Consultant PA - Gastro | Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust; Wigan; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Foundation Trust in Wigan is seeking an experienced Consultant PA for a full-time position in their Medical Secretarial Team. This role involves managing administrative tasks for medical staff, maintaining communication flow and coordinating appointments while providing mentorship within the team. The ideal candidate should hold an AMSPAR Diploma and have significant experience with Microsoft Office and medical transcription. The position offers hybrid working opportunities after training completion.

Benefits

Hybrid working after training

Supportive team environment

Training and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Hold an AMSPAR Diploma and RSA Level III in typewriting or demonstrate relevant experience.
• Experience in Microsoft Office and digital dictation preferred.
• Ability to handle confidential information professionally.

Responsibilities

• Manage office administration for the medical staff, providing effective PA services.
• Act as the main point of contact for communications for the medical team.
• Prepare clinic schedules and coordinate appointments efficiently.

Skills

Communication skills

Microsoft Office proficiency

Medical audio transcription

Digital dictation experience

Education

AMSPAR Diploma Qualification

RSA Level III in typewriting

Job description

Overview

When completing your supporting statement please refer to the person spec demonstrating how you match all points, providing examples of experience, understanding and transferable skills. Please also indicate all of the specialities that you have experience of typing for.

Job Brief

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced, motivated and enthusiastic Consultant PA to join our Medical Secretarial Team within the Gastro team. The position is 37.5 hours per week working at our Wigan site. After a period of training hybrid working may be considered.

Qualifications

• Hold an AMSPAR Diploma Qualification & RSA Level III in typewriting and/or medical audio transcription or be able to demonstrate experience in a similar role.
• Experience in using Microsoft Office software is essential. Experience of utilising digital dictation, creating spreadsheets and scheduling clinic/theatre lists is desirable.
• Good communication skills and the ability to deal with confidential and sensitive issues in a professional manner are essential.

Responsibilities

• Manage office administration for the Consultant(s), junior doctors & Specialist Nurses they support, providing an efficient & effective PA service.
• Act as the first point of contact for all forms of communication for the Consultant(s) & their team(s) & organise & prioritise their own workload.
• Work with other Consultant PAs to ensure office administration for all relevant consultants is covered.
• Support other Consultant PA teams when required and provide mentorship support to the Clinical Secretaries linked to their team.
• Provide non‑clinical advice and information to patients/clients/relatives.
• Promote the dissemination of quality patient information.
• Prepare responses and requests for the Consultant and designated medical staff as appropriate.
• Distribute and prioritise incoming mail, using judgement and experience to decide which documents are passed directly to other areas for action and information.
• Attend outpatient clinics and ward rounds as necessary and where appropriate.
• Provide the first point of contact for written and telephone enquiries, some of which may be sensitive, on behalf of the Consultant and their team, using judgement to establish validity and priority of the contact.
• When notified of Consultant’s leave ensure appropriate action is taken with regard to cancelling/reducing clinics and re‑evaluating/rescheduling appointments in Consultant’s diary where appropriate.
• Produce and distribute patient/procedure lists, e.g. admissions, arranging and coordinating domiciliary visits and assessments, theatre, outpatient procedures within the required timescales.
• Maintain close working relationships between Consultant and patient where appropriate.
• Organise and coordinate multidisciplinary team meetings, arrange venue and take minutes where appropriate.
• Ensure timely responses to medico‑legal reports/insurance reports.
• Introduce and implement new practices to enhance service development, e.g. developing protocols and procedures for improved patient services.
• Supervise new PA’s/secretaries/support staff and work experience students ensuring an effective office system is maintained.
• Compile and distribute medical staff rotas and liaise with medical staffing about annual leave/sick leave arrangements where applicable.
• Ensure all results of investigations are brought to the attention of the medical staff to be signed and uses own judgement and experience to highlight any that may need urgent action.
• Maintain a diary of appointments and information relevant to medical staff.
• Ensure accurate and up‑to‑date information for the Trust’s waiting list requirements.
• Ensure adequate supply of stationery and equipment.
• Develop office, PA and secretarial practices to continually improve service delivery.
• Assist colleagues in providing cross cover for the work of absent PA’s, including across sites, when necessary.
• Preparation of induction packs for Junior Doctors.
• Administration of duties in relation to new policies such as 18 week pathway inter provider transfer documentation, choose and book administration and patient choice bookings. Provide training to other staff, as appropriate.
• Migration to digital dictation systems and re‑organisation of workload to meet performance standards.
• Act independently within occupational guidelines and decide when it is necessary to refer to the Manager.
• Maintain confidentiality at all times.

Key Working Relationships

• Communicate effectively with patients, staff and relatives using the spoken and written word and being sensitive to those who are vulnerable or do not have English as their first language.
• Assist in the establishment of communication systems with all staff, patients and relatives to promote understanding and good will.
• Exchange verbal and written information with patients, staff and carers relating to appointments, admissions and meetings in a tactful and sensitive manner.
• Maintain accurate, timely and legible records.
• Maintain consistency within standards of patient care.
• Communicate complex and sensitive information to patients and relatives with empathy and reassurance.

Financial Responsibilities

• Be the first point of contact for receiving and processing of monies, both cash and cheque, to charitable funds from patients, patients relatives and outside agencies.
• Participate in ensuring the effective use of all financial resources in providing and delivering the service.
• Demonstrate awareness of the need for cost improvement programmes within the Service.
• Promote effective utilisation of resources.
• Provide the service within its financial constraints.
• Maintain stock and stationery within own team.

Human Resources Responsibilities

• Provide day‑to‑day supervision and on‑the‑job training to new PA’s, secretaries and administrative support workers, when required.
• Provide mentorship and professional support to Clinical Secretaries.
• Adhere and promote Trust policies, procedures and guidelines and maintain the Professional Code of Conduct.
• Ensure compliance with the Mandatory Training Policy in accordance with Trust policy.
• Take responsibility for ensuring own Performance and Development Review is undertaken on a yearly basis.

Health & Safety

• Have an understanding of health and safety, ethical and legal issues.
• Display a professional attitude at all times when dealing with the general public and colleagues alike.
• Promote the proactive role towards management of risk in all actions, reporting incidents, near‑misses and hazards, and maintaining statutory duty of care for personal safety and that of others.

Teaching and Development

• Knowledge of a full range of secretarial procedures and software programmes (PAS, theatre, EPR, digital dictation) and their application to improve service efficiency and effectiveness.
• Understanding of medical terminology and a willingness to assist colleagues with transcription outputs.
• Exercise judgement when dealing with patient enquiries, analysing and resolving problems at source.
• Assist in new staff induction together with the identification and support of their training requirements.
• Facilitate a supportive learning environment that enables all members of the team to develop.
• Recognise the effective utilisation of all appropriate development resources and opportunities.
• Promote the ethos of continuous improvement disseminating any new knowledge gained to other colleagues.
• Recognise and accept responsibility for own personal development.

Benefits

Choose Well – Choose WWL. Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust are the proud providers of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, we value our staff believing that ‘happy staff, makes for happy patients’. With this in mind we are seeking to recruit people who share our values and beliefs.

Recruitment & Closing Date

Also note that senior positions (AFC band 8A or above) may be expected to participate in an on‑call rota. This advert closes on Thursday 1 Jan 2026.