Senior Medical Secretary

Afantastic opportunity has arisen for an experienced Senior Medical Secretary to join our team within Acute Internal Medicine at St James Hospital. As part of the Urgent Care Clinical Support Unit (CSU), you will provide comprehensive secretarial support across a variety of acute medical services including a purpose-built Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) unit, a Higher Observation Unit, and two busy acute medical units. We pride ourselves on fostering a supportive and dynamic work environment where motivated professionals can thrive.

Main duties of the job

1. Provide high-level secretarial support to the Acute Medicine team, ensuring smooth daily operations.
2. Coordinate administrative tasks across the SDEC unit, Higher Observation Unit, and acute medical units.
3. Manage patient attendances efficiently, working under pressure to maintain quality care standards.
4. Liaise with medical staff and other departments to facilitate clear communication and timely information flow.
5. Assist in the preparation of documentation, reports, and presentations as required.
6. Support team members by maintaining a positive, proactive approach in a fast-paced environment.

About us

Positive and forward-thinking attitude. Motivated and proactive with strong problem-solving skills. Able to work collaboratively in a team while also taking initiative independently. A supportive and dynamic work environment within a respected healthcare setting. The chance to be part of a dedicated team making a real difference in patient care.

Job responsibilities

We are looking for a highly organised medical secretary, with previous experience in a similar setting, who will work alongside the business team, to carry out clinical typing, co-ordination of patients' case notes/test results, appointments, telephone messages amongst other general office duties. The post holder will be based in the office for the Acute Medicine Secretarial Team within the Urgent Care CSU at St James Hospital.

Candidates should be articulate, capable of undertaking a demanding workload and must be able to demonstrate a significant level of initiative. Candidates should possess advanced keyboard skills including a high standard of word processing skills to RSA III or equivalent level qualification/experience, also GCSE English Language and Maths grade C or above. Previous medical secretarial experience, knowledge of medical terminology and audio typing is essential. You must be able to demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to prioritise workload. You should be able to integrate well with the existing team and have a genuine desire to provide a quality service to all patients and knowledge of the NHS are desirable.

Person Specification

Additional Requirements

• An understanding of departmental careers and rotation to support the clinical team in meeting their teaching and training requirements for junior departmental staff where required.

Qualifications

• Audio typing/Word Processing Skills (RSA III) or equivalent experience (essential).
• GCSE Grade C or above (or equivalent e.g. AMSPAR Level 2 qualification) English and Maths (essential).

Experience

• At least two years experience in a healthcare environment in a PA-based role or the equivalent experience as a Team Departmental/ Medical Secretary (essential).
• Co-ordinating and managing a team workload; delegating and prioritising tasks as required to allow for the delivery of a high-quality service for patients while at times adhering to tight deadlines.
• An understanding of the principles of data quality to ensure that work generated within the Department is of a high standard, accurate and timely.
• Using a variety of Microsoft office packages including word, excel and PowerPoint and e-mail.
• Managing multiple and complex diary schedules to provide a service that meets demand.
• Using Trust systems to track and update patient journeys e.g. PAS/PPM/results and liaising with a wide range of hospital or primary care staff to ensure appropriate communication has taken place.
• The ability to understand and use simple Trust reports e.g. 18-week or other waiting time tracking (PTL) reports and to interpret data to allow clinical and national priorities to be met.
• Using patient information systems such as PAS (essential) and other relevant systems such as PPM.
• Ability to deal with patients/customers either face to face, or over the phone in an appropriate and supportive manner.
• The ability to work as part of a team.
• Ability to communicate sensitively with a wide range of people including patients, using tact and diplomacy.
• Knowledge and application of the Data Protection Act in relation to patient confidentiality and the appropriate care of patient information.
• A detailed understanding of a wide range of policies to include the Trusts complaints procedure, National Waiting Time Standards and associated processes e.g. 5-day turnaround of clinical correspondence.

Skills & behaviours

• Interpersonal and communication skills.
• Organisational skills and time management.
• Patient focus applied to all areas of work.
• Organising travel.

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.