Support Medical Secretary

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust; Weston-super-Mare; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust invites applicants for three Support Secretary positions at Weston General Hospital. The roles are 12-month fixed-term contracts or secondments, requiring efficient, confidential secretarial support in a fast-paced environment.

You will work closely with a team to ensure smooth service delivery, manage workloads, and communicate effectively with patients, relatives and healthcare professionals. Proficiency in MS Office and proofreading is essential.

Qualifications

• GCSE English and Maths at grade C or above (or equivalent).
• Business and Administration Level 3 NVQ or equivalent experience.
• Qualified in word processing or audio typing (or equivalent).

Responsibilities

• Support the Senior Medical Secretaries with admin, typing of letters and basic tasks.
• Liaise with clinical and non-clinical staff via telephone and email.
• Be a point of contact for patients, relatives and carers professionally.
• Return calls promptly and keep callers updated information.
• Escalate patient queries and capacity issues to line manager or clinical staff.
• Maintain a caring, professional and empathetic approach toward patients and carers.

Skills

Communication skills

Teamwork

Customer service

Initiative

Empathy

Adaptability

Organisation

Education

GCSE English & Maths

Business & Administration Level 3

Word processing / audio typing

Tools

Microsoft Office 365

Proofreading/editing

Job description

Main area Support across a range of secretarial teams and clinical specialties Grade Band 3 Contract 12 months (Please note that this fixed-term appointment is linked to a secondment arrangement. Should the substantive postholder return to their position earlier than anticipated, or should the secondment end for any reason before the stated end date, the fixed-term appointment may be terminated early. Appropriate notice will be provided in accordance with the terms and conditions of employment.) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday) Job ref 387-WD7437-RUH

Employer Bristol NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Weston General Hospital Town Weston-super-Mare Salary £25,760 - £27,476 pa pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 06/09/2026 23:59

Support Medical Secretary

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity to recruit three Support Secretaries on a 12-month fixed term or secondment basis. We are seeking enthusiastic and dedicated candidates who can provide a high-quality, efficient secretarial support service. Applicants should ideally have a broad range of secretarial and administrative skills and experience.

The department is fast paced, and the successful candidate will need to demonstrate excellent teamwork skills and the ability to work effectively within team.

This role is part of a team of three Secretary vacancies, and the successful candidates will work closely with colleagues to ensure the smooth running of the service. They must be able to work independently, prioritise tasks, and manage their own workload effectively.

As the role involves regular contact with patients, relatives, and healthcare professionals via telephone and email, applicants must have excellent communication skills and a courteous, professional, and empathetic manner.

The successful candidate will need a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 and experience of proofreading and editing documents.

This is a 12-month secondment opportunity. Please note that if the secondment ends earlier than anticipated, or the substantive postholder returns to their role before the end of the secondment period, this appointment may be terminated early in line with the appropriate notice provisions.

Main duties of the job

• To support the Senior Medical Secretaries on a day-to-day basis with admin, typing of letters and overseeing of basic tasks
• To liaise with and act as a point of contact for clinical and non-clinical staff via telephone and email
• To act as a point of contact for patients, relatives and carers. The post holder should be polite and empathetic to the patient’s needs at all times and be able to communicate effectively when dealing with difficult situations/conversations
• Returning calls promptly and keeping callers updated with information in an effective and efficient way
• Escalate patient queries, capacity problems and general issues to the role’s line manager or relevant clinical staff as appropriate
• To show a caring and professional approach towards patients, relatives and carers. This may require acting with resilience to deal with sometimes distressed patients and relatives in a professional and empathetic manner

Working for our organisation

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations, operating from three main sites at Southmead, Bristol city centre and Weston.

With an annual turnover of £2.3 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone’s throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For a more detailed job description, main responsibilities, and person specification, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.

Qualifications and Training

• Educated to GCSE, grade C or above (or equivalent) in English Language and Maths
• Business and Administration Level 3 NVQ or equivalent experience
• Qualified in word processing or audio typing (or equivalent)

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of dealing with the public, both on the telephone and in person
• Previous NHS experience
• Understanding of medical terminology
• Clerical / administrative experience

Skills and Abilities

• Effective and polite manner when dealing with people, both face to face and on the phone
• Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines whilst maintaining a high standard of accuracy
• Ability to work effectively in a busy team, adjust to change and motivate others
• Ability to work on your own, using your own initiative, if required
• Confidence to handle difficult conversations with patients, relatives and carers
• Ability to adapt to use new computer packages and programmes
• Effective organisational skills
• Good IT skills including Microsoft packages
• Good secretarial and audio typing skills
• Supportive
• Respectful

We hope that you will decide to join us and become part of this exciting journey, helping us to shape our future together.

• As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.
• The Trust is committed to investing in and caring for all our staff. We will support you in maintaining and improving your health and wellbeing, as well as your career development through management and training support - developing exceptional people for exceptional careers.
• BFT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
• To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 all applicants must be able to speak fluent English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed at Interview.
• If you require sponsorship for a visa to work in the UK, to avoid disappointment, please check to ensure you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.
• The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
• By applying for this post, you are agreeing to Bristol NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.