be honest and share that it is demanding too. It is likely to be needed by people with severe and complex mental health conditions (e.g. Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder and may be associated with Personality Disorder, Substance Misuse and PTSD).

While emotionally challenging, the opportunity to support critically unwell women back to their communities, ensuring 'right care, in the right place, at the right time', is immense, and your skilled, multidisciplinary, team will be there to support you.

You would be working as part of a team of mental health experts, dedicated to making sure the most unwell women in our communities have the same access to specialist care as men.

We are recruiting now to make sure our new female PICU team is in place with enough time to train, form team bonds and prepare. So you can all make a profound difference to patient outcomes from day one.

We also offer ongoing professional development to help you adapt and progress your career, including bespoke training and a comprehensive induction program.

All jobs based at our Dartford unit come with a High Cost Area Supplement: 5% of basic salary, subject to a minimum payment of £1303 per year and a maximum payment of £2198 per year (the agreed annual amount will be divided into 12 equal amounts and paid monthly). The salary listed is inclusive of the High-Cost Area Allowance.

Job responsibilities

• Expected to advise patients, carers and visitors as the first point of contact in order to direct their enquiries to the relevant department.
• Responsible for maintaining stock of office supplies, through escalation to senior administrative staff.
• Responsible for the day-to-day running of ward and reception administrative and duties.
• Ensure filing is kept accurate and up-to-date.
• General upkeep of the reception office and reception displays, as well as the reception office.
• Ensuring the booking of interpreters as and when required.

Please refer to the attached job description for full details and the main responsibilities of the role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• GCSE (or Equivalent) Minimum Grade 4 or above (A-C) Maths, English and ICT
• Business Admin NVQ or Equivalent

Experience

• MS Word and Excel
• MS Teams or equivalent Video Conferencing Software
• Keeping to Deadlines
• Diary Management
• File/ Record keeping Digital and physical
• Experience of working with people with severe mental health
• Use of CRM systems or databases
• Complaints and handling difficult situations

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.

£25,768 a yearper annum (inclusive of high cost area supplement)