
Job overview
Enthusiastic, friendly and well-motivated individuals are needed to join the administration team within the Cellular Pathology Department.
This role will provide an efficient and effective secretarial and administrative service to the Pathology Department including Consultants, their medical teams and laboratory personnel.
Main duties of the job
- Provide secretarial support to the Cellular Pathology Services , Consultants and their medical teams, medical PA’s
- Provide information and advice when dealing with enquiries either in person or by telephone from members of staff, patients, general practitioners and the general public, with subsequent referral to medical, scientific or administrative staff as appropriate.
- Resolve patient and staff queries; relay medical information between clinicians and general practitioners.
- Word processing/audio typing of complex laboratory reports and input onto the Pathology Computer system.
- Type/amend letters onto the Trust computer system
- Assist with the day to day scanning of laboratory reports.
- Process and dispatch departmental internal and external mail
- Devise and maintain departmental filing systems using departmental scanning system.
- Operate the Trusts computer systems including Patient Administration System, ALS System, Winscribe, Pathosys, COSD Protocol, Case Note Tracking, RIS System, SMART, ESR, email and intranet as appropriate.
- Operate the Pathology computer systems - LabCentre, QCLite, QPulse
- Sort and distribute Pathology reports to Wards, Departments and General Practitioners.
- Participate in and be responsible for the collation of data and producing of reports/projects on behalf of Consultant, Senior Management and Senior Technical staff e.g. on call rotas/updates, leave charts, crash plan etc.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To read more information about the advertised role, and the main job duties/responsibilities please open the Job Description and Person Specification located under the supporting documents heading. You can also read more information about working at the Northern Care Alliance within the attached Candidate Information Pack or by visiting our careers website: www.careers.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk
Person specification
Skills
Essential
- Excellent communication skills enabling tact and diplomacy when relaying sensitive information to staff, patients and relatives, some of whom may exhibit challenging behaviour
- Excellent time management skills and the ability to prioritise workload effectively
- Ability to work quickly and accurately, using own initiative in relaying complex medical information
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively as a member of a team
- Organisational skills in managing own workload
- Awareness of confidentiality
Knowledge
Essential
- Practical and working knowledge of Microsoft Office
Desirable
- Practical and working knowledge of medical terminology
Qualifications
Essential
- 3 GCSE’s (or equivalent) Grade C or above. One to include English Language
- RSA II Audio/Copy Typing or equivalent demonstrable skills
- ECDL or equivalent demonstrable skills
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Pathology support secretary with Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in The Royal Oldham. It is listed as a Band 3 Administrative and IT role. The advertised salary is £25,760 - £27,476 per annum. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 27 Aug 2026.
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