Medical Secretary inPlymouth inPlymouth PUBLISHED 15 NOV 2024

22.5 hours per week.

A new opportunity has become available for an additional part-time Medical Secretary to complete our administrative team within the Specialist Outreach Recovery Team (SORT) and our small 9 bedded unit based at Mount Gould Hospital. Are you an experienced, highly flexible Medical Secretary or an enthusiastic administrator that is looking to progress within their administrative career? We are looking for a highly motivated individual with a willingness to learn. This post requires excellent communication and organisational skills, good time management, and the ability to prioritise your own workload including working under your own initiative. You will need a positive attitude towards people experiencing mental health difficulties and have excellent customer care skills.

The Specialist Outreach Recovery Team and the inpatient unit have a positive approach to supporting service users in their mental health personal recovery. The team deliver a wide range of recovery interventions and treatment to people experiencing complex mental health difficulties. We are a multi-disciplinary team of Consultant Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists, Support Workers and other key professionals.

Your role will be to support the mental health consultants with duties including audio typing of clinic dictations, arranging and re-scheduling of appointments, maintaining accurate and up to date patient records, arranging meetings, minute taking and report monitoring. As such, we require someone with the skills to take on this demanding secretarial work. You will need to have proficient keyboard skills demonstrating accuracy in typing. Experience of audio typing or a willingness to learn this skill is essential.

This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route, please refer to the Direct Gov website for more information with regards to eligibility.

Please note that Livewell may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline if a high number of applications are submitted. Therefore, we recommend you submit your application at the earliest opportunity.

All Livewell staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service.

About us

Your role will be to provide a comprehensive, effective, and timely secretarial support to the SORT Consultants and the MDT.

You will actively organise own workload in an efficient and productive manner. You will liaise with all colleagues within the multidisciplinary team, and with internal departments and external agencies to ensure the continuity of patient treatment.

Your role is to support the doctors work in the team and a flexible approach is required. Duties will include audio typing, copy typing letters, updating SystmOne, managing the annual leave for the doctors, recording absences, managing diaries, booking reviews, answering telephones, liaising and coordinating meetings, minute taking and supporting audit work within the team. You will need excellent organisational skills, good communication skills, a flexible approach, good time management and the ability to prioritise work and manage stress well.

Participate in interview panels for specified jobs.

Assist in the training of newly appointed secretarial/administrative staff and supporting them during their assimilation.

Assist in maintenance of stock control and security of stock

Observe a personal duty of care when using equipment and resources

Maintaining a safe environment in accordance with Health and Safety Policies

Able to plan and prioritise their own workload on a day-to-day basis.

Maintain the electronic diaries for SORT doctors, organise appointments and the allocation of their time to reflect priorities and demands of their workloads.

Organise meetings including Case Conferences, meetings, Risk Management meetings, Care Planning meetings and provide all administrative duties associated with these meetings, including sending invitations, distribution of agenda, associated paperwork, take and transcribe minutes and follow up action points.

Organise appointments as appropriate, liaising with patients, patient family members and other services.

Liaise with MDT to arrange assessments etc as directed by the Consultant. Provide administration support including recording details on SystmOne, invoicing and monitoring payments received.

Administrative support for Consultants appraisal including MAG.

Arrange medical student placements and feedback sessions as appropriate.

Arrange teaching sessions etc for Consultant as appropriate.

The post holder will have knowledge of medical terminology.

The post holder will have the knowledge and experience to deal with difficult enquiries and situations.

Collate data for Out of Area patients and produce statistical reports to provide data for locality manager.

The post holder will maintain accurate, timely electronic records and ensure that they are kept safely in accordance with Livewell Southwest polices, including the Data Protection Act (1998) and the Livewell Southwest Confidentiality Policy.

Work collaboratively with other secretaries/administration staff within the community mental health service, including taking telephone calls, supporting colleagues during periods of high demand ensuring the team runs smoothly.

Receive incoming mail, telephone calls and initiate action as required

Assist with Medical staff regarding annual leave etc liaising with Medical staffing team.

Liaise with senior medics regarding on-call swaps and leave cover

Accurate audio transcription of various documents including patient letters, assessments, discharge summaries and psychiatric reports in preparation for Tribunal Hearings, ensuring deadlines are met.

Attend weekly ward round MDT with the Consultants and multi-disciplinary team, taking notes and following up action plans as appropriate.

To maintain sensitive and confidential information and filing systems.

To maintain, at all times, the highest level of confidentiality in respect of information concerning the Livewell Southwest or any of its staff or patients.

The post holder will be able to provide non-clinical advice and information with regards to appointments and visitors to the unit.

The post holder will undertake surveys/audits as required including staff surveys.

Liaise with patients, other professionals and agencies to organise various meetings including Care Planning, Aftercare, Risk Management and Discharge Planning. Due to the urgency of some of these meetings are arranged at short-notice, requiring re-organisation of diaries to ensure service user needs are met.

Demonstrate a positive attitude to patients, treating patients and their families with dignity and respect.

Have an excellent knowledge of risk factors and be able to make judgements about client and staff safety and raise concerns with senior staff

Ensure compliance with contractual and related quality standards, including acknowledgement of referrals and production of written correspondence with referrers.

Comply with all appropriate National, Livewell Southwest and local polices and protocols. These include Health and Safety, Fire Procedures and Confidentiality.

Know how to report accidents and incidents and to do so promptly.

Behave in a manner that does not bring the Team or Livewell Southwest into disrepute.

Ensure that professional boundaries are always adhered to.

Actively participate in line management supervision with a senior member of the Team.

Actively participate in the Livewell Southwest appraisal system.

Participate in team meetings.

Carry out other duties commensurate with the position as required.

Responsible for updating Knowledge and Skills, including Livewell Southwest mandatory training.

Identify new ways of working and make changes to own work, when agreed, to improve service.

Liaise with GPs, Solicitors, Police, Social Workers, ward staff, other teams, multi-agency professionals, probation officers, patients and relatives, management, medical staff in other specialities and professional staff in other departments.

Provide and receive confidential, complex and sensitive information, orally, in writing or electronically, within the boundaries of confidentiality. At times the information can be distressing.

Answer calls from service users, gain information and re-direct the call to the required health professional.

To provide a communication link when the Consultant or associated Doctors are out of the office and pass all urgent and important issues on to the correct person.

Competent advanced keyboard skills including audio typing.

There is a frequent requirement for concentration required for dealing with various complicated medical documents and correspondence with frequent interruptions.

There is a frequent requirement for concentration required when typing reports, letters etc of complicated nature with frequent interruptions.

There is a frequent requirement for sitting in a restricted position, maintaining correct posture, when sitting at desks; for example when (audio) typing or taking detailed minutes of meetings.

The post holder will carry any deliveries in a safe manner, in accordance with the organisations manual handling policy.