Based: Mereside Medical Practices, initially based in Wilburton and in the future will be based in Soham
Basis: Permanent: 25 – 30 hours per week – FTE: 37 hours per week
Rate: FTE £24,731 per annum. Pro rata for part time (less than 37 hours)
Eligibility: You must be eligible to work in the UK
About Us
Mereside Medical is a flourishing group of three East Cambridgeshire practices in Ely, Haddenham and Soham, together serving c.40,000 patients. As a group, we’ve grown rapidly and now employ more than 140 people across the three practices. We are people-centred in our approach to work and believe that every contact that a patient has with our staff is as valuable as the next in the patient journey. We believe in clinical excellence, and that general practice is the cornerstone of well-being in our community. We are innovative and forward-looking, and we embrace technology to enable more effective, efficient, and connected ways of working to deliver ever better outcomes for our patients.
Our goal is to deliver on the ambitions laid out in the GP forward view in a way that is locally relevant, valued by patients, and satisfying for our staff. In addition to our core general practice work we run a large clinical research trials unit and we work closely with the ICB to develop innovative ways to improve local service provision. We are the lead practice for one of the two local PCNs and are represented in both.
The role
We are now looking for a Medical Secretary to join our current team to provide support to our patients to ensure their healthcare needs are met and to our staff to ensure that, together, we offer an outstanding healthcare experience to every patient. Your role has three main aims:
* Facilitate effective communication between patients, members of the primary health care team, secondary care and other associated healthcare agencies
* Provide general assistance to the Practice Team and project a positive and friendly image to patients and visitors, either in person or via the telephone
* Undertake a variety of administrative duties to assist in the smooth running of the Practice including the provision of secretarial and clerical support to clinical staff and other members of the Practice Team.
By its nature this is a varied role, whose priorities of the day can vary tremendously. You should be enthusiastic, adaptable, and solutions-minded, with a strong natural aptitude for technology, and credible experience in patient support or customer service roles. Primary healthcare is broad, complex, and ever-changing, so there are endless opportunities to learn. This is a great role for you if you love learning new things – tools, technologies, processes – and you thrive off being kept on your toes to adapt as things change, while contributing to a bigger picture.
You will work proactively with colleagues across the organisation to ensure quality of service for patients and efficient ways of working within and among teams.
Your responsibilities
Patient enquiries
* Deal with a wide range of patient enquiries by telephone, face-to-face, and online through our remote consultation platform, AskMyGP, ensuring that patients are directed to the most appropriate healthcare professional in a timely manner
* Build and maintain a solid grasp of the key pathways to care and the processes required to ensure patients get the care they need
* Communicate proactively with colleagues across the practice to ensure that you and staff are aware of any protocol changes or patient updates, and that patients are always given the most up to date guidance and advice
* Be familiar with the clinical rota on each day, including where clinicians are working, so that you can advise patients accordingly
* Act as one of the first points of contact for the organisation, both internally and externally, and signpost effectively
* Record patient communications accurately and succinctly on relevant patient systems, processing and recording information in accordance with practice procedures.
Administration
* Managing all referral to secondary care and private providers
* Worklist Management on Electronic Referral System
* Opening, sorting and distributing incoming post; franking outgoing post and taking to post office
* Monitor and action individual/team tasks and emails, working collaboratively as a team to ensure tasks are dealt with in a timely manner
* Dealing with insurance reports, medicals and payments for private medical work
* Management of requests for patient information ensuring compliance with GDPR.
Practice support
* Ensure the non-clinical workspace is kept tidy and organised
* Provide general administrative support to Practice staff as requested.
You should have or be:
* Service-minded, driven to help others and make the patient experience as straightforward as possible
* Confident talking to patients from diverse backgrounds with diverse needs, with demonstrable experience of guiding patients through challenging conversations to a successful conclusion
* A diplomatic communicator and skilled listener, effective at representing the organisation professionally, and managing expectations of both colleagues and patients
* Adaptable, responsive, and learning-minded in a fast-paced and rapidly changing environment
* Organised and methodical in your approach to ensuring that tasks and processes are completed on time
* Adept at managing complexity and uncertainty in real time with patients
* Pro‑active in spotting issues or gaps in information or process, and finding pragmatic solutions to problems
* Competent in, and keen to learn, the use of technology and software, including online tools, to facilitate more collaborative, effective working and deliver better patient experience.
It would be an advantage if you also:
* Previous experience of working in Primary Care.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of duties. The need for flexibility is required and the post holder is expected to carry out any other related duties that are within the employee’s skills and abilities whenever reasonably instructed.
If you are interested in this role please send a CV and covering letter to: cpicb.mereside-recruitment@nhs.net
Medical Secretary – JD – January 2026
Closing date: 03 February 2026 – Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy early. If you have not received a response within two weeks of the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful on this occasion.
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