Support Secretary, Colorectal

UHCW; Coventry; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust is seeking a highly organised administrative professional to provide confidential, patient-centred clinical administration and secretarial support to Consultants and their teams. The role includes handling enquiries, coordinating appointments, and assisting with the Colorectal TWW Service.

Applicants should have an NHS administrative background, strong MS Office skills, and knowledge of relevant NHS systems.

Qualifications

• ECDL or equivalent is required.
• NVQ3 in Business Administration or Customer Care or equivalent.
• Key Skills level 2 in Literacy or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Provide an administrative and secretarial service to the clinical team.
• Be the first point of contact for enquiries and liaise with others.
• Support management of clinics for Colorectal Consultants and registrars, including booking, rescheduling and cancelling appointments.
• Assist with the Colorectal TWW Service – finding rooms and building clinics.
• Manage dictation, quality check clinical correspondence, and ensure timely dispatch.

Skills

Verbal & written communication

Organisational skills

Decision making

Judgement & initiative

Education

ECDL or equivalent

NVQ3 in Business Administration or Customer Care or equivalent

Key Skills level 2 in Literacy or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Site University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Town Coventry Salary £25,760 - £27,476 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 08/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 17/11/2026

Job overview

To provide a specialised, comprehensive and confidential patient centred clinical administrationand secretarial service to Consultants and their teams in accordance with Departmental, Trust andNational standards, policies and procedures. To act as a source of advice and guidance regarding the specialism

Please be advised that sponsorship is not eligible for this post.

Main duties of the job

• Provide an administrative and secretarial service to the clinical team.
• Act as the first point of contact for dealing with enquiries and take appropriate action as necessary liaising with others as appropriate. Be responsible for providing and receiving complex and sensitive information.
• Support with the management of clinics for the Colorectal Consultants and registrars, including the booking, rescheduling and cancelling of appointment
• Support with the Colorectal TWW Service – i.e finding rooms/building clinics.

Working for our organisation

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, rated as good by the Care Quality Commission, is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the UK.

We are extremely proud of our employees across our hospital sites, with high quality patient care at the heart of everything we do.

Boasting some of the most modern facilities in Western Europe, the Trust is renowned for being at the forefront of research and innovation as part of its blossoming reputation as a worldwide leader in healthcare.

By joining our exciting journey, you will form part of a passionate, talented team and will be able to access a wide range of learning and development opportunities. There has never been a better time to join our team.

The Trust is committed to building an organisation that makes full use of the talents, skills, experience, and different perspectives available in our diverse society. We want everyone to feel they are respected, valued, can achieve their potential and receive the most appropriate and relevant care. We will create an environment where the equality and human rights principles of fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy are promoted and are part of the organisation's core values.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Managing dictation, ensuring clinical correspondence is quality checked and sent out in a timely manner
• Implementing and maintaining both manual and electronic filing systems and databases as required by the department, ensuring all documents are accurately and appropriately archived.
• Process referrals to the department including generating waiting lists, booking and coordinating of appointment or procedures and coding of activity.
• Ensuring all clinical events are ‘cashed up’ in an appropriate time scale with appropriate outcomes (e.g. discharge or follow up appointments made).
• Undertaking filing, photocopying, and scanning as necessary, ensuring all documents are accurately and appropriately archived.
• Management of post within the department.
• Booking and re-scheduling of clinic appointments where necessary.
• Managing dictation, ensuring clinical correspondence is quality checked and sent out in a timely manner
• Implementing and maintaining both manual and electronic filing systems and databases as required by the department, ensuring all documents are accurately and appropriately archived.
• Process referrals to the department including generating waiting lists, booking and coordinating of appointment or procedures and coding of activity.
• Ensuring all clinical events are ‘cashed up’ in an appropriate time scale with appropriate outcomes (e.g. discharge or follow up appointments made).
• Undertaking filing, photocopying, and scanning as necessary, ensuring all documents are accurately and appropriately archived.
• Management of post within the department.
• Booking and re-scheduling of clinic appointments where necessary.

For further details of the role please see the attached job description.

Person specification

Qualifications

• ECDL or equivalent. NVQ3 in Business Administration or Customer Care or equivalent. Key Skills level 2 in Literacy or equivalent.

Experience

• Experience of working in a busy administrative environment. Experience in a customer facing role. Experience of NHS systems used to schedule appointments.

Knowledge

• Thorough working knowledge of Microsoft Office packages i.e. Outlook, Word, Excel. Good understanding of general office working procedures.
• Awareness of current issues within the NHS.

Skills

• Good organisational skills. Sound decision making skills. Able to present information to others. Excellent level of verbal and written communication. Able to use judgement and initiative to provide information and support. Able to apply tact and sensitivity to establish trust and confidence. Empathetic approach to dealing with and resolving enquiries. Able to analyse problems and initiate appropriate solutions effectively Able to manage difficult and distressing situations effectively. Able to compose correspondence and reports

Commitment to Trust Values and Behaviours

• Evidence of demonstrating the Trust Values (Compassion, Openness, Pride, Partnership, Improve, Learn and Respect) and the associated Values in Action behaviours in the workplace. For posts with managerial responsibility only Evidence of promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, and ensuring fair and equitable practices throughout your work experience. Evidence of promoting a culture which helps individuals live behaviours aligned to our Trust Values (Compassion, Openness, Pride, Partnership, Improve, Learn and Respect)

To ensure that we provide world-class patient care, UHCW recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust’s Values and Behaviours in their everyday life. Therefore, if you are invited to interview, you will be undertaking a Values Based Interview/Assessment, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust’s Values and Behaviours which can be accessed on the right side of this page under the job description.
The Supporting Information Section in your application should therefore reflect your understanding of the Trust’s Values and associated Behaviours. You will be expected to provide us with examples from work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviour.

The Trust is committed to Equal Opportunities within the workplace.

All vacancies will be considered for Job Share unless otherwise stated.

All applicants who have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be interviewed.

Where a post has an overwhelming response, this Trust may use random selection in order to reduce numbers to interview, any disabled applicants will automatically be guaranteed an interview and will be exempt from this process.

UHCW NHS Trust, by virtue of its Green Plan, is committed to ensuring that the way we provide services minimises the impact on the environment and the future health of the public e.g. zero waste to landfill, reducing our carbon footprint and increasing our recycling and reuse percentages.

In submitting an application form, you authorise University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust to confirm from your previous or current NHS employer and other prior employers; previous NHS service details and personal data held about you, including Occupational Health data (inoculations and screening tests). This data will be transferred using NHS Electronic Staff Record and third-party systems via an automated process and only used for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining accurate employment records, should you be appointed to the post.

If you are successful at interview you will receive a conditional offer of employment and we’ll ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete all pre-employment checks to progress to a final unconditional offer.

We must confirm the identity of our staff and their right to work in the United Kingdom. We will ask you to submit proof of your identity and right to work documents via a secure digital platform approved by the Home Office, named TrustID. Alternatively, you may be asked to attend our office with original documents.

Depending on you level of exposure with patients you may be required to undertake a Standard or Enhanced DBS. The cost of this check will be charged to you and will be deducted from your salary over the first 3 months of employment at the current rate.

All correspondence will be sent by email; please check your account regularly including your Junk/SPAM folders

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.