Medical Secretary | Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

Pennine Care NHS FT; Ashton-under-Lyne; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Ashton-under-Lyne is seeking a motivated Medical Secretary for the Adult Outpatients department. Responsibilities include providing comprehensive administrative support, managing communications, and maintaining patient records. Ideal candidates will demonstrate excellent organizational and communication skills while being sensitive to the needs of patients with mental health conditions. Flexible working opportunities and professional development access are available. The deadline for applications is October 29, 2025.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

Flexible working opportunities

Access to Continued Professional Development

Health and Wellbeing activities

Staff discounts

Qualifications

• Experience in a medical or administrative setting is preferred.
• Ability to manage workload and priorities effectively.
• Knowledge of data entry and management.

Responsibilities

• Provide full secretarial service to the Consultant and team.
• Handle sensitive telephone enquiries with discretion.
• Maintain an efficient electronic filing system.

Skills

Administrative skills

Sensitivity to mental health

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Ability to work under pressure

Job description

About the role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual looking to gain experience as a Medical Secretary in our Adult Outpatients department. If you have excellent administrative skills, a can‑do attitude and enjoy working as part of a team we would love to hear from you!

To provide a comprehensive administrative/secretarial service to the Consultant Psychiatrist and supporting medical team. The post‑holder will be expected to manage their workload with the Consultant and team and co‑ordinate activities to ensure that an efficient service is provided in such a way as to make a direct and positive contribution to the organisation of the work. It is essential that the post‑holder should exercise initiative commensurate with the role of a Medical Secretary.

The post‑holder will be flexible and use their own initiative to organise their workload, dependent upon the priorities and requirements at that time. Sensitivity to people with mental health needs is essential within this role. As this role involves working across a clinical team with a need to have direct contact, it is unsuitable for agile working and must be conducted at the designated base.

We are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.

Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We’re really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we’re a great place to work.

Responsibilities

• Provision of full secretarial service to Consultant and supporting medical team which includes typing letters, psychiatric reports, non‑clinical typing and recording minutes of meetings.
• Carry out general administrative duties for the Consultant and his/her supporting medical team to include information gathering and circulating correspondence. Dealing with internal and external mail (paper and electronic), managing this communication by responding to routine matters not requiring the urgent attention of the Consultant and ensuring timely dissemination. Filing, scanning and photocopying documents.
• Deal with telephone enquiries (often from patients who are distressed) and give advice wherever possible, in a diplomatic and sensitive way, following these through with the appropriate member of staff, in a responsible and tactful manner.
• Responsible for recording referrals, appointments and related information in a timely manner in accordance with the Data Quality Policy and supporting Data Quality Guidelines. To directly collate and input data on PARIS in relation to outpatient and/or inpatient activity. To deal with telephone enquiries (often from patients who are distressed) and give advice wherever possible, in a diplomatic and sensitive way, following these through with the appropriate member of staff, in a responsible and tactful manner.
• Take additional referral information or clarify the nature of referrals by telephone and signpost to appropriate agencies, as required.
• Arrange urgent clinic appointments, ensuring all relevant departments are notified accordingly including Community Mental Health Teams and the Outpatient Department.
• On behalf of the Consultant and his/her team, to actively manage patients who disengage in line with Tableau reporting and ensuring opt‑in letters are sent, responses are obtained and further intervention is arranged.
• Able to work unsupervised and manage own workload, exercising the highest standard of confidentiality using independent judgement and initiative, based on acquired knowledge and experience.
• Demonstrate influence and composure when working under pressure and to strict deadlines.
• Ensure effective liaison between a range of staff, patients and relatives. To arrange community visits by Consultant, communicating with patient’s relatives to arrange personal interviews with Consultant and giving appropriate advice wherever possible.
• Ensure the prompt typing of discharge summaries (as necessary), subsequent follow up appointment letters, reports and general correspondence within agreed standards.
• Maintain Consultant’s electronic diary, incorporating a “bring forward” system, ensuring that documentation is available prior to scheduled meetings.
• Timely filing to ensure that accurate copies of correspondence and investigative reports are scanned and uploaded to electronic health records, which will include sorting investigation results and retrieving relevant health records. Chase results in cases of urgency.
• Proactively receive visitors to the Outpatient Department, when necessary, dealing personally with matters where appropriate and demonstrating diplomacy in dealing with issues of a sensitive nature, re‑routing enquiries if necessary.
• To support data collection for the Outpatient Department and assist with reporting key performance indicators for the team.
• Record incidents, as and when, on the Trust’s Ulysses system, taking remedial action as necessary.
• Control and maintenance of health records (including archiving and culling) in accordance with the Trust’s Records Management Policy and ensuring all are electronically tracked to the correct location within PARIS.
• Organising and maintaining an efficient and effective filing system.
• Exercise independent judgement and initiative when problems arise by taking appropriate action to resolve the situation or referring to the appropriate person.
• Informing Consultant of any long waiting times for new patients; discussing and implementing any changes to the clinics to rectify any concerns.
• Assist in covering other Consultants and their supporting medical team’s secretarial needs when demand is high, after prioritisation.

Benefits

• Generous annual leave entitlement for Agenda for Change and Medical and Dental staff.
• Flexible working opportunities to support your work/life balance.
• Access to Continued Professional Development.
• Involvement in improvement and research activities.
• Health and Wellbeing activities and access to an excellent staff wellbeing service.
• Access to staff discounts across retail, leisure and travel.

Equal Opportunities

All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership are encouraged to apply for this post. We would also encourage applications from individuals with a lived experience of mental illness, either individually or as a carer.

This advert closes on Wednesday 29 Oct 2025