Medical Secretary

Transformation Unit; Norwich; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS benefits

Flexible working patterns

Hybrid working where possible

On-site facilities

Job summary

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust seeks a Medical Secretary (NHS AfC Band 3) for the Histopathology Department in Norwich. The role supports medical secretaries and consultant pathologists, handling transcription, correspondence, and meeting support.

We offer flexible and hybrid working where roles allow, with a pro rata salary of £25,760–£27,476 per year. This is a full/part-time, permanent NHS position with opportunities for professional development.

Qualifications

• Experience working in an office/secretarial environment.
• Strong keyboard skills and accuracy with typing.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrates commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
• Willingness to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Provide a key point of contact between hospital staff, GPs and external agencies.
• Transcribe from audio dictation and process routine/non-routine correspondence.
• Verify report accuracy and ensure timely availability of results.
• Organise and support meetings, including minute taking.
• Assist with staff training and development.

Skills

Keyboard skills

Calm under pressure

Multi-disciplinary teamwork

PRIDE values awareness

Equality & Inclusion understanding

Education

Literacy & numeracy

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Main area Histopathology Grade NHS AfC: Band 3 Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Part time
• Flexible working

30 hours per week (Flexible working hours between 7am and 5pm) Job ref 234-26-E0858-A

Employer Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Histopathology, Cotman Centre Town Norwich Salary £25,760 - £27,476 per annum (pro rata) Salary period Yearly Closing 09/11/2026 23:59

Medical Secretary

NHS AfC: Band 3

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) is a 1,200-bedded teaching hospital with state-of-the-art facilities for modern patient care: 1100 beds in the PFI and 100 in Cromer Community Hospital.

The NNUH is part of Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group which includes the James Paget Hospital, in Great Yarmouth and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King Lynn.

We carry out nearly one million outpatient appointments, day case procedures and inpatient admissions annually. The population we serve is predominantly the people of Norfolk and north Suffolk, although some patients are referred from further afield especially to access specialist services available at this Trust.

Our staff of c10,000 care for and support patients who are referred to us by around 100 local GP practices and from other acute hospitals. We run more than 60 specialist services as a tertiary centre, including more than a dozen specialist cancer and radiotherapy treatments, and we are one of the biggest cancer centres in the country.

We provide complex spinal surgery services, specialist Neonatal Intensive Care, neurosciences services and specialist cardiac services. Our Trust runs specialist dermatology, rheumatology, endocrinology, adult congenital heart disease services, treatment of complex liver and pancreatic diseases in adults, cystic fibrosis services and intestinal failure services. We are enhancing our urgent and emergency care specialist services for patients with significant injuries as a result of trauma and have an ambition to become a Major Trauma Centre.NNUH is currently the busiest Trauma Unit in the East of England caring for almost 850 trauma patients annually many with complex care needs.

At NNUH it is our privilege to provide healthcare, and our vision is to ‘provide the best care for every patient’. If this inspires you and you share our values, we really want you to join our team.

Our values support our vision and guide the behaviour of everything we do, these are:

People-focused

We look after the needs of our patients, carers and colleagues, to provide a safe and caring experience for all.

Respect

We act with care, compassion and kindness and value others’ diverse needs.

Integrity

We take an honest, open and ethical approach to everything we do.

Dedication

We work as one team and support each other to maintain the highest professional standards.

We continuously learn and improve to achieve the best outcomes for our patients and our hospital.

We want all our staff to achieve a balance between work and personal life and understand how important flexible working can be. We welcome applications on a full or part time basis, various shift patterns and hybrid working, where roles allow.

At the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH), we know the benefits diversity can bring to our organisation such as creativity, innovation and compassion. All of which have a direct impact towards our staff and patient experience. We are committed to being a Hospital for All – being equitable and inclusive, and a place where all feel a sense of belonging. We therefore particularly encourage and welcome applications from candidates who are underrepresented in NNUH’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities and long term conditions and people within the LGBT+ community.

Job overview

This is an office-based post within the Histopathology Department (located at the Cotman Centre), which forms part of the Cellular Pathology directorate. The department has a workload of around 83,000 patient requests per year. This presents an opportunity to be part of an excellent team working in a busy, modern, progressive hospital laboratory service.

Histopathology receives and processes patient samples to provide diagnostic reports to hospital clinicians and General Practitioners. This is a good opportunity to learn administrative work practices and work with a committed team of office, laboratory and consultant staff.

The service is currently moving towards a full digital pathology reporting system and has UKAS ISO 15189 accreditation.

Main duties of the job

The role will provide an important supporting role to the medical secretaries and consultant pathologists. Your main duties will include:

• To provide an essential point of contact between the hospital, medical staff, general practitioners and other outside agencies.
• Accurately transcribe from audio dictation, all correspondence to GPs, other hospitals and outside agencies relating to the patient pathway. Process routine and non-routine correspondence independently.
• Verify the accuracy of all reports according to departmental policy and ensure results are made available in a timely manner.
• Organise and support meetings including minute taking as necessary, ensuring the distribution of minutes.
• Assist with staff training.

Working for our organisation

Join us at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and be part of a workforce of over 10,000 staff!

The NNUH is one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK, providing first-class acute care for around one million people, living in Norfolk and surrounding areas. We are a teaching and research hospital, at the forefront of innovation, home to state-of-the-art facilities, such as the Quadram Institute. We are pleased to work closely with the University of East Anglia, providing teaching opportunities for our staff and placement opportunities for their students. We attract some of the best and leading professionals from across the country and are proud that our workforce represents 94 countries from across the world.

We are a friendly, collaborative hospital, working with local services and home to N&N Hospitals Charity.

We can offer you the full range of NHS benefits/discounts and in addition:

• Fast Track Staff Physiotherapy Service
• Multi Faith prayer room at NNUH Colney Lane site
• Discounted gym memberships
• Excellent pension scheme and annual leave entitlement
• Wagestream - access up to 40% of your pay as you earn it
• Free Park & Ride service direct to NNUH Colney Lane site
• Free 24-hours confidential counselling support
• On-site Nursery at NNUH Colney Lane
• On-site cafes offering staff discounts at NNUH Colney Lane
• Flexible staff bank
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars, Cycle to Work scheme and home electronics

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The role will provide an important supporting role to the medical secretaries and consultant pathologists. Your main duties will include:

• To provide an essential point of contact between the hospital, medical staff, general practitioners and other outside agencies.
• Accurately transcribe from audio dictation, all correspondence to GPs, other hospitals and outside agencies relating to the patient pathway. Process routine and non-routine correspondence independently.
• Verify the accuracy of all reports according to departmental policy and ensure results are made available in a timely manner.
• Organise and support meetings including minute taking as necessary, ensuring the distribution of minutes.
• Assist with staff training.

Please view the attached job description for full details of the role and use your supporting statement to confirm how you meet the essential and desirable criteria on the job specification.

Please note that this advertised position, which is part of occupation code 4211 does not meet the UKVI eligibility requirements for a Skilled Worker Visa. The Trust would not be able to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship for this role.

Person specification

Experience

• Working as part of a team
• Previous secretarial/office work including working with computers
• Working to deadlines

Skills

• Keyboard skills accurate fast typist – knowledge of Microsoft office
• Remain calm under pressure – patience with patients
• Preference for working closely with and supporting a multi-disciplinary team
• Effective role model, demonstrating NNUH’s PRIDE values of People focussed, Respect, Integrity, Dedication and Excellence
• Demonstrates understanding and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Qualifications

• Good general standard of literacy and numeracy

The Job Description, which includes a Person Specification, provides a full outline of responsibilities and requirements for this role. Please use your supporting statement to demonstrate how you meet the person specification.

Flexibility

Whilst every effort will be made to recruit to the post as it is advertised, there may be occasions where we consider alternative working patterns, such as part time working, or contract types, such as secondments, depending on circumstances. Should you wish to work in a different working pattern to that stated in our advertisement, please indicate this in the supporting statement to your application.

Notice: the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) will never ask candidates to make any payment during the recruitment process, offer employment without a formal recruitment process, or contact applicants via WhatsApp, social media, or free email accounts. Please only apply for vacancies advertised through official NHS recruitment channels and be cautious of any unsolicited job offers. If you receive suspicious recruitment communications claiming to represent NNUH, do not share personal information or make any payments.

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