Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Medical Secretary
The closing date is 04 February 2026
We currently have a vacancy within our team for an experienced, enthusiastic and well‑motivated Medical Secretary.
A good knowledge of medical terminology along with excellent keyboard, interpersonal and audio typing skills are essential.
You will be expected to undertake all administrative duties, be well organised, plan your own workload using your initiative and work to deadlines.
The post will be for 22.5 hours per week, working Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, based at Ormskirk Hospital.
Previous applicants need not apply.
Please note this vacancy may close early if a high volume of applications is received; we advise you submit your application early to avoid disappointment.
Main duties of the job
It is expected that applicants will have appropriate knowledge of working in a medical environment and also demonstrate a background of working in an office environment with the ability to liaise with all relevant departments within the Trust and multiple outside agencies.
Being a team player is essential together with first‑rate organisational skills. This post is an important role within the Gastroenterology team.
You must :
- Have previous medical secretarial experience
- Have an extensive knowledge of medical terminology
- Experience of minute taking
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9,000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our Services
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements
Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship ProgrammeJob responsibilities
Support the day‑to‑day organisation, planning and management responsibilities of the Consultants and their teams through the maintenance of their annual leave, their diary, the arrangement of meetings, travel and other appointments.To act as first point of contact for patients, GPs, external organisations and members of the general public seeking information and support from the hospital. The post holder must be able to triage the calls appropriately as well as deal sympathetically with people who may be bereaved, distressed or angry using tact, persuasion and discretion, assessing priorities and initiating action as required.Answer telephone queries and provide non‑clinical advice regarding patient care and appointments / admissions to patients, Trust staff, referring GPs and Consultants, making appropriate judgement using acquired knowledge and experience.Communicate with patients / parents regarding personal and highly sensitive information.Typing urgent clinical and non‑clinical correspondence and reports including the transcription and management of audio sources (eg, digital dictation) using initiative in managing and prioritising workload.Compose routine and non‑routine letters and produce typed clinical correspondence including the transcription of audio dictation.Attend, take and transcribe minutes for meetings as required within the specialty and implement any follow‑up action points.Access the computerised Patient Administration System (CareFlow) for relevant patient details, updating records and registering patients as required.Maintain and update specialty‑specific databases.Retrieve radiology and pathology results from core clinical systems.Take action as necessary in respect of all patients who fail to attend in accordance with the Trusts policy and the consultants special instructions.Ensure the timely despatch of all relevant information to GPs, other medical staff and external organisations in relation to the locally agreed requirements.To evaluate and re‑prioritise own workload in accordance with competing demands from patients, medical staff and others.Prioritise work to ensure that medical staff are provided with necessary information to take appropriate clinical action.Liaise with the Cancer Services Department of patients to be discussed at the Multidisciplinary Team Meetings.In conjunction with the support medical secretary / ies and clerical officer(s) within the department ensure that administrative duties are allocated and completed in a timely manner and distribution of workload is done to utilise the resources and support available.Ensure that all investigation results are shown to the relevant clinicians in a timely manner and make arrangements for any follow up actions required eg urgent appointments.Where applicable ensure waiting time performance targets are achieved.Type theatre lists and distribute as required.Co‑operate in the introduction of new technology as it may apply.Be instrumental in preventing complaints from service users, resolving informal complaints and supporting the formal complaints process.In line with the Trusts standing financial instructions, handle cash / cheques for the Consultants and teams, patients and other external sources.Provide full secretarial support with respect to teaching / meetings as directed by medical staff, e.g. preparing PowerPoint presentations using clinical data and information via the internet.Maintain database of clinical activity as required to assist in clinical audit.Provide guidance to the support medical secretaries and clerical officer(s) and self‑supervision in terms of :
Liaising with other medical secretaries in the department to ensure an efficient service.When necessary, exercise initiative to allocate work to the support medical secretaries and clerical officer(s) in a fair and reasonable manner.Make economical use of supplies. When necessary, maintain control of stock including stationery supplies.Deputise for others and provide cross cover within the team during absences.
Assist in the orientation of new or temporary members of staff by demonstrating own duties.Working independently, plan and prioritise own workload following appropriate Trust and Medical Secretary policies and processes, suggesting improvements where necessary.Qualifications
NVQ level 3 or equivalent in administrative disciplineRSA II / III Typing or Word Processing or equivalent experienceEuropean Computer Driving Licence (ECDL)British Society of Medical Secretaries Diploma or Advanced AMSPAR Diploma or equivalent experienceKnowledge & Experience
Previous secretarial experiencePrevious medical secretary experienceKnowledge of medical terminologyDemonstrable skills in problem solvingPrevious NHS experienceSkills
Audio and touch typing with a high level of accuracyShorthandExcellent interpersonal skillsOrganisational skillsAble to use own initiativeAbility to work in a pressured environment and prioritise workloadAbility to maintain high levels of concentration with frequent interruptionsKnowledge of Microsoft Office software packagesOur Values
We are KindWe are OpenWe are InclusiveOther
There is a frequent requirement for sitting in a restricted position at a desk for a substantial proportion of the working dayThere is a requirement for periods of frequent concentration with occasional interruptionsAbility to deal with distressed patients or bereaved relatives, also the frequent need to type up documents of a distressing natureRequirement to use VDU equipment more or less continuously throughout the dayDisclosure 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.
Employer name
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
£27,485 to £30,162 a year (Per Annum, Pro Rata)
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