Medical Secretary in Chasetown

We have an exciting opportunity to join our secretarial team. We are looking for an enthusiastic, hardworking and experienced Medical Secretary to join our team. We are looking for someone to work 17.5 hours a week over three days. You will be needed to work on a Thursday and Friday, the third day can be negotiated.

Main duties of the job:

• Our secretarial team are responsible for supporting clinicians by processing urgent and routine referrals into community services and secondary care, upkeep of electronic forms and administrative support for our clinical team.

About us:

Darwin Medical Practice has a team of over 100 staff and provides care to over 24,000 patients. The secretarial team consists of 4 members of staff. The team is led by our Operations Support Manager and Secretarial Team Lead. The wider practice ethos is to provide excellent care to our patients, showing respect to both patients and our colleagues. All teams meet regularly to discuss updates, share training and changes to processes but we also have whole practice sessions to ensure that everyone is informed about practice developments and has a chance to meet others that they would not usually see.

Job responsibilities:

• Responsible to Operations Support Manager

About Darwin Medical Practice:

Darwin Medical Practice provides services from Greenwood Health Centre, Lichfield Road in Burntwood, St Chads Health Centre, Dimbles Lane in Lichfield and 29-31 High Street, Chasetown, Burntwood. Our aim is to deliver a high-quality service which will benefit our patients. With a large team working together we will maintain and improve the quality of care with the sharing of expertise and skills, this will enable patients to have more choice. We have a coordinated approach, developing our teams to support patients with long term and complex conditions. We value our relationship with our patients and have an active Patient Participation Group to help us deliver the best service possible.

Confidentiality:

In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately. In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential. Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & Safety:

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.
• Using appropriate infection control procedures and maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.

Equality and Diversity:

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

• Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people's rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation.
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues.
• Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgemental and respects their circumstances, feelings, priorities and rights.

Personal/Professional Development:

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development.
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision.
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team's performance.
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients' needs.
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

Communication:

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members.
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers.
• Recognise people's needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.

Contribution to the Implementation of Services:

The post-holder will:

• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance.
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work.
• Participate in audit where appropriate.

Job Purpose:

To provide efficient and timely secretarial support to the clinical team, ensuring patients records are maintained to required standards. To assist the Operations Support Manager to ensure the smooth operation of the Practice.

Principal Accountabilities:

• To be responsible for day-to-day processing of patient referrals using paper and electronic systems.
• To maintain template letters and forms used internally by clinical and administrative staff.
• To provide secretarial support for meetings as required by the Business Manager.
• Maintain a sensitive approach to patient care, ensuring the maintenance of confidentiality.
• Carry out duties as per working policies, procedures and protocols and to ensure these are kept up to date.
• To be first point of contact regarding patient referral related administration.
• General day to day administration tasks.
• Any other duties as required commensurate with the grade.

The Practice is open from 8.00am until 6.30pm, with regular extended hours surgeries. It is expected that all secretarial staff will work flexibly to ensure that there is secretarial cover each day, according to the needs of the service.

The contents of this job description and person specification will be reviewed on an annual basis in line with the Practice training and development review policy.

Person Specification:

• Knowledge of confidentiality, equal opportunities and cultural sensitivity.
• Touch typing and word processing.
• Able to manage workload and manage own time.
• Working within a health care setting.
• Working knowledge of EMIS or other electronic patient record systems.
• Working knowledge of coding.

Qualifications:

• Level 3 education including Maths and English grade C or above.
• Competent user of ICT systems.

Personal Qualities:

• Ability to relate well to others: patients and carers, staff, managers and other professionals.
• Be flexible and able to adapt in allocation of work at short notice.
• Able to work as part of a team.
• Ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines, and be able to work on own initiative.
• An interest in continuing professional development.
• Positive, friendly manner.

Motivation:

• Ability to work unsupervised and as part of a team.
• Willingness to undertake appropriate training.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check:

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.