Departmental Secretary - Gastroenterology and Hepatology

NHS; Luton; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department is seeking a Departmental Secretary to provide comprehensive secretarial support. This role requires excellent communication skills to liaise with medical staff and patients, along with the ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment. Successful candidates will have a background in secretarial work and be educated to GCSE level.

Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE level including English and Mathematics.
• Computer literate to ECDL standard.
• Secretarial experience in a busy, customer-focused environment.

Responsibilities

• Provide focal point of communication for medical and allied healthcare staff.
• Update and maintain patient waiting lists on iPM.
• Manage and communicate clinic changes.

Skills

Organisational skills

Verbal communication

Written communication

Team player

Education

GCSE level or equivalent including English and Mathematics

Computer literate to ECDL standard or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office applications

Job description

Go back Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Departmental Secretary - Gastroenterology and Hepatology

The closing date is 30 May 2025

The Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department is looking for a keen Departmental Secretary to join their friendly team, working alongside other secretaries in a fast-paced office environment.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for providing a comprehensive departmental secretarial service to the service manager, consultants, specialist nurses and other clinicians within the team.

The Departmental Secretary will be instrumental in the smooth running of the office and will need to work without supervision, using their initiative when dealing with enquiries that arise in the absence of the clinicians, to bring about a successful outcome. The post demands the ability to communicate at all levels with patients, relatives, medical colleagues and allied health professionals whilst maintaining a high standard of service to meet the needs of the patient.

The post holder will support work to ensure that the department is meeting all performance requirements, including quality and activity targets.

About us

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job

Job responsibilities

Provide the focal point of communication for all medical, professional and allied healthcare staff, both within this Trust and with external organisations, using judgment to facilitate a successful outcome for all enquiries.

Deal with concerned patients/relatives with tact, patience and discretion, especially when conveying sensitive information.

Update and maintain patient waiting lists on iPM.

Manage and communicate clinic changes including setting up additional clinics, changing, moving or cancelling clinics depending on clinician availability and/or service need with guidance from department management.

Support the 18/52 patient pathway by providing timely information to the medical 18 Week team on a weekly basis.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE level or equivalent including English and Mathematics
• Computer literate to ECDL standard or equivalent

Experience

• Secretarial experience in a busy, customer focused environment
• Experience of working as part of a team and on own initiative
• Use of databases and data collection
• Organising meetings and minute taking
• Previous NHS Experience
• NHS IT systems

Knowledge

• Knowledge of GDPR
• Microsoft office applications including Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Medical Terminology
• Knowledge of patient pathway targets

Personal Skills

• Excellent organisational skills
• Ability to work to tight deadlines
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Good team player

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.

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust