Medical Secretary

Livewell Southwest; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

Livewell Southwest is seeking a dedicated Medical Secretary to join the Cumberland Centre in Plymouth. This full-time role (37.5 hours, Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm) sits on a 12-month fixed-term contract and requires accurate audio typing, diary management, and high-quality administrative support for the Community Mental Health Team.

You will handle clinic letters, patient records, referrals, and communications with GPs and other professionals, ensuring confidentiality and timely processing in a

Qualifications

• Previous medical secretary or senior administrator experience.
• Accurate audio typing and willingness to learn audio typing if needed.
• Experience in a hospital/clinical setting with MDT collaboration.
• Ability to work to deadlines and under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Provide efficient audio/copy typing and wordprocessing for letters and reports.
• Manage diary, appointments, minutes, and agendas for consultants.
• Handle referrals, send appointment letters, and maintain patient records.
• Maintain filing systems and secure handling of written/computer information.
• Liaise with GPs, patients, carers and professionals daily via email/phone/letter.
• Ensure confidentiality and effective use of the clinic system (SystmOne).
• Coordinate meetings and minutes, and support junior doctors as needed.
• Monitor supplies of stationery and assist with FP10 administration.

Skills

Audio typing

MS Office

Communication skills

Prioritisation

Education

GCSEs

NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration

ECDL

AMSPAR Diploma

RSA 2 Typewriting

Tools

SystmOne/iPM

MS Office

Job description

Are you ready for a new challenge? Are you currently working in an administrative role and looking for your next career step? The Community Mental Health Team are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic full time Medical Secretary to work at the Cumberland Centre for 37.5 hours per week across a Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm on a 12 month Fixed Term contract.

The Community Mental Health Team works with service users who have a range of mental health difficulties. We are a multi-disciplinary team of Consultant Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists, Support Workers and other key professionals.

Main duties of the job

Your role will be to support the mental health consultants with duties including audio typing of clinic dictations, arranging and re-scheduling appointments, maintaining accurate and up to date patient records, arranging meetings, minute taking and report monitoring. As such, we require someone with the skills to take on this demanding secretarial work. You will have proficient keyboard skills demonstrating accuracy in typing. Experience of audio typing or a willingness to learn this skill is essential.

Although you will primarily support the team based at the Cumberland Centre, there will be a requirement to cover the team at Avon House, Mount Gould on occasions when needed.

Please note that this role is not eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route.

All Livewell staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service.

About us

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning socialenterprise delivering integrated health and social care services acrossPlymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts ofDevon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sportscentres, and health hubs.

As an organisation with a strong social conscience we are guided by our values,kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, andcollaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability, whileempowering staff and those we serve.

We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, inshaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the righttime and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people leadhealthy, independent lives.

We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, trainingpathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the CareCertificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorshipprograms ensure a smooth transition into our organisation.

Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from allsections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mentalhealth, neuro-diverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during theapplication process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.

Job responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

To provide an efficient audio /copy typing and wordprocessing service as required. This includes the typing of letters and reportsin an accurate and high-quality manner, adhering to the organisationsturnaround time for clinic letters following appointments.

To work with the team in implementing all admin procedures includingthe typing letters, reports, training packages, emails, minutes and agendas asrequested. This requires advancedkeyboard skills, speed and accuracy within required timescales and constant useof a VDU daily.

To ensure referrals out to other services asrequested by the doctors are processed in a timely manner, as well as any referralsin received.

To establish and maintain filing and administrativesystems so that written or computer information is easily accessible andsecure.

To retrieve medical records and assist thecompletion of medical/insurance records.

To receive incoming and initiate outgoing telephonecalls in order to facilitate timely and appropriate communications with others,taking messages and dealing with appropriate queries.

To maintain the computer clinic system in anaccurate and secure manner.

In liaison with the team responsible, maintainadequate supplies of office stationery in order to perform your secretarialduties.

Process incoming and outgoing mail, distributing tocorrect doctor in a timely manner.

Be responsible for all of the consultants incoming mail and e-mails,whilst using discretion to deal appropriately with any mail that does notrequire the consultants perusal.

Provide an efficient and accurate secretarial service to the consultantand to ensure the consultants diary of appointments is updated and confirmedwith them regularly. Use discretion to make changes to the consultants diary andcommunicate the changes whenever necessary.

To maintain, always, the highest level of confidentiality in respect ofinformation concerning the Livewell Southwest or any of its staff or patients.

Record and monitor the consultants attendance/absence in own diary. Applyto the appropriate parties for approval of leave and obtain consultant cover. Arrangechanges to the Consultant Duty Rota as necessary and again notify all partiesof such changes.

Provide secretarial support for the junior doctors working with the consultantsfollowing outpatients clinics.

Liaise with the team and other medical secretaries to cross cover forannual leave and other leave as required, in line with the secretarialstandard.

Liaise with GPs, patients, carers and other professionals on a dailybasis via email, telephone calls or letters.

Book patients in for clinical appointments, send appointment letters,following the appointment outcome the appointment and booking the nextappointment within timeframe stated by the doctor.

Be the first point of contact on the telephone for patients and healthcareprofessionals including following data protection protocols for confirmingcallers details. Use tact, diplomacy and maintaining confidentiality whentalking to patients.

Take telephone messages and pass to correct secretary/team member asappropriate.

Maintain outpatients appointments and implement changes as necessaryon own initiative to ensure that the lists run effectively and efficiently.

Review the consultants caseload and waiting lists quarterly.

To coordinateand produce agendas and minutes for high level and confidential meetings,transcribing and distributing as necessary.

Thepost holder will liaise with patients, carers, families and otherprofessionals and agencies to organise various meetings. Due to the urgency,some of these meetings are arranged at short-notice, requiring re-organisationof diaries to ensure service user needs are met.

Toattend and participate in weekly admin team meetings, as well as the widerservice meetings.

Accurately recording large amounts of information relating to staffcontact with patients onto Livewell Southwest database (SystmOne) daily.

The post holder will identify new ways of working and make changes toown work, when agreed, to improve service.

Provide line management support to one Band 2 Administrator as part ofdevelopment.

Ensurethat all complaints, compliments, concerns, comments, and suggestions areappropriately recorded, and where possible resolved within level of role orescalated appropriately.

Thepost holder will be able to provide non-clinical advice and information withregards to appointments and visitors to the unit.

Thepost holder will undertake surveys/audits as required including staff surveys.

Respondto all communication via telephone calls, email, and written queries on behalfof the service area including call handling where appropriate.

Manage appointments, meetings, and events on behalf of theservice, making bookings where necessary and ensuring all equipment anddocumentation is available.

Ensure that the corporate support function complies with allLivewell policies and procedures including Data Protection, confidentiality,Health and Safety, security and safeguarding.

Assist in the training of newly appointedsecretarial/administrative staff and supporting them during their assimilation.

Be proactive and contribute ideas for improvement in the way theservice is delivered.

Able to work on own initiative, prioritising work within definedpolicies and procedures to set timescales.

Supporting with all administrative tasks around FP10s, includingmonthly audits, ensuring signatory log is kept up to date when staff changesoccur and scanning and saving the FP10 into SystmOne

Distributing and logging FP10s

Monitoring the FP10 stock monthly and arranging collection of newFP10 pad from Mount Gould Hospital as and when required.

Person Specification

Experience

• Previous experience as a medical secretary or senior administrator
• Proven experience of working to a deadline
• Secretarial/significant administrative experience in a hospital or clinical setting
• Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team.

Knowledge

• Proven secretarial and administrative experience
• Ability to effectively use all Microsoft packages: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint & Microsoft Teams
• Good understanding of confidentiality and data protection
• Knowledge of medical terminology.
• Understanding of Out-Patient, admission and waiting list procedures including RTT.
• Demonstrable experience of hospital software e.g. SystmOne/iPM

Specific Skills

• Excellent audio typing and computer skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to prioritise workload, using initiative where appropriate
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Able to communicate effectively with senior medical staff and service leads
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to work supervised and unsupervised
• Ability and willingness to work flexibly to meet service need requirements
• Ability to deal with multiple requests from consultants and doctors and prioritise accordingly
• Ability to accurately touch type
• Ability to communicate to people in crisis on the telephone

Qualifications

• 5 GCSEs (grades A-C) or equivalent, including English and Maths
• NVQ level 3 in Business Administration/relevant subject or able to demonstrate significant previous knowledge and experience
• ECDL
• AMSPAR Diploma
• RSA 2 in Typewriting or equivalent skills, knowledge, and experience

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.

Full-time,Part-time,Job share,Flexible working