Apprentice Medical Secretary (Annex 21)

Transformation Unit; Knowsley; Remote; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is offering an Apprentice Medical Secretary position (Annex 21) within the Clinical Support Services Division at Whiston Hospital.

This full-time, site-based apprenticeship provides training toward a Level 3 Business Admin Apprenticeship, with salary paid according to Annex 21 and progression to a substantive Band 3 Medical Secretary on successful completion.

Qualifications

• GCSEs at grade C/4 in English and Maths or equivalent.
• English and maths minimum requirement for Annex 21 apprenticeship.
• Level 3 Business Admin qualification to be gained during the apprenticeship.

Responsibilities

• Support delivery of a high-quality administrative service for clinical correspondence and patient administration.
• Handle telephone enquiries and a range of office duties.
• Progress through the apprenticeship with hands-on learning and competency development.

Skills

Communication

Teamwork

Time management

Organisational skills

NHS knowledge

Initiative

Education

GCSE English & Maths

Level 3 Business Admin (Annex 21)

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Employer Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Employer type NHS Site Whiston Hospital Town Prescot Salary £25,760 - £27,476 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 15/10/2026 23:59

Apprentice Medical Secretary (Annex 21)

NHS AfC: Band 3

Job overview

Apprentice Medical Secretary

Are you looking to start a rewarding career within the NHS while gaining a recognised qualification?

We are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for an Apprentice Medical Secretary to join our team within the Clinical Support Services Division. This apprenticeship provides the opportunity to gain valuable skills, knowledge and experience whilst working towards a Level 3 Business Admin Apprenticeship.

This is a full-time, site-based training position and is ideal for an enthusiastic individual with excellent communication and organisational skills who is keen to develop a career in healthcare administration.

Main duties of the job

About the Role

As an Apprentice Medical Secretary, you will work alongside experienced administration professionals and receive comprehensive training in all aspects of medical secretarial practice. You will support the delivery of an efficient and high-quality administrative service, assisting with clinical correspondence, patient administration processes, telephone enquiries and a variety of office-based duties.

Throughout the apprenticeship programme, you will develop the skills and knowledge required to become a competent Medical Secretary whilst gaining practical workplace experience and completing your qualification.

This role offers a genuine career development pathway. Subject to:

• Successful completion of the Level 3 Business Admin Apprenticeship
• Achievement of all apprenticeship requirements
• Successful completion and sign‑off of the Medical Secretary competency framework

the post holder will progress into a substantive Band 3 Medical Secretary position.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This post is offered under Agenda for Change Annex 21 arrangements, meaning salary will be paid in accordance with Annex 21 throughout the apprenticeship period. On successful completion of the apprenticeship and competency framework, the salary will progress to the substantive Band 3 Medical Secretary rate.

As part of the apprenticeship, there is an expectation that the successful candidate will actively participate in a range of learning activities, workplace projects, departmental tasks and training opportunities. These activities will enable you to gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to meet both apprenticeship standards and the competency requirements of the Medical Secretary role. Opportunities will be provided across the service to ensure sufficient evidence can be gathered for qualification and competency completion.

The successful candidate will be required to work on-site and will be expected to attend all apprenticeship training, mandatory training and departmental learning activities as part of the role.

If you are motivated, eager to learn and interested in building a career in healthcare administration, we would love to hear from you.

Person specification

Our Values

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

Qualifications

• Minimum entry requirement. Educated to GCSE Grade C/4 in English and Maths and/or equivalent qualification. For those with an education, health and care plan or legacy statement, the Apprenticeship’s English and maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3. A British Sign Language (BSL) qualification is equivalent to the English qualification for those whose primary language is BSL.
• Qualification to be gained over the period of the apprenticeship: Level 3 Business Admin (Annex 21)

Experience

• Able to communicate with a range of people, in a way that is clear and understood
• Demonstrate an ability to work as part of a teamwork to achieve a common goal
• Can plan, organise, and effectively prioritise tasks to achieve the required objectives
• Can effectively manage own time and activity to meet deadlines
• Demonstrates an understanding of the NHS
• Ability to work as part of a team

Skills

• Ability to manage / prioritise own workload
• Ability to use own initiative
• Capability to adapt to most situations
• Reliable and conscientious
• Able to work the hours and undertake duties required
• Good interpersonal skills

Other

• Ability to travel across hospital sites when required
• Possess a friendly and approachable personality
• Ability to show understanding and appreciation
• Will be gained over the period of the apprenticeship to obtain: Comply with Trust policies and procedures at all times (Annex 21)
• Ability and willingness to undergo further training for the post
• Understanding of confidential nature of role and awareness of Data Protection Act.

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under‑represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [e-mail]

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

• All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
• There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
• Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here .

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.