Administrative Assistant

OUH; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Part time

Job summary

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a part-time Administrative Assistant (Band 3) to cover maternity leave in the Psychological Medicine Service. The 12-month fixed-term role involves patient administration, appointment bookings, referrals, reception duties, Electronic Patient Records (EPR) management and producing clinical correspondence.

Based at the John Radcliffe site in Headington, you will support clinicians and the multidisciplinary team, monitor inboxes, maintain

Qualifications

• Proven experience within an administrative role.
• Strong computer skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Highly organised and able to coordinate workload.
• Evidence of team working.
• Familiarity with NHS performance targets including RTT.
• Experience interacting with a wide range of people.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the Psychological Medicine Service using EPR and PM Office.
• Provide reception cover and greet patients at appointments.
• Process incoming post and action items in a timely manner.
• Monitor shared inbox and respond to inquiries from patients and referrers.
• Book clinic appointments and support RTT data entry and tracking.
• Maintain data quality and confidentiality in patient records.
• Collaborate with colleagues and support service improvements.

Skills

Administrative experience

Computer skills

Communication skills

Organisational skills

Teamwork

RTT familiarity

Tools

EPR systems

PM Office

Powerchart

Job description

Main area Psychological Medicine Service Grade NHS AfC: Band 3 Contract 12 months (fixed term 12 months) Hours Part time - 18 hours per week (Monday, Thursday, Friday 9am - 15:30pm) Job ref 321-CSS-8201555-B3

Site West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital Town Headington, Oxford Salary £25,760 - £27,476 pro rata per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 09/10/2026 23:59

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research.

The Trust comprises of four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call thisDelivering Compassionate Excellenceand its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.

Many of our recruitment programmes useValue Based Interviewingto identify those who have the skills we seek, who share our values and who are able to deliver compassionate excellence from the outset. We know that this makes a significant difference to your job satisfaction and above all the outcomes and experience of our patients and their families. For more information about our Values and Value Based Interviewing please visit www.ouh.nhs.uk/about/vision-and-values

Job overview

This is a 12-month fixed-term Band 3 Administrative Assistant post providing maternity leave cover within the Psychological Medicine Service. The role is responsible for delivering a comprehensive, professional and efficient administrative service that supports clinicians and the wider multidisciplinary team in providing high-quality patient care. The post holder will manage patient administration throughout the patient pathway, including appointment booking, referral processing, reception duties, Electronic Patient Record (EPR) management, production of clinical correspondence, maintenance of accurate patient records, and supporting compliance with Trust and national performance standards. The role is fundamental to ensuring the smooth day-to-day operation of the service and maintaining a positive patient experience.

Main duties of the job

• Provide a comprehensive administrative service to support the Psychological Medicine Service and multidisciplinary team.
• Manage patient pathways by processing referrals, booking appointments and maintaining accurate patient records using the Trust's Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems.
• Provide reception cover, acting as the first point of contact for patients and visitors, delivering a professional and compassionate service.
• Produce and process clinical correspondence using digital transcription systems, ensuring Trust timescales and quality standards are met.
• Monitor and manage shared email inboxes, process incoming correspondence and respond to patient, referrer and stakeholder enquiries promptly and appropriately.
• Support Referral to Treatment (RTT) pathways by ensuring accurate data entry, clinic preparation, patient check-in/check-out and clinic cash-up processes.
• Maintain high standards of data quality, confidentiality and customer service while supporting the smooth day-to-day running of the department.
• Work collaboratively with clinical and administrative colleagues, contributing to service improvement initiatives and providing flexible administrative support to ensure continuity of patient care

Working for our organisation

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence, and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel .

In 2023NHS England launched its first sexual safety charter, and our Trust proudly signed it. We pledge zero tolerance for inappropriate sexual behaviour and commit to the ten core principles Oxford University Hospitals promotes a safe, respectful hiring environment. If you want to make a difference with us, come and join our team. Together, we will uphold the highest standards of care and professionalism.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

MAINPURPOSEOF POST:

Patient administration underpins the patient journey and supports the clinical teams in delivering high quality patient care and can make a real difference to the patient experience. Effective and efficient patient administration supports the management team to deliver a high standard of data quality by making the best use of capacity and resources.

The post holder is responsible for the delivery of a professional, comprehensive and efficient administrative service to support the delivery of high quality clinical services under the supervision of the Senior Administrator.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Administration:

• To provide primary administrative support to the clinical staff and all patients under their care of The Psychological Medicine Service, including using EPR applications, such as Appointment Book, HIM Tracking, HIM Chart Coding, Powerchart and PM Office, to manage patient pathways.
• To provide reception cover and act as the first point of contact for patients attending face to face appointments and meeting and greeting patient

5. Dealing with incoming correspondence, opening and prioritising incoming post, ensuring supporting information is available when appropriate and taking responsibility for actioning items in a timely manner.

6. To monitor the shared e-mail inbox, taking responsibility for forwarding emails, creating encounters and uploading referrals to EPR for triaging and forwarding to relevant consultant through the EPR Message Centre.

7. To ensure appointments are booked into the appropriate clinic appointment slots in line with the Trust’s Elective Access Policy and local Standard Operating Procedures in order to meet national RTT Standards, and following the appropriate escalation process to highlight problems to the Assistant Service Manager and / or the Operational Service Manager when in need of assistance.

8. Use of the digital transcription system (Voice Recognition) to produce clinical correspondence to inform referrers, patients and other stakeholders of patient pathway progress. In doing so, produce high quality accurate correspondence which conforms to the Trust Key Performance Indicator of 7 working days from the point of clinical delivery/decision to being sent to the patient.

9. Liaising with referrers to ensure effective pathway management and to maintain good working relationships with stakeholders.

10. Become proficient in the use of Scan IT software to ensure letters, clinical reports, diagnostic test results and other notes are uploaded and filed correctly in patient records on EPR.

11. Check in patients attending for their Psychological Medicine appointment, checking demographic information such as name and date of birth are correctly recorded in EPR and updating with changes and corrections.

12. Check out patients from their appointment, following the instructions on the outcome form to ensure the correct RTT status code is recorded.

14. Complete the e-clinic-prep process to ensure relevant documentation is present on EPR for patient appointments.

15. Follow the HIM tracking procedure for the movement of all paper patient notes.

16. Act upon queries from referrers, patients and other stakeholders in a timely manner. Take relevant action to provide reassurance and support to patients and their families by finding appropriate solutions to problems.

17. Escalate any problems arising to Assistant Service Manager or Operational Service Manager in a timely manner so they can be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

GENERAL

1. Demonstrate high levels of customer care and be an ambassador for customercare within the Trust.

2. Attend Departmental meetings and training as required to ensure that you maintain an up-to-date working knowledge of service and Trust procedures.

3. Provide a robust administration function that underpins the delivery of a high quality service and maintain effective working relationships with clinical, nursing and administrative staff.

4. Answer all telephone calls in a timely manner and act appropriately.

6. Be flexible in your approach to work, such as covering other job roles at an appropriate grade or site, and to include varying working hours to ensure the service maintains a minimum level of cover during its core hours.

7. Use the Trust IT systems to register patients, make appointments, produce end of treatment letters, ensure that details are correct and ensure check in / check out of outpatient appointments.

8. To support and contribute to on-going and future service development projects supporting continuous improvement of the services we provide.

9. Any other duties at the request of the Senior Administrator/Service Manager, which may be needed to fulfil the objectives of the post, which are appropriate to the grade.

This job description should be regarded only as a guide to the duties required and is not intended to be definitive. It may be reviewed in the light of the changing circumstances following consultation with the post holder. The job description does not form part of the contract of employment.

RISK MANAGEMENT:

The management of risk is the responsibility of everyone and will be achieved within a progressive, honest and open environment.

Staff will be provided with the necessary education, training and support to enable them to meet this responsibility.

Staff should be familiar with the

• MajorIncident Policy

and should make themselves familiar with the ‘localresponse’ plan and their role within that response.

RESPONSIBILITIESFORHEALTH& SAFETY

The post holder is responsible for ensuring that all duties and responsibilities of this post are carried out in compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, Statutory Regulations and Trust Policies and Procedures. This will be supported by the provision of training and specialist advice where required.

INFECTION CONTROL

Infection Control is everyone’s responsibility. All staff, both clinical and non-clinical, are required to adhere to the Trusts’ Infection Prevention and Control Policies and make every effort to maintain high standards of infection control at all times thereby reducing the burden of Healthcare Associated Infections including MRSA.

All staff employed by the OUHF The have the following key responsibilities:

• Staff must decontaminate their hands prior to and after direct patient contact or contact with the patient’s surroundings.
• Staff members have a duty to attend mandatory infection control training provided for them by the Trust.
• Staff members who develop an infection (other than common colds and illness) that may be transmissible to patients have a duty to contact Occupational Health.

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

The post holder will endeavour at all times to uphold the rights of children and young people in accordance with the UN Convention Rights of the Child.

SAFEGUARDINGCHILDRENANDVULNERABLE ADULTS

The Trust is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults throughout the organisation. As a member of the trust there is a duty to assist in protecting patients and their families from any form of harm when they are vulnerable.

INFORMATION GOVERNANCE

All staff must complete annual information governance training. If you have a Trust email account this can be completed online, otherwise you must attend a classroom session. For further details, go to the Information Governance intranet site.

DATA QUALITY

Data quality is a vital element of every member of staff’s job role. The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals recognises the importance of information in the provision of patient care and in reporting on its performance. Data quality is therefore crucial in ensuring complete, timely and accurate information is available in support of patient care, clinical governance, performance management, service planning, and financial and resource planning and performance.

Person specification

Essential and Desirable

• Proven experience within an administrative role
• Strong Computer Skills
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Highly organised and have the ability to coordinate and prioritise own workload
• Evidence of team working
• Familiarity with NHS performance targets including use of RTT
• Evidence of interacting with a wide range of people

Sexual Safety Charter : In 2023NHS England launched its first sexual safety charter, and our Trust proudly signed it. We pledge zero tolerance for inappropriate sexual behaviour and commit to the ten core principles

Oxford University Hospital promotes a safe, respectful hiring environment.

If you want to make a difference with us, come and join our team. Together, we will uphold the highest standards of care and professionalism.

Vacancy Closures: Please note, this vacancy may close early if a high volume of applications are received.

Visa and Immigration: Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is able to offer Certificates of Sponsorship for all eligible roles for a Skilled Worker Visa without exception, provided the role meets the minimum salary and skill level criteria set by the Home Office (UKVI). All eligible candidates will be considered with equal consideration at all stages of the application and recruitment process. Skilled worker: Health and Care Visa | NHS Employers / Work in the UK - GOV.UK

COVID-19: The COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst COVID-19 vaccination is not a condition of employment, we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated there is helpful advice and information at Oxfordshire County Council Website where you can also find out more about how to access vaccination.

Probation Period: This post is subject to a 6 month probationary period. If you currently hold a contract of employment with the Oxford University Hospitals, this will not apply. This statement does not apply to Medical staff or Executive Appointments.

Referencing: When providing employment reference details please provide correct work related email addresses so references can be sought promptly when we are looking to progress your application. Your first referee will need to be your line manager, supervisor or clinical lead from your current or most recent post or place of study. Please note that if you have previously worked for the Trust we will require a reference from your last Manager, this information is essential if your offer of employment is to be confirmed.

To note: Applicants must write their own applications. If AI tools are used, the application may be rejected as this document is crucial for assessment. This does not prevent you from seeking support via AI with applications for the purposes of any disability and/or long-term health conditions.