Secretary to the Friends of BHOC

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and friendly person with excellent interpersonal skills to act as the Secretary to the Friends.

This charity has been operating successfully for 40 years.  It funds medical equipment which the Centre could not otherwise afford.  It supports research salaries and innovative posts.  It provides amenities and information for patients and supports staffing with their training and education.  The committee are all volunteers and the secretarial role is the only paid employee.  The salary is paid for by the Friends, but the post comes under the Trust’s administrative services and is subject to NHS terms and conditions.

In this role you would act as a link between the hospital and the Friends.  You will maintain regular contact with the Chair, Treasurer and the committee of the Friends and maintain a high profile for the charity within the hospital.

We are looking for a reliable self motivated person who has the ability to be flexible and adaptable the changing needs of the service.

The Friends’ office is close to the Reception area, enabling you to easily engage with patients, relatives and staff on a regular basis.  It is very important to have an empathetic attitude.

Main duties of the job

Promotion:

• Promoting the work of the Friends to a wider audience, occasionally talking to local groups and receiving donations in person.
• Promoting goods sold by the Friends to fundraise for the centre such as Christmas cards, notepads and pens.

Communication:

• Providing written information for website and for social media channels.
• Liaising with and helping those who wish to fundraise for the Friends, organising collecting boxes and writing letters of thanks.
• Acting as a point of contact for Friends of BHOC via telephone and email
• Return calls/e-mails promptly, keep enquirer updated with information, process queries as appropriate and take responsibility so that all relevant people are notified.
• Escalate queries, problems and general issues to your line manager or other relevant staff as appropriate.

Patient Communication:

• 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. This will also require an ability to recognise if the query is clinical and urgent and therefore escalate to others.

Organising and Planning:

• Excellent IT skills which are adaptable to various programmes and platforms.

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.