Medical Secretary

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust; Guildford; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust seeks an experienced Medical Secretary for the Rheumatology team in Guildford. You will provide comprehensive secretarial support to consultants and the team, handling correspondence, referrals and appointments with a patient-centred approach.

The role requires hospital-based medical secretary experience, excellent organisation and communication skills, and the ability to work within a multidisciplinary team, liaising with patients, GPs and referring hospitals.

Qualifications

• Previous medical secretary experience in a hospital environment.
• Excellent organisational and communication skills.
• Ability to liaise with patients, GPs and referring hospitals.

Responsibilities

• Undertake full secretarial duties for consultants and their team; produce and forward letters and correspondence.
• Handle post, faxes and emails daily; prioritise urgent results and information.
• Manage new referrals; coordinate with appointment centre and MDT coordinators to ensure timely seen/treated.

Skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Audio typing

Interpersonal skills

Education

GCSE level or equivalent

RSA II word processing

RSA III Medical secretarial

Tools

Cerner

Microsoft Word

Excel

ICE

Job description

Main area Rheumatology Grade AfC BAnd 4 Contract Fixed term: 6 months (Contract fixed for 6 months) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 384-AGB-EMF21289-B4-A

Employer Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust Town Guildford Salary £29,812 - £32,715 (per annum) including High Cost Area Supplement Salary period Yearly Closing 12/10/2026 23:59

Medical Secretary

AfC BAnd 4

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has come up for an enthusiastic, competent and professional medical secretary to join the Rheumatology team at The Royal Surrey County Hospital.

The successful applicant will require previous medical secretary experience in a hospital environment, excellent organisational and communication skills. You will be able to cope well under pressure and have a good understanding of the patient pathway. You should enjoy working as part of a multidisciplinary team and be confident liaising with patients, general practitioners and referring hospitals.

Main duties of the job

Manage own workload, demonstrate efficient organisation and oversee the smooth effective operation of the office. To work autonomously within a team, providing full organisational support to the consultant’s practice and their team. To ensure procedures and working practices are in place so that the speciality and Trust can deliver a service that meets the standards and targets that have been set. To provide a considerate, patient focussed service in all dealings with patients and with staff around the hospital and throughout the whole system.

Working for our organisation

Royal Surrey is a compassionate and collaborative acute and community Trust. Recognising that our 5,000 colleagues are our greatest strength, we offer a comprehensive health and wellbeing programme alongside a strong commitment to developing your career. Our diverse and welcoming Royal Surrey family ensures you feel valued from your initial interview and throughout your time with us.

We are clinically led and provide joined-up care by bridging hospital and community services, alongside delivering regional specialist cancer care. Our main acute hospital site is in Guildford, with community sites at Milford, Haslemere and Cranleigh, and services delivered in patients’ homes across Guildford and Waverley.

We work in partnership with Ashford & St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust through a collaborative Group Model, supporting joined-up services, workforce flexibility and development opportunities.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated us as Outstanding. We are proud of our achievements and continue to invest in our people and infrastructure.

To learn more about life at Royal Surrey, please watch our short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R96pMboIYdo

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To undertake a full range of secretarial duties for consultants and their team. To produce and forward all patient letters, and other correspondence in line with current standards using audio typing and/or dedicated software.
• To deal with all post, faxes, e-mails, results etc. on a daily basis and prioritise as necessary to ensure consultants and their team are aware of urgent results and information.
• Take responsibility for all new referrals; liaise with the appointment centre staff and other coordinators such as specialist nurses and cancer MDT coordinators, other nursing and medical staff to ensure new referrals are promptly seen/treated in line with the current guidelines.
• Request appointments as required and liaise with outpatient booking teams.
• Prepare relevant notes, results and scans for clinics. Use initiative to obtain missing details, results and x-rays.
• To understand the full patient pathway, and the impact of local decisions on this pathway by having thorough knowledge of working practices, medical treatments, associated speciality(ies), and departments.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Good general standard of education to GCSE level or equivalent including English
• RSA II or equivalent in word processing/audio typing
• RSA III, Medical secretarial qualification (BSMS Certificate) or equivalent

Knowledge

• Demonstrates the ability to prioritise workload and to adapt effectively to changing priorities
• Evidence of establishing and maintaining effective filing systems
• Excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills
• Excellent telephone manner
• Excellent spelling and grammar
• Working knowledge of the Trust Patient Administration System (Cerner) (*)
• Advanced keyboard and audio typing skills
• Working knowledge of Word, email and internet
• Working knowledge of a range of software packages e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel, and locally used data bases e.g. ICE
• Knowledge of basic anatomy and physiology
• Broad knowledge of medical terminology
• Detailed knowledge of patient pathways and advanced medical terminology in own area of work (*)
• Detailed knowledge of patient pathways and advanced medical terminology in own area of work (*)