Medical Secretary in Northampton

To provide a high quality comprehensive and confidential secretarial and administrative support service to the Consultant and clinical team on a day-to-day basis.

Responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive and confidential secretarial support to consultants, clinicians and nursing staff.
• Maintain consultant diaries, assist with scheduling workload and communicate with relevant parties regarding planning and rescheduling.
• Coordinate day‑to‑day management and maintenance of patient elective pathway in accordance with the Patient Access Policy.
• Receive and respond to telephone calls and enquiries, resolving issues and arranging appointments and visits.
• Process and type accurate dictation, letters, results, discharge summaries, reports and correspondence within Trust target frames.
• Open post, prioritise for consultants, handle non‑clinical administrative tasks.
• Select cases for theatre lists ensuring national and local targets are met.
• Replace cancellations with suitable cases within guidelines and national waiting time targets.
• Inform patients of surgical requirements and pre‑operative assessment appointments and isolation periods.
• Manage waiting list entries, amend pathways and re‑establish entries when ready for surgery.
• Liaise with clinicians on scheduling, case mix and other key information to optimise theatre lists.
• Produce operating lists for sessions and circulate to designated areas promptly.
• Inform theatre staff of specialist equipment needs and arrange representatives.
• Input, update, and monitor patient information on the computerized Patient Administration System.
• Record and report patient cancellations on day of surgery and re‑date within the 28‑day national target.
• Collaborate with the Medical Secretarial team and Health Records clerks to improve efficiency.
• Process all incoming and outgoing mail in a timely manner.
• Mentor newly recruited staff and introduce working practices and procedures.
• Assist and cover other team members during absences.

Working for our Organisation

Northampton General Hospital is one of the largest employers in the area and we are on an exciting journey. All of our divisions are committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have also entered into a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire.

Our Excellence Values: Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity, Courage.

We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone's full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities.

The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals. We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative. We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.

Person Specification

Education, Training and Qualifications

• Minimum 3 GCSE at Grade C or above, including English and Mathematics or equivalent.
• RSA 2 Certification of secretarial studies or vast experience having been a secretary.

Desirable criteria

• NVQ level 3 in Business Administration.
• Experience of Patient Administration System (Camis) or equivalent.

Knowledge And Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant experience working in an office setting.
• Some NHS or healthcare administration experience.
• Experience of prioritising own workload, meeting targets and deadlines.

Desirable criteria

• NHS Experience desirable but not essential.
• Knowledge of Camis or similar patient system.
• Experience of managing patient waiting lists.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Good communication skills.
• Organisation and time management.
• Ability to speak to distressed patients.
• Excellent IT and keyboard skills.
• Working in a complex environment within a required timeframe.

Desirable criteria

• Ability to speak to distressed patients.