Senior Trust Medical Secretary - Renal

Job overview

Working in a Renal department within a hospital provides the opportunity to support patients with acute and chronic kidney conditions, including those requiring dialysis, transplant care, and long-term monitoring. It is a fast-paced and highly specialised environment where care is often complex and ongoing.

The role involves close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team, to ensure effective coordination of clinics, treatments, and patient pathways. Renal services often require careful scheduling and communication due to the regular nature of treatments such as dialysis.

This setting is well suited to someone who is organised, adaptable, and compassionate, with an interest in supporting patients who require continuous care and long-term management.

Main duties of the job

As post holder you will:

• Act as a key point of contact for patients, clinicians, and external professionals, handling enquiries sensitively and efficiently.
• Manage incoming communications, prioritising and escalating as appropriate.
• Produce accurate clinical correspondence from dictation using medical terminology.
• Coordinate patient pathways in line with RTT guidelines, maintaining accurate records across relevant systems.
• Manage waiting lists and book outpatient/inpatient appointments, resolving scheduling issues as needed.Maintain the Consultant’s diary, including clinics, meetings, and leave coordination.

Please refer to the Job Description for the full specification of responsibilities and requirements for this post.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Deal efficiently and effectively with direct and indirect (i.e. telephone, face to face) enquiries from patients, all levels of medical and nursing staff, GPs, Social Services and other health professionals and staff.  Respond to complex enquiries, providing routine and non-routine information and non-clinical advice, resolving problems where possible. Communicate appropriately with patients who may be fearful, aggressive or have sensitive concerns, needing reassurance and who may present difficulties in communication e.g. terminally ill patients, deaf patients, mentally ill patients and elderly confused patients. To sensitively provide and receive complex information using tact and adapting communication style to meet the needs of individual levels of understanding. Recognise the importance of individual rights in accordance with legislation, policy and procedures.
• Attend to all communications, for example, emails, faxes, investigation results on a daily basis.  Use judgement to undertake a preliminary assessment of content to determine the appropriate course of action and the priority for the consultant’s/clinical team’s attention.
• Accurately transcribe all correspondence by touch typing from audio/digital dictation or shorthand using knowledge of medical terminology.  Generate routine and non-routine correspondence independently.
• Assist patients and their carers by arranging translation/interpretation facilities.
• Demonstrate and maintain knowledge and understanding of Trust RTT policy.
• Update RTT in accordance with Trust guidelines and ensure accurate patient pathways, investigating and correcting errors as required. Assist the Administration and Clerical team with data management utilising PAS and other departmental patient databases.
• Complete the Tertiary referral proforma/template for internal/external referrals as per Trust policy.
• Promptly action clinical investigations, results and outcomes. Utilise Trust reports to service and administer waiting lists, which may include outpatient, inpatient, diagnostic and waiting lists where relevant.
• Book patients from waiting lists and update associated booking systems (e.g. ORSOS, ARIA etc.) in line with departmental requirements and in line with the Trust RTT Policy.
• Utilise outpatient and inpatient PTLs to track patients through pathway.
• Arrange urgent admissions direct from clinic and ambulatory care areas, contacting the patient and liaising with ward/theatre/clinics as required.
• Organise and support higher level meetings, such as divisional/directorate/governance meetings, on behalf of Clinical Director or other senior staff, including attending to take formal minutes as necessary.

Please view the attached job description for full details of the role, and use your supporting statement to confirm how you meet the essential and desirable criteria on the job specification.

Please note that this advertised position, which is part of occupation code 4211 does not meet the UKVI eligibility requirements for a Skilled Worker Visa (this includes if you are already in a sponsored post and looking to change employer). The Trust would not be able to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship for this role.