The Oncology division at the Royal Surrey is looking for an enthusiastic applicant to join us as a Medical Secretary.
We are looking for an individual who can provide comprehensive secretarial and administrative support to the Oncology team. As an experienced Secretary, you will possess excellent communication skills, good IT skills and ideally, a working knowledge and experience of working within patient care or customer care focused roles. NHS experience is desired but not essential.
Here at the Cancer Centre, we aim to provide first class, high quality care for all of our patients in a friendly and professional setting. Our services have received national recognition and praise and our patients benefit from the latest and most innovative treatments available, delivered by a team of committed and highly skilled staff. You will be joining our team of Oncologists, Specialist Registrars, Specialty Doctors, SHOs, AHP’s and Specialist Nurses.
The Oncology division puts patients at the heart of everything we strive to deliver and achieve.
The division has recently completed its £6+ million expansion and refurbishment project of the outpatient areas to improve and modernise the overall patient experience, increase the centre’s footfall and provide spaces that better serve patient privacy and dignity.
The secretary works within the RSCC Oncology team providing a comprehensive administrative and secretarial service to the Oncology Consultants and associated clinical teams including liaison and collaborative working with staff based both on site at RSH, off site at a variety of hospitals and nominated hospices.
To provide a full range of medical secretarial & personal assistant service to consultants and their clinical teams.
Manage own workload, demonstrate efficient organisation and assist the oncology Team Leader in overseeing the smooth effective operation of the service.
To work autonomously within a team; providing full organisational support to the consultant’s practice and their team.
To ensure procedures and working practices are in place so that the Specialty and Trust can deliver a service that meets the standards and targets that have been set.
To provide a considerate, patient focused service in all dealings with patients and their relatives and with staff around the hospital.
Royal Surrey is a compassionate and collaborative acute and community Trust. Recognising that our 5,000 colleagues are our greatest strength, we offer a comprehensive health and wellbeing programme alongside a strong commitment to developing your career. Our diverse and welcoming Royal Surrey family ensures you feel valued from your initial interview and throughout your time with us.
We are clinically led and provide joined-up care by bridging hospital and community services, alongside delivering regional specialist cancer care. Our main acute hospital site is in Guildford, with community sites at Milford, Haslemere and Cranleigh, and services delivered in patients’ homes across Guildford and Waverley.
We work in partnership with Ashford & St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust through a collaborative Group Model, supporting joined-up services, workforce flexibility and development opportunities.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated us as Outstanding. We are proud of our achievements and continue to invest in our people and infrastructure.
To learn more about life at Royal Surrey, please watch our short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R96pMboIYdo
Adverts may close early, so you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
- To undertake a full range of secretarial duties for nominated consultants and their team.
- To take responsibility for ensuring all patient letters, and other correspondence is produced and undertaken in line with current standards using dedicated software. (DictateIT) escalating issues as appropriate
- To deal with all in-coming telephone calls, post, e-mails and test results on a daily basis prioritising and responding appropriately and within set timelines as necessary to ensure clinical teams are aware of urgent results and information.
- Take responsibility for ensuring all new referrals are highlighted to the consultant and triaged as liaising with the booking office staff and other coordinators such as specialist nurses and cancer MDT coordinators, nursing and medical staff to ensure new referrals are promptly seen/treated in line with the current guidelines.
- Assist with making appointments as required.
- Prepare patient notes, results and scans for clinics. Use initiative to obtain missing details, results and x-rays.
- To understand the full patient pathway, and the impact of local decisions on this pathway by having thorough knowledge of working practices, medical treatments, associated speciality(ies), and departments.
- Understand and work to achieve the national and local standards and guidelines for patient care (e.g. two week wait rule, inpatient and outpatient waiting targets, targets for investigations, turnaround times for correspondence, 24/62/31 day cancer targets, etc);
- To play a key role in establishing and implementing local policies and procedures that ensure working practices meet the above standards/targets and is centred around the Patient
- Take responsibility for amending a patient’s pathways wherever possible and escalate as necessary.
- Understand the implications of Patient Choice and electronic booking and proactively manage changes that will need to be incurred in the speciality.
- To be aware of funding arrangements and ensure funding is confirmed for patients out of area / out of contract, in close liaison with general/speciality manager and PCT Liaison offices.
- To take all telephone calls from patients, relatives, members of the public and other professional organisations in an efficient, tactful and compassionate manner.
- Listen to and manage patient concerns. This involves listening to and as far as possible resolving situations that can be highly distressing to patients/relatives who may be upset, angry or concerned.
- Provide information to patients as agreed with the consultant, and in close collaboration with the team.
- Understand of the complaints procedure and use initiative to resolve complaints from patients and any other individuals as far as possible. Escalate outstanding concerns as required.
- Manage the implications of annual leave, organise the amendment of clinics, other fixed commitments and arrange cover for consultants during their absence.
- Provide a comprehensive personal assistant service to consultants. This may involve diary management, arranging meetings, travel and conference details as required.
- Regulate consultants out-patient clinics as required.
- To maintain efficient filing and information tracking systems to ensure continuity of care, including electronic case note tracking.
- Send out information leaflets where appropriate and provide telephone information/advice to patients as agreed within the team and in accordance with guidelines.
- To utilise the Trust’s Patient Administration System (Cerner) and other information systems as required. Ensure patient information has been entered correctly and amend as necessary.
- To provide cross cover for other secretarial staff as required.
- Supervise and train agency and bank temporary staff and provide appropriate checks to ensure that standards are maintained.
- Day to day supervision and training of medical secretarial staff and/other clerical staff.
- Support the induction of junior doctors
- Collect and capture audit data as required.
- Assist General / Site / Office Manager or Consultant with statistics and information requirements on spreadsheets and power point presentations.
- To liaise with other departments within the RSCH, liaise and co-ordinate with GP practice staff and staff in other hospitals as necessary.
- Be willing to adjust own working practices and support speciality wide and trust wide changes that will occur e.g. as a consequence of implementation of Connecting for Health (CfH), the national programme for IT. (this may require further training).
- Ensure that the supply of stationery and office equipment is well maintained with particular emphasis on waste. Take responsibility for ordering stationary.
- Attend and contribute to specific working groups and policy forums (e.g. Trust Secretarial Group, Patient and User Involvement Strategy Group, Patient Line of Sight Teams.
- Agree individual Personal Development Plan with line manager
- To organise meetings and take minutes at specialty/department meetings. To arrange venues, refreshments and travel for seminars/conferences.
- Any other duties appropriate to the grade and nature of the post
