Medical Secretary

Bedfordshire Hospitals; Luton, Bedford; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Luton site, is looking for a Medical Secretary to join the Neurophysiology team. You will provide comprehensive NHS secretarial support, handling referrals, appointments and clinical correspondence to ensure efficient patient care.

The role requires strong typing, MS Office skills and the ability to work as part of a busy team; induction and training are provided. 37.5 hours per week with occasional Saturday work.

Qualifications

• RSA Level 3 typing/word processing or equivalent qualification or experience.
• Vocational Level 3 or equivalent.
• GCSE Grade 4 (Grade C or above) in English and Maths.
• knowledge of ICE/iPM/EVOLVE.
• medical secretary diploma

Responsibilities

• Provide a comprehensive secretarial service relating to NHS work for a clinical team.
• Act as a focal point for the clinical team and patients, handling referrals and clinical correspondence.
• Manage referrals, appointments, and patient registrations; input data onto hospital systems.
• Code patients on IPM after visits; set up new clinics.
• Typing of medical/clinical correspondence to a high and accurate standard; distribute/upload patient reports.
• Cover administrator duties during periods of absence.

Skills

Verbal communication

Written communication

Time management

Attention to detail

Teamwork

Personal development

Education

RSA Level 3 typing/word processing

Vocational Level 3

GCSE English & Maths (Grade 4+)

Medical secretary diploma

Tools

ICE

iPM

EVOLVE

Job description

Main area Neurophysiology Grade NHS AfC: Band 3 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Occasional Saturday work) Job ref 418-MED43278-EH

Site Luton and Dunstable Town Luton Salary £25,760 - £27,476 pa Salary period Yearly Closing 28/10/2026 23:59 Interview date 11/11/2026

Job overview

The Neurophysiology Department has an exciting new opportunity for someone who enjoys working in a busy hospital environment.

We are looking for an organised, reliable and detailed-focused Medical Secretary to join our friendly team. If you have excellent organisational and communication skills, enjoy meeting people and can meet challenging deadlines, then you could be the person we are looking for.

The successful applicant will be a crucial part of our team, providing a link between the Trust, the patient and other healthcare professionals. They will provide a comprehensive, efficient and responsive administration service, ensuring referrals, correspondence and other clinical administration are processed accurately and efficiently in accordance with Trust policies and procedures.

Previous experience in general practice, the NHS or healthcare would be beneficial, but we also welcome applications from candidates with previous administrative or secretarial experience and willingness to learn. You will need to have good typing skills, be able to formulate and use excel spreadsheets, word and outlook. Full induction and training will be provided.

Please note that we reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive a high volume of applications. We therefore encourage candidates to submit their application as soon as possible.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will be required to provide a comprehensive secretarial service relating to NHS work for a clinical team.

They will act as a focal point for the clinical team and patients, providing support with with referrals, clinical correspondence, medical reports and other administrative work.

The role involves communicating with patients, clinical staff within and outside of the hospital and other healthcare organisations; managing workflows and ensuring all work is completed accurately and within appropriate timescales.

Some of the responsibilities include: Reception desk duties, receiving and processing referrals, registering patients, making appointments and providing reports to referrers.

This post requires a self-motivated and professional individual with the confidence and ability to work on their own initiative as well as part of a team in accordance with Trust policies and procedures.

You will need to be organised, able to prioritise competing demands, have excellent attention to detail and maintain confidentiality when handling sensitive patient information.

Working for our organization

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

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Main responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

To perform desk reception duties including receiving patients into the department and booking them onto the hospital systems

Frequently receive and respond appropriately to telephone and personal enquiries from patients, relatives, GP’s, other consultants and external bodies, referring enquiries to the consultants / clinical team where necessary

Be responsible for the receipt of referral letters with timely input onto the computerised IT Systems and ensuring that all patients’ demographic information is recorded accurately

To request, cancel and re-arrange appointments when necessary, following procedures to minimise DNA rates

To process rejected referrals following local procedures

To make appointments for all tests provided by the service

To appropriately code all patients on IPM after their visit

To set up new clinics as required

To undertake typing of medical/clinical correspondence using relevant IT systems to a high and accurate standard

To distribute/upload patient reports following current local guidelines/procedures

To carry out general administration duties and provide clerical assistance to all members of staff, as required

To cover the administrator duties during periods of absence

Person specification

Qualifications

• RSA Level 3 typing/word processing or equivalent qualification or experience
• Vocational Level 3 or equivalent
• GCSE Grade 4 (Grade C and above) in English and Maths
• knowledge of ICE/iPM/EVOLVE
• medical secretary diploma

Experience

• Experience and knowledge of multi-disciplinary team working
• Good customer or patient care
• Working with computer software programmes such as Microsoft Office, e‑mail and internet
• Working with patients requiring health care

Knowledge

• Knowledge of secretarial or administrative procedures and systems such as answering queries, progress chasing, task‑related problem solving, acquired through experience and training
• Ability to deal with complex and sensitive information
• Previous experience in demonstrating administrative duties to new starters and less experienced staff

Skills

• Demonstrate good verbal and written communication skills
• Good time management skills
• High standard of accuracy
• Ability to work as part of a team, maintaining effective working relationships
• Evidence of ongoing personal development and willingness to further progress ( knowledge and skills framework and continuing personal development

It is an exciting time to join Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We run two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Our 7,500 staff provide high quality care for a growing population of around 700,000 across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas.

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. Travel between hospital sites may be required. We have state-of-the art facilities placing us at the heart of cutting edge health care. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering their first six months in post.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Name Katarzyna Platek-Johnson Job title Professional Service Manager - Neurophysiology Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 01582 718047