Business Support Administrator

Devon Partnership NHS Trust; Totnes; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

An exciting opportunity at Devon Partnership NHS Trust as a Business Administrator. Join a multidisciplinary team in providing essential support to enhance services for adults with learning disabilities. Ideal for motivated candidates with strong communication and IT skills, this role involves managing administrative tasks and ensuring effective team collaboration.

Qualifications

• Proficient in Microsoft Office and Systm One.
• Experience in office routines and filing systems.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage workloads.

Responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive administrative support to the Specialist Community Health Team.
• Coordinate meetings and manage diaries.
• Maintain accurate records and handle patient enquiries.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

IT skills

Organisational skills

Communication skills

Teamwork

Education

RSA 3/ECDL or equivalent standard

NVQ3 in administration or equivalent level of knowledge and experience

Tools

Microsoft Office

Systm One

Job description

Location: Totnes, TQ9 5NE
Salary: £24937.00 to £26598.00
Date posted: 9th July 2025
Closing date: 23rd July 2025

An excitingopportunity has arisen for a highly motivated and multi-skilled businessadministrator to join the Specialist Community Health Team for Learning Disabilities, South West. The team is a multidisciplinary team providing aservice for adults with learning disabilities and their families/carers. We are a busy, motivated and an interestingteam who value working together to support business needs.

Main duties of the job

The successfulcandidate should possess excellent interpersonal and IT skills, includingworking knowledge of Systm One, Microsoft Office such as Word, MS teams, Excel and Outlook with the abilityto manage electronic diaries and room booking systems. You will be required to coordinate, attendand minute meetings on a regular basis.Experience of working within a multidisciplinary team and knowledge ofreferral processes are essential.

You must be able towork within a team effectively and share work streams where appropriate.Experience of working in a health care setting would be an advantage but notessential.

You must beable to work within a team effectively and share work streams whereappropriate. Experience of working in a health care setting would be anadvantage but not essential. Thebuildings are non-public facing.

About us

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Job responsibilities

To provide a comprehensive administration support to the Specialist Community Health Team for Learning Disabilities. There will be an expectation for the postholder to be highly motivated, flexible and multi-skilled with excellentorganisational skills. The post holder will have high standard word processingskills and computer literacy. They will be required to maintain an up-to-dateknowledge of Information Technology. The post holder will need to meetdeadlines, collate data and maintain standards relating to administrativeprocesses. They will need to be able to work within a team effectively andshare work streams where appropriate.

Where the postholder is employed within a community team, they will coordinate the outpatientwaiting lists and clinics and support the processes and systems for theseteams.

Duties andResponsibilities

Communicationand Working Relationship Skills

• Provide and receive routine information requiring tact orpersuasive skills, where there may be barriers to understanding.
• Communicates with service users concerning their appointments andtreatment, deals with enquiries from relatives and the public.Communication with staff on work procedures and external agencies on behalfof the service.
• Working within a multi-disciplinary environment ensuring thatcommunication with appropriate team members is effective and contemporary.

Analyticaland Judgemental Skills

• To manage both telephone and face to face contacts with distressedservice users in a supportive manner.
• Judgement involving facts or situations, some requiring analysis.Resolves problems relating to patient records; locates missing case notes;make judgements on how to respond to patient enquiries.
• Compare a range of options to support an effective teamadministration service.

Planningand Organisational Skills

• Arrange meetings and appointments for members of themulti-disciplinary team.
• Support the arrangement of meetings for external agencies asrequired.
• Maintain team/individual diaries.
• Prioritise workload with particular consideration to issues arising.
• Plans own workload to ensure that weekly, monthly, quarterly andannual tasks are met.
• Adjust clinic times as required.

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatmentand Therapy

• Deals with telephone/face to faceenquiries from patients.

Responsibilityfor Policy and Service Development Implementation

• Adhere to all Trust and departmental policies and procedures relatingto their role.
• Comply with local administrative procedures.
• Participatein local review of administration services.

Responsibilityfor Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

• The post holder will order stationery and other necessary items forthe team via the procurement system.
• May be required to order and maintainstationery and stores stocks; may be responsible for petty cash float.

Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision,Training, HR Advice and Management

• Supporting the induction of new staff members as required.

Responsibilityfor Information Resources and Administrative Duties

• Maintain accurate referral records on behalf of the team.
• Produce confidential correspondence and reports.
• Maintain efficient and effective electronic filing system/s.
• Take, transcribe and distribute formalminutes as necessary.
• The post holder will be partly responsible for ensuring accurate andup to date data is recorded onto electronic records systems, and that thisinformation is communicated with the team and other professionals asrequired.

Responsibilityfor Research and Development

• Undertake surveys oraudits as necessary to own work.

Freedomto Act

• Work is managedrather than supervised.
• Accountable for ownactions manager is available for reference.

AnyOther Specific Tasks Required

• Provide cover for colleagues when and where necessary.
• Work pattern will be predictable.

Review of this Job Description

This job description is intended as an outline indicatorof general areas of activity and will be amended in the light of changingservice needs. This job description is to be reviewed in conjunction with thepost holder on an annual basis.

GeneralInformation

Equality & Diversity

Devon Partnership NHS Trust is committed to recruiting andsupporting a diverse workforce and so we welcome applications from all sectionsof the community regardless of age, disability, sex, race, religion or sexualorientation, maternity/pregnancy, marriage/civil partnership or transgenderstatus. The Trust expects all staff to behave in a way which recognises andrespects this diversity in line with the appropriate standards.

Recovery

It is a requirement of all employees to have anunderstanding of the broad principles of the Recovery Approach and toincorporate them into every aspect of their work in support of the Trusts aimto provide services that support peoples recovery through being holistic andpromoting social inclusion, self management, personal autonomy andindependence.

Risk Management / Health and Safety

Employees must be aware of the responsibilities placed onthem under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, ensure that agreed safetyprocedures are carried out and maintain a safe environment for employees,patients and visitors.

Records Management

The post holder has responsibility for the timely andaccurate creation, maintenance and storage of records in accordance with Trustpolicy, including email documents and with regard to the Data Protection Act,The Freedom of Information Act and any other relevant statutory requirements.

ClinicalGovernance, Compliance and Performance

The post holder will be responsible for provingthat the Care Quality Commission outcome areas have been met in all registered/relatedactivities for which the post holder is responsible. Where outcomes are not metthe post holder is expected to put in place/recommend action to improve. Thepost holder will proactively seek and engage the support of the governanceteams in the Compliance and Corporate Development directorate to gatherinformation as required. The post holder will build an understanding of andadhere to the CQC guidelines as well as the Trusts guidelines on the approachto maintaining CQC registration.

Prevention andControl of healthcare Associated Infection

The post holder isexpected to comply with Trust Infection Control Policies and conduct themselvesat all times in such a manner as to minimise the risk of healthcare associatedinfection.

The Trust operates a non smoking policy. Employees arenot permitted to smoke anywhere within the premises of the Trust or whenoutside on official business. Staff must also be mindful of public perceptionand must therefore not smoke whilst travelling in Trust identified vehicles orwhen can be identified as Devon Partnership Mental Health Trust staff.

Trust employees are expected to follow Trust policies,procedures and guidance as well as professional standards and guidelines. It isyour responsibility to read and familiarise yourself with all policies relevantto your job role. These are grouped into two sections, HR and Clinical and canbe found on the Trust intranet site or via your line manager. You will also berequired to comply with any training needs that arise from reviews orvariations of policies and procedures.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is part of everyday practice and all Trust employees are required to work in accordance with policies,procedures and professional codes to safeguard people who use our service,their children, families and carers from abuse. Staff must be aware of anychildren that live with, or have contact with, the person in their care,promoting the Childs welfare and ensuring their needs have been taken intoaccount as part of the overall assessment and practice process, engaging otheragencies as appropriate. All staff should have the knowledge and skills towork in such a way as to reduce the likelihood of abuse, be alert to, and takeappropriate action in relation to, safeguarding issues. Where staff are unsurewhat appropriate action to take, they should always escalate their concerns andspeak to a senior member staff.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• RSA 3/ECDL or equivalent standard
• Speedwriting or similar
• NVQ3 in administration or equivalent level of knowledge and experience

Experience

• Experience of general office routine and filing systems
• Referral processes
• Experience of working as part of a team

Skills & Abilities

• Good communication skills, verbal and written
• Ability to take and convey clear messages
• Ability to work under some pressure
• Ability to work without direct supervision.
• Plan and prioritise own workload
• Advanced typing skills

Knowledge

• Administrative procedures
• Current working knowledge of Word, MS Teams, Excel and Outlook

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.