Medical Secretary

NHS; Tees Valley; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider in Tees Valley is hiring a full-time Medical Secretary to support the Ophthalmology Department. Responsibilities include managing appointments, providing secretarial support, and ensuring compliance with Trust standards. Candidates should have strong typing skills, good education background, and experience in administration. The role offers flexible working arrangements after a training period.

Qualifications

• Proven typing skills to a high standard.
• Understanding of medical terminology.
• Experience in a secretarial/administrative role in a dynamic environment.

Responsibilities

• Provide confidential secretarial support to clinical staff.
• Manage appointment bookings and maintain patient information.
• Organize meetings and produce minutes.

Skills

Typing skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Education

Good standard of general education

NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Publisher

Job description

Overview

Go back County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust Medical Secretary

The closing date is 05 November 2025

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated, calm and methodical team player to become a medical secretary and provide essential administration within the Department of Ophthalmology, which is part of the Surgical Directorate. We are currently recruiting for a full-time (37.5 hrs) Medical Secretary to work in Ophthalmology. The nominal base will be Darlington Memorial Hospital and working days can be determined at interview, offering both agile and flexible working following a period of training.

Working in a friendly team, our Medical Secretaries are an excellent resource, ensuring Consultants and Nurse Specialists have all the administrative support they require.

The Department of Ophthalmology is a friendly, supportive, busy but welcoming Directorate.

Main duties of the job

• Full range of secretarial duties to the Ophthalmology Team
• First point of contact to the patients
• Track & trace investigations in order to meet 18 week pathway requirements

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged it with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated as essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

Over reliance on AI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances of success.

For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

From April 9th 2025 - Healthcare assistants - You must have a minimum of two years of experience working within the NHS as a HCA for the Trust to consider sponsorship (we will only consider sponsorship if you meet this criteria and have a current visa expiring within 3 months).

Job responsibilities

To provide a full range of confidential secretarial/administrative support to supporting clinical staff, working with minimal supervision.

To undertake typing and distribution of clinical and other patient-related and general correspondence, dictated by Consultants and supporting clinical staff, to achieve Trust standards of accuracy and timeliness.

To be the point of contact for staff, patients and others within and outside the organisation, responding to external and internal telephone enquiries, taking appropriate and timely action required, including making appointments, giving non-clinical advice, onward referral to relevant department, etc.

To receive and respond to internal and external correspondence, taking appropriate and timely action as required, in accordance with Trust and/or departmental standards and processes.

To book investigations and any necessary follow-up appointments, as directed by clinical staff, ensuring test results are presented to medical staff on receipt, where these are not available electronically.

To maintain accurate patient and GP details on the Trust's central and local Patient Administration and Clinical Systems, as required.

To ensure patient information is bar-coded correctly for scanning into the electronic clinical document management system (ECDMS).

To manage electronic diaries, as required.

To support arrangement of on-call rotas, as required.

To organise meetings, including arranging venues, preparing agendas, collating and issuing papers and attending for taking and production of minutes, as required.

To operate efficient and up-to-date administrative systems and processes for all office tasks.

To maintain accurate and timely data entry to databases to meet service requirements.

To prioritise own workload to meet the needs of the patients and Consultants and ensure all deadlines are met.

To support new and/or less experienced staff, as directed by line manager/head of service.

To provide cover as required during absence of colleagues.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Good standard of general education
• Keyboarding/typing qualification equivalent to RSA 3/OCR Advanced text/word processing or equivalent proven typing skills to a high standard (or working towards/equivalent experience)
• Educated to at least NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration (or working towards /equivalent experience)
• Understanding of medical terminology
• Experience of Bespoke/Therapeutic clinic management
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets

Special Requirements

• Ability to travel independently across the County to fulfil the requirements of the post.

Special Skills & Knowledge

• Experience of Microsoft Publisher
• Knowledge of Data Protection and Caldicott Principles and understanding of the need to maintain strict confidentiality
• Ability to use email and maintain and update paper and electronic diaries
• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to deal with and prepare routine written correspondence
• Excellent verbal communication skills, with the ability to obtain information and pass on comprehensive and confidential messages
• Ability to organise and prioritise workload in order to meet deadlines
• Ability to use own initiative and work with minimal supervision
• Good interpersonal skills

Experience

• Experience of a secretarial/administrative role providing general provision of secretarial/administrative duties in a challenging and constantly changing environment
• Demonstrate Experience of using Microsoft Word
• Experience in setting up and maintaining office filing systems
• Experience of maintaining and setting up databases
• Experience in planning and organising meetings and taking minutes

Employer name

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust