Children's Single Point of Access Administration Assistant in Rayleigh

The post holder will work within the centrally managed Children’s Single Point of Access Administration (C-SPA) team, providing a comprehensive administrative service to support clinical staff across Children’s Community Nursing, Children’s Community Asthma, and the Children and Young People’s Bladder and Bowel Services, ensuring effective coordination and delivery of administrative and clerical functions as directed by the Administration Manager.

The post holder will ensure the timely and accurate recording of all activity across the Services using Trust and partnership information systems. The centralised service requires a team-based approach to ensure cover during periods of absence across all the Services and locations; the post holder will therefore be expected, on occasion, to provide flexible cover as needed.

Post holders, as appropriate, will be required to provide secretarial duties on behalf of the Services. Post holders will also act as telephone agents and will ensure that the Trust’s commitments to customer service and immediate access is a priority.

• Provide comprehensive administrative support to clinical teams, ensuring accurate and timely recording of activity.
• Act as a first point of contact for service users, carers and professionals, handling calls and enquiries sensitively and confidentially.
• Manage and prioritise incoming communications (phone, email and post), responding appropriately and escalating where required.
• Organise and maintain appointments, diaries, meetings and clinic schedules, including managing short-notice changes.
• Support the smooth running of clinics, often working independently to coordinate administrative processes.
• Maintain accurate patient records using Trust systems, ensuring high standards of data quality and confidentiality.
• Communicate appointment details, changes and cancellations clearly to service users and stakeholders.
• Use initiative to prioritise workload, meet deadlines and manage competing demands.
• Undertake general administrative tasks including data entry, minute taking and audit support.
• Supervise and support junior or temporary staff and assist with training as required.
• Monitor stock levels, report equipment issues and follow Trust procedures and policies.
• Work independently with minimal supervision, managing interruptions, emotional demands and sensitive situations professionally.

At EPUT, we look after you. Receive supervision and support to help you fulfil your potential. Join an inclusive EPUT community and connect with others through engagement events and equality or champion networks. If you need help, we provide mental health and wellbeing services, occupational health advice and counselling.

27 days holiday, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 10 years’ service. Excellent pension of up to 14.5% of your pensionable pay. Staff discounts include Blue Light Card, NHS discount offers, and staff benefits. £8K relocation package if you move to Essex to join us. Season ticket loans are interest‑free to cover the cost of travelling to and from work via tram, rail, or bus. Job share: Applications for job shares are welcomed.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Handle incoming and outgoing telephone calls to service users, consultants, doctors, and clinical staff in a polite and efficient manner.
• Receive and deal with telephone enquiries, responding appropriately to callers including high risk, abusive, threatening, depressed, suicidal and vulnerable clients and carers.
• Maintain strict confidentiality at all times.
• Record accurate messages and follow them up appropriately in accordance with the Services guidelines.
• Deal face‑to‑face with clients seeking further help/information and to be aware of the needs of the service users.
• Exchange confidential, sensitive information with staff, service users, and carers in person or on the telephone.
• Deal with queries raised by service users, families/carers, GP’s or other healthcare professionals both internally and externally to the Trust.

Knowledge:

• Ensure all correspondence is accurately and appropriately presented using Trust and departmental procedures and medical terminology used by clinical staff.
• Be skilled and experienced in the full range of secretarial work practices, software programmes and specialised functional terms.
• Be proficient with the knowledge of Patient Records management supporting new users and instructing them as necessary.
• Operate the Trusts central telephony systems.
• Update skills as necessary and attend mandatory training and maintain records as per Trust policy.

Analytical and Judgement:

• Receive, prioritise and organise appropriate action when dealing with clinical staff requirements.
• Prioritise and organise distribution of incoming and outgoing mail (including email).
• Use own initiative to organise, prioritise and coordinate workload ensuring that deadlines are met.

Planning and Organisation:

• Maintain diaries, both electronic and paper. Arrange appointments and meetings via electronic systems.
• Ability to deal with short notice planning and last‑minute changes.
• Manage and organise own time and work efficiently and adhere to deadlines.
• Report equipment faults and ensure they are managed in line with relevant procedures.
• Facilitate and organise the smooth running of clinic sessions often as the only member of the administration team.

Physical Skills:

• Advanced keyboard skills and knowledge of current electronic equipment facilitating a remote working environment.
• Inform service users, carers, colleagues and outside agencies of appointments, changes to appointments, cancellations in person, telephone or by letter.
• Be the first point of call for patients/carers, within clinic sessions, ward environments and first contact emergency services.

Policy and Service Delivery:

• Follow all departmental procedures including the administration standard operating procedures.
• Be responsible for keeping abreast of updates and changes as they happen.

Finance and Physical:

• Maintain departmental stationery stock ensuring that the appropriate service is charged.

Human Resources:

• Supervise temporary administrative staff and more junior administrative staff as agreed with the Administration Manager.
• Train new starters in the procedures of the Services.

Information Resources:

• Administrative duties as requested by the Admin Manager including dictation and transcribing of minutes.
• Recording and storage of accurate data for required areas of the administration service.

Research and Development:

• Provide and assist in the provision of audit data when required.

Freedom to Act:

• Work unsupervised on a daily basis prioritising own workload using initiative.
• Use agreed guidelines and procedures and developed knowledge/skills/qualifications when working autonomously.
• Participate in yearly appraisals with supervisor/line manager.

Physical Effort:

• Spend frequent periods within an office environment sitting in a restricted position at a laptop.
• Travel between sites.

Mental Effort:

• Concentrate on completing tasks during periods of frequent interruption from staff and service users/carers.
• Manage deadlines with unpredictable work patterns.

Emotional Effort:

• Impart information to service users that they may find upsetting, e.g. cancelling appointments.
• Personally manage the effect of upsetting information given by service users/carers or people in a distressed or challenging state.

Working Conditions:

• Regular and continuous use of laptop and electronic equipment.