Surgical Secretary, Band 3 - Colorectal Surgery

Job overview

If you relish a challenge and have a passion for helping others, an exciting opportunity has arisen for a Surgical Secretary within the Colorectal Surgery team at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. This is a permanent post, 37.5 hours per week, working Monday to Friday.

The successful candidate should be able to work proficiently in a fast paced environment and have exceptional organisational skills with the ability to effectively manage their own workload. We are looking for someone to provide a comprehensive administrative service to a busy consultant surgeon and our patients. This post is part of a professional multi-skilled team working within the GI Surgery division. Applicants must be flexible to meet the needs of the service and have a positive approach to their work. A strong commitment to personal and professional development is desired.

Main duties of the job

As a surgical secretary, you will provide a comprehensive secretarial service to our consultant surgeons. This includes, but is not limited to, diary management, correspondence, referrals, phone calls, email management and general day-to-day office administration. The ideal candidate needs to have a high level of attention to detail and be able to work well under time constraints to ensure that local and national targets are met with regards to patient pathways.

You will be the first point of contact for patients, our multi-professional colleagues and outside sources with queries and you will need to exercise initiative and judgment when dealing with these enquiries to ensure they are dealt with efficiently and appropriately. These contacts are made in a variety of ways therefore excellent communication skills on all levels are essential.

You will also be responsible for managing and overseeing the elective surgery waiting list as well as planning and co-ordinating surgical admissions for our patients.

As part of the secretarial service, you will be required to touch type from audio dictation a variety of documents. The role requires a certain level of understanding of medical terminology.

As a secretary you will be dealing with a lot of confidential and sensitive information and our ideal candidate will understand the importance of maintaining confidentiality when dealing with personal information.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

- Educated to GCSE grade C or above (or equivalent) in English & Maths

- IT experience of Microsoft Office packages

- IT capable to ensure proficient use of hospital computer systems

- An excellent, professional telephone manner to minimise conflict, resolve queries and maintain the reputation of the organisation when dealing with all calls

- Proven organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workload and ability to work to deadlines in line with Trust targets

- Good written and verbal communication skills with a good command and understanding of English, punctuation and grammar

- Good interpersonal skills for dealing with people internal and external to the organisation

- Ability to work flexibly within a team

- Ability to work quickly and accurately

- Ability to use own judgement and initiative as appropriate

GENERAL DUTIES

- Providing a comprehensive secretarial support to a busy consultant surgeon whilst being the first point of call for patients, GPs, family members and other professional colleagues and organisations.

- Typing correspondence to patients, GPs, medical staff and any other required addressee following clinical attendance or other patient contacts as directed by the Secretarial Supervisor.

- Tracking of results/ appointments and highlighting to the clinical team members any results, correspondence or patient queries that need response and taking action e.g. booking investigations, transcription, etc, to ensure that RTT guidelines are achieved for patients.

- Overseeing and managing elective waiting lists for inpatient and outpatient care alongside the utilisation of theatre lists.

- Checking of clinic outcomes to ensure accuracy

- To work with the Central Booking Office to ensure that clinics are utilised to capacity.

SPECIALITY SPECIFIC SUPPORT

- Regularly informing the secretarial supervisor about progress and flagging up as a matter of urgency any issues, for example, capacity or delays due to internal or external factors, difficult queries from patients, etc

- Diary management, including making appointments, booking meeting dates and venues, organising and distributing paperwork as required by the clinical team/supervisor.

- Supporting consultant staff with their additional responsibilities, such as clinical governance, Clinical Tutor role, etc. This may include setting up training days, teaching sessions, organising visitors, etc.

- Liaising with external organisations for the benefit and progress of patient care, such as Social Services, other hospitals etc

SERVICE IMPROVEMENT

- Using speciality databases for recording patient information/clinic activity for audit/survey purposes, as well as sending out any associated paperwork. Regular audit of data is undertaken and decisions can then be made by the department/team as to appropriate service improvements.

- Support the development of improvements to working practices and processes and contribute to service reviews and the implementation of new arrangements.

- As directed, support the resolution of complaints or concerns from patients/carers by helping to collate information and work with the supervisor to respond or escalate appropriately.

TEAM WORKING

- To work cohesively with colleagues to ensure that administrative work is shared out equally and performed to excellent, efficient and safe standards

- To cover colleagues during absences/annual/sick leave as directed by lead management. You may also be required to undertake job rotation for cross cover as well as for development and training purposes.

- Undertaking routine office duties including electronic note tracking, photocopying, faxing, and filing of correspondence and results and maintenance of records

- Assist in the training and induction for new and existing colleagues

- Take the initiative as and when required as well as working flexibly and adapting to the demands of the department/team as appropriate

- Liaise with relevant team members to ensure that any process changes run smoothly and efficiently.

- Undertake any other appropriate duties commensurate with the role, as required at the request of your line manager.

COMMUNICATIONS & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

- Medical staff both junior and senior including consultants

- Nursing staff

- Patients, carers and relatives

- Other medical secretaries/ward clerks

- Outpatient staff

- Health Records

- Pathology

- Radiology

- GPs and GP practices

- Management, including Lead Co-ordinator and General Management team

- Other NHS organisations

- External bodies, such as solicitor practices, DVLA, social services, police, coroner's office etc

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

- Fully participate in the Trust’s appraisal system review and personal development planning process on an annual basis – (for an apprentice this may be more often)

- Undertake training as necessary in line with the development of the post and as agreed with line manager as part of the personal development planning process

- Achieve and demonstrate agreed standards of personal and professional development within agreed timescales

- Contribute positively to the effectiveness and efficiency of the teams in which he/she works

- Contribute to a healthy and safe working environment by adhering to health and safety regulations and Trust policies

PHYSICAL EFFORT & WORKING

- Movement of medical notes on a daily basis (Manual Handling Training Provided). This can range from one set of notes to bags weighing up to 15kg

- Exposure to occasional unpleasant working conditions due to extremes of office temperatures and ward odours.

- Use of Visual Display Unit (VDU) on a daily basis (Workstation assessments undertaken), will be sitting at the desk all day.

- Dealing with sensitive and confidential information

- The work pattern may be unpredictable due to interruptions. High levels of concentration are also required when audio-typing. Priorities can change during the day.

NB

This job description is not intended to form part of the contract of employment or to be a complete list of duties and responsibilities, but is a good guide for information to the job. It will be periodically reviewed in the light of developing work requirements in the department. The officer in the post will be expected to contribute to that review.