Support Secretary

UHDB; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 22,000; Full time

Job summary

UHDB is seeking a proactive Support Secretary to join the Maxillofacial Team at Royal Derby Hospital. You will provide administrative support, liaise with clinicians and clerical staff, and help maintain efficient patient administration systems in a busy NHS setting.

The role offers development opportunities and a collaborative team, with emphasis on accuracy, organisation and effective communication in a medical secretarial environment.

Qualifications

• GCSE English Language (9-4 or A-C) or equivalent.
• RSA/OCR level II or equivalent knowledge and skills.
• IT literate to include Word and Excel or other experience.
• Understanding of the 18-week RTT process.

Responsibilities

• Quality checking/typing and despatch of VR voice recognition clinical correspondence relating to NHS medical patients within the quality standards and time limits as specified.
• Liaise with wards/departments, patients and other health care providers to ensure prompt communication.
• Maintain departmental clinical admin information and general filing correspondence.
• Provide support and cover to other areas of the Business Unit/Division and undertake other duties as requested.
• Answer telephone, take messages and deal with queries as required.

Skills

Organisational skills

IT literacy

Administration experience

Education

GCSE English Language (9-4 or A-C) or equivalent

RSA/OCR level II or equivalent

Tools

Word

Excel

Job description

As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together.

Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work.

With over 14,000 members of staff you can expect huge variety and new opportunities every day! Our staff go above and beyond and take pride in caring for our patients.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust is fully committed to promoting inclusion, equality, diversity and human rights in employment and delivery of its services. The Trust is committed to providing an environment where all employees, patients, carers and visitors experience equality of opportunity by means of understanding and appreciating the value of diversity.

As a Trust we promote an inclusive environment and welcome applications from a diverse pool of talent and backgrounds. All individuals are valued and given every opportunity to succeed based on merit.

The Trust actively encourages applications from members of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities. These groups are under-represented in our organisation, and it’s important to us that our workforce reflects the diversity of our communities as much as possible.

Armed Forces and Disability Confident guaranteed interview scheme

To further support the pledges in the Armed Forces Covenant and to make a positive contribution to support ex-armed forces personnel (veterans) make the transition to civilian life, the Trust has introduced a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for veterans who meets the essential criteria set out in the person specification, to help them overcome barriers to find civilian employment. The scheme will operate for all external recruitment.

The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer and committed to both employing and retaining people with disabilities. This commitment is to guarantee an interview for any candidate that has disclosed a disability under the Equality Act 2010 and who meets the essential criteria set out in the person specification. Reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 will be considered upon request.

if you are blind or visually impaired and require application material in an alternative format- such as Braille, large print, audio or accessible electronic formats oryou require support/adjustments with your application please contact the recruitment team on 01332 788466

The Trust is proud to be a signatory of the Care Leavers Covenant and is committed to supporting care-experienced people into employment.

Applicants who identify as a care leaver and who meet the essential criteria for the role, as detailed in the person specification, will be guaranteed an interview.

If you wish to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this within your application.

Join us and help make a real difference to our Trust.

Here’s more about the role and what we’re looking for;

Job overview

Are you an enthusiastic and motivated individual looking for a new challenge, career change, or development opportunity?

Do you have excellent organisational skills, confidence using IT systems, and transferable administration experience? If so, we'd love to hear from you.

We are seeking a proactive and reliable team player to join ourMaxillofacial Team at Royal Derby Hospital as aSupport Secretary. This is an exciting opportunity to develop your skills within a busy and supportive speciality, with the potential to build a rewarding career in medical administration.

Working closely with consultants, clinicians, medical secretaries and the wider multidisciplinary team, you will help provide a high-quality and efficient administrative service that supports patient care. You will undertake a variety of administrative duties and receive support and development to expand your knowledge and experience within a medical secretarial environment.

The successful candidate will be adaptable, able to prioritise a varied workload, and committed to delivering an excellent service. You will be required to work flexibly across the team, supporting colleagues and ensuring the smooth running of the service.

Come and meet the team and discover how this role could be the next step in your career.

Main duties of the job

• Quality checking/typing and despatch of VR voice recognition clinical correspondence relating to NHS medical patients within the quality standards and time limits asspecified.
• Effective liaison with the relevant wards and departments within the hospital and with patients and other health care providers
  associated with the Consultant, his/her team to ensure a prompt and effective communication system.
• Assist in the upkeep of the departmental clinical admin information and general filing correspondence.
• Training will be given to ensure your understanding of the 18-week RTT process and a knowledge of the Trust Patient Access Policy and an agreement to adhered to these policies according to National Trust Guidelines, Waiting list management and 18 weeks guideline
• Responsible for the regular case note maintenance and accurate filing
• Books and arranges meetings when required.
• To provide support and cover to other areas to the Business Unit/Division and to undertake other duties as requested.
• Answer the telephone and take messages and deal with queries as required.

Closing date of applications: 5th October 2026

Interview date: 19th October 2026

Working for our organisation

As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together

Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work.

In return we will offer:

• Development opportunities, both professional and leadership development
• On-going support from recruitment to when you join our team and beyond.
• Staff benefits including employee assistance programme, discounted gym membership, onsite fitness classes, car schemes

Key Facts:

• We see on average 4810 OP appointments a day.
• We are the 4th busiest Trauma & Orthopaedic outpatients department in England - an average of 2077 per week.
• An average of 1115 patients are seen in A&Es across our network every day - 3rd largest in the country.
• Our hospitals admit an average of 195 emergency patients daily.
• Last year we undertook almost 33,700 planned surgical operations in our 57 operating theatres.
• We are one of only 7 Trusts nationally with more than 50 operating theatres.
• We carry out more than 140 elective procedures each working day.
• UHDB is a research active University Hospital with a large and varied portfolio of clinical trials and research opportunities for all staff.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached Job description and Person Specification. You will need to register if you do not already have an account.

UHDB is committed to fair and transparent recruitment. We welcome authentic applications that reflect your own skills, experience and motivations for the role. While we understand that candidates may use AI tools for grammar, formatting or accessibility purposes, applications that appear to be substantially AI‑generated may be subject to additional review. If this applies to your submission, we will let you know and may ask for clarification. Please ensure your application accurately represents your experience and is written in your own words.

Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa. As we may be unable to provide sponsorship Skilled worker: Health and Care Visa | NHS Employers.

Important visa information: Due to UK Home Office immigration rule changes effective from 22 July 2025, applicants sponsored under Occupation Code 6131 (Nursing Auxiliaries and Assistants) may not be eligible to bring dependants under the Skilled Worker route if their Certificate of Sponsorship is issued on or after this date. Applicants are responsible for understanding how these rules apply to their individual circumstances. The Trust cannot provide immigration advice. Further information is available on the Skilled Worker visa: Your partner and children - GOV.UK

Your application (for shortlisting purposes) is assessed based on the Person Specification in the job advert (below).

Skilled worker: Health and Care Visa

Read about the Health and Care Visa for employing overseas nationals (excluding Irish citizens) under the points-based immigration system.

Person specification

Education, Training and Qualifications

• GCSE English Language (9-4 or A-C) or equivalent
• RSA/OCR level II or equivalent knowledge and skills

Experience & Knowledge

• A recent knowledge and understanding of administrative procedures
• Must be IT literate to include Word and Excel or other experience
• An understanding of the 18-week RTT process
• Knowledge of the Trust’s IT Systems

Communications

Our Trust aims to provide the highest quality care to patients within Derbyshire and South East Staffordshire and we want the very best people to work with us.

Follow us on Twitter @UHDBTrust or find us on Facebook & LinkedIn - UHDBTrust

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

If we receive a high number of applications for this position we reserve the right to withdraw the post before the closing date, therefore it is advisable that you apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

At UHDB , we offer different ways to work flexibly to each and every one of our colleagues, many of whom already work flexibly at all sites of the Trust.

For our roles we are open to discussing the possibility of part-time/ reduced hours/ compressed hours/ flexible start and finish times/ fixed/flexible shifts/annualised hours/ term time hours/ hybrid working - working partly in the trust/partly at home.

Why don't you talk to us at interview about the flexibility you would like to explore and what it means to you, and we will discuss what's possible for the job and team, and the opportunities we might be able to create together.

We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise to work with you to look at all the available options.

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