Medical Secretary

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Ashington; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider in Ashington is seeking a motivated Relief Medical Secretary for a full-time position within the Orthopaedic Team. The role involves providing essential secretarial services to consultants, managing diaries, and supporting staff training. The ideal candidate should possess strong organisational skills and relevant qualifications in typing and administration. This position requires a proactive individual who can work under pressure while delivering high-quality administrative support. Knowledge of NHS systems is desirable.

Qualifications

• Qualifications in typing or relevant experience in word processing.
• Experience with IT skills in Microsoft products.
• Knowledge of NHS systems like Pathology, X-ray, etc.

Responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive secretarial support to consultants.
• Manage diaries and arrange meetings.
• Support new staff training and knowledge sharing.

Skills

Organisational skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Typing skills

IT skills (Microsoft products)

Education

GCSE English Language grade C or above

NVQ Level 3 in Business admin or Customer Care

Typing Qualifications or equivalent experience

Knowledge of Medical Terminology

ECDL / advanced ECDL

Job description

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Medical Secretary

The closing date is 02 January 2026

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join our Team as a Relief Medical Secretary on a fixed term 12 month contract, within the Orthopaedic Team.

Applications are invited from suitably qualified and experienced candidates to join our busy administrative team to provide secretarial support to the Plastics Consultants and wider clinical teams.

This post is full time Monday - Friday.

This post will be based at Wansbeck General Hospital but the post holder may be required to work at other sites within the Trust.

Previous Applicants need not apply.

Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the closing date once the required number of suitable applications have been received

"Please note, for Secondment roles before an application is submitted, please ensure you have received the appropriate approval and completed documentation required beforehand, as this may delay the process if an offer was to be made.

Main duties of the job

To provide a full secretarial service to the Orthopaedic Surgery Consultants and wider clinical Teams. The successful candidate will provide transcription, administrative and secretarial support service to the team. The post holder must be able to use own initiative, work under pressure, keep to strict deadlines and have excellent organisational, interpersonal and communication skills. Knowledge of IT packages and their applications is essential. Support on the use of the T-Pro software package will be provided within the surgical directorate. ECDL and knowledge of PAS and previous experience of working within the healthcare environment would be desirable.

About us

We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, in addition to our state-of-the‑art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. We also care for people in their homes and provide services from facilities in local communities such as health centres. We give people greater choice and control over their care to help them to live independently at home and avoid hospital admission where appropriate. High quality patient care is at the heart of everything we do and we strive to ensure every single patient and service user has an exceptional experience with us. We have one of the most extensive patient experience programmes of any trust in England.

Job responsibilities

Responsible to Senior Secretary. Act up in absence of Lead Secretary for periods of annual leave/short-term sickness absence. Provide comprehensive secretarial service to consultant(s) and their team. Manage diaries, arrange/minute meetings, communication with GPs & patients. Advanced typing & transcription of clinical & non‑clinical documents (OCR 3 or equivalent qualification/experience) Support effective utilisation of OP clinic capacity. Support management of all patient journeys including target administration e.g. GP referrals, 18 week RTT, Cancer 2ww, Typed communication to GPs. Support Lead Secretary with induction/training of new staff, sharing knowledge with colleagues. Resource management ordering of supplies & equipment. Allocates work to Band 2 staff.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Typing Qualifications and/or equivalent or relevant typing/word processing experience.
• NVQ Level 3 in Business admin or Customer Care or equivalent experience.
• GCSE English Language grade C or above or equivalent qualification.
• Knowledge of Medical Terminology & procedures.
• ECDL / advanced ECDL.

Experience

• IT skills in the use of Microsoft products (Word, Excel etc) + NHS strategy services i.e. Pathology / X‑ray / PAS etc.,

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.

Employer name

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust