Clinical Support Secretary

Choose Well - Choose WWL

Job overview

We currently have an opportunity for a suitably experienced medical secretary to join our team of Clinical Support Secretaries within our Medical Secretariat based at our Wigan site.

This role is ideal for those wishing to pursue a career as a medical secretary, offering opportunities to gain knowledge and experience across multiple specialities to facilitate progression to a higher level.

This interesting & varied role requires the ability to work well on your own initiative whilst being committed to teamwork to ensure work is completed to meet Trust targets. You must possess the ability to manage a variety of tasks & prioritise these accordingly whilst working under pressure. Good communication skills and the ability to deal with confidential & sensitive issues in a professional manner are essential.

Main duties of the job

You will be working in a busy environment within the 'virtual' Clinical Secretary pool within a small team to designated specialties. You will be providing an efficient audio typing service using our Digital Dictation System, together with our existing Patient Information Systems. You will support our Consultant PAs, ensuring that patient and GP correspondence is typed and dispatched within a timely manner.

To be successful in this role you will need to be qualified to RSA III or equivalent or have a proven experience of audio-typing and providing a secretarial / audio-typing service. You will also need to be able to type accurately at speeds of around 40 - 50 words per minute. Having knowledge of medical terminology and / or an AMSPAR qualification will be a distinct advantage. Previous secretarial experience within a hospital or other medical environment would also be a distinct advantage.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Audio typing using the Digital Dictation System, photocopying and the composition of letters.
• Sorting, prioritising, processing and distribution of incoming mail, using judgement and experience to decide which documents are to be passed directly to other areas for action and information.
• Ensuring accurate and up-to-date inputting of information onto all Trust patient systems (PAS, ORMIS, EPR, Digital Dictation).
• General office management duties (photocopying, scanning, emailing documentation) as required.
• Assist other Clinical Secretaries with their workload.
• Promote the dissemination of quality patient information.
• Provide non-clinical advice and information to patients/clients/relatives.
• Knowledge of a full range of secretarial procedures and software programmes (PAS, theatre, EPR, digital dictation) and their application to improve service efficiency and effectiveness.
• Understanding of medical terminology and a willingness to assist colleagues with transcription outputs.
• Exercise judgement when dealing with patient enquiries, analysing and resolving problems at source.
• Assist in new staff induction together with the identification and support of their training requirements.
• Facilitate a supportive learning environment that enables all members of the secretariat team to develop.
• Recognise the effective utilisation of all appropriate development resources and opportunities.
• Promote the ethos of continuous improvement disseminating any new knowledge gained to other colleagues.
• Recognise and accept responsibility for own personal development.
• Supervising administration support and work experience students ensuring an effective office system is maintained.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Qualified to RSA III Level or equivalent qualification / experience

Desirable criteria

• ECDL qualification
• AMSPAR Certificate in medical terminology
• AMSPAR qualification, in addition to medical terminology

Experience

Essential criteria

• Proven relevant experience of providing a secretarial or audio-typing service, or equivalent
• Experience of successfully working within tight time frames and to deadlines
• Experience of word processing

Desirable criteria

• Experience of using digital dictation systems
• Experience of coaching and training new staff within own work area
• Experience of using Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Outlook

Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner
• Ability to use VDU equipment
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to type 40 - 50 words per minute with an accuracy rate of 90%
• Ability to type documents in letter format
• Clear and accurate written & verbal communication skills

Desirable criteria

• Ability to type more than 50 words per minute with an accuracy rate of at least 95%

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Demonstrates willingness to develop a range of medical terminology
• Understanding of the Data Protection Act
• Some knowledge of the 18 week policy, Choose & Book and Patient Choice; and how this role fits with these initiatives

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of medical terminology within at least one specialty
• Knowledge of medical terminology within more than one specialty
• Knowledge of how to use Trust PAS and theatre systems

Additional

Essential criteria

• Motivated and proactive
• Demonstrates willingness to change as the role evolves.
• Willingness to meet the performance criteria set out in the job description and undertake personal and professional development.
• Speak English to an appropriate standard relevant to their role, i.e. with confidence and accuracy, using correct sentence structures and vocabulary, and without hesitation