Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.
Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.
We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.
To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone.
Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.
Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.
LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King’s College London’s GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.
We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.
This is a Secondment post until 2nd January 2027
The Ward Administrator provides essential administrative and reception support to ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the ward. As the first point of contact for patients, families, and visitors, the post holder delivers a professional, compassionate service while maintaining confidentiality at all times.
Key responsibilities include managing the ward reception, registering and updating patient details on Cerner, supporting admissions and discharges, arranging appointments and transport, handling enquiries, ordering stock, tracking medical records, and completing general administrative tasks.
Working closely with nursing and medical teams, the Ward Administrator helps maintain efficient communication across the ward, supports patient flow, and contributes to a positive patient experience in line with Trust values.
Main duties of the job
1. Act as the first point of contact for patients, relatives, and visitors, providing a professional and compassionate reception service.
2. Register, admit, and discharge patients on Cerner and EPRS with a high level of accuracy.
3. Handle telephone and written enquiries, passing messages to staff promptly and maintaining confidentiality.
4. Book follow-up appointments and arrange patient transport in line with Trust policy.
5. Support daily ward operations including photocopying, scanning, filing, updating noticeboards, and managing incoming/outgoing post.
6. Order and receive ward stock and equipment, ensuring correct documentation and secure storage.
7. Track medical records on iCare and ensure patient notes are complete and up to date.
8. Maintain the reception area, update the ward whiteboard, and assist with printing wristbands and uploading FFT responses.
9. Liaise with multidisciplinary teams including medical staff, nursing staff, medical secretaries, pharmacy, transport, and external services.
10. Provide cover for colleagues during leave, sickness, or busy periods, which may involve working across Trust sites.
11. Assist with complaints processes when required, including locating notes and preparing documents.
12. Attend mandatory training, complete required system training, and support new staff with onboarding.
13. Manage challenging or distressed visitors appropriately and escalate concerns following Trust procedure
Working for our organisation
Valuing Diversity
It is the aim of the Trust to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation, marital/partnership status, race, religion, age, creed, colour, ethnic origin, disability, part time working status and real or suspected HIV/AIDS status and is not placed at a disadvantage by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable. To this end the Trust has a Single Equality Scheme and it is for each employee to contribute to its success.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please refer to the Job Description attached.
1.Reception Area
14. First point of contact for patients, their friends and families and ensuring that messages are passed on appropriately and in a timely manner.
15. To deal with patients in a mature manner when speaking to them on the phone and face to face. This may sometimes involve dealing with distressed patients and a sensitive and re-assuring manner is required in difficult situations. Patient confidentiality should be maintained at all times.
16. To register patient details on Cerner ensuring a high level of data accuracy.
17. To admit and discharge on Cerner and on EPRS.
18. To deal with written and telephone enquiries for the wards as appropriate.
19. To book follow up appointments as required.
20. To participate in administration duties such as the answer phone, cancellation e-mails, post, date stamping, photocopying, scanning - ensuring referral letters are sent/taken to the appropriate departments.
21. Booking of hospital transport for patients according to the hospital Transport Policy. Liaise with the Transport team with enquiries.
22. Provide cover for colleagues during annual leave, sickness and busy periods – this may mean going to different sites.
23. Be fully competent in the features of the hospital computer system and undergo further training when systems are updated and as the job requires.
24. Attend additional training as required and assist new staff with training.
25. On occasion to manage potentially aggressive, verbally abusive visitors to the Ward which must be dealt with appropriately following agreed procedures and protocol.
26. To refer enquiries as appropriate to the line supervisor or manager, ensuring patient confidentiality is not compromised in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act and ensuring prompt and accurate response to all enquiries.
27. To direct commercial and other visitors to the right department ensuring that the relevant people are notified.
28. To keep up to date record of staff and visitors movement in & out of the ward in line with Health & Safety procedures.
29. Manage tidiness and appearance of reception.
30. To highlight any referrals which require urgent attention and deal with them promptly, this can sometimes involve discussions with the medical team directly to arrange where the patient needs to be booked.
31. To develop working relationships across the trust with consultants and their teams including medical secretaries, specialty and general managers.
32. Check all the medical records in the morning ensuring all loose pages are filed correctly.
33. Update white board as per requirements.
34. Assist nursing staff with ensuring correct wrist band is available in EPRS.
35. Get the Family and Friends Test completed when a patient is discharged.
36. Take/collect TTAs to Pharmacy when the pharmacist is unable to come to the ward
2.Ordering, Receiving and Despatching Goods
37. Order all stock for services within site as relevant.
38. Maintain skills in ordering on SBS system.
39. To be responsible for receiving all goods on arrival at bases, and notify appropriate personnel ensuring goods go to right person/department, ensuring goods are kept in a secure location until collection.
40. To be responsible for ensuring all equipment for repair has the correct paperwork and notification to the appropriate department.
3.General Administration/Clerical
41. To take messages ensuring complete confidentiality in accordance with Trust policy.
42. General filing duties as required.
43. Accurate data entry.
44. Ensure all notice boards are up to date and tidy in consultation with Ward Sister.
45. Provide cover for the above duties across all sites as required.
46. To be aware of Trust Complaints Procedures and be able to act accordingly and assist in the process by obtaining medical notes, photocopying and scanning etc. when required.
47. Maintain confidentiality at all times.
48. To book translators when requested by clinicians ensuring they are given a relevant code for the service.
49. To be aware of existing processes and offer suggestions for improving services.
50. Take minutes as required.
51. Any adhoc typing required, i.e. letters etc.
52. Track Medical records on iCare.
53. Ensure all Mandatory training is undertaken in a timely manner.
54. Any other equivalent duties consistent with the level and purpose of the post.
Ward Specific
55. Raise/cancel orders via telephone to Huntleigh for mattresses, cushions, (hi/low beds).
56. Report faulty equipment to Toshiba, clean and put decontamination certificate on it.
57. Complete the Capacity documents daily.
Person specification
Essential criteria
58. Good standard of general education (GCSE or equivalent in Maths and English)
59. NVQ 3 or equivalent experience and knowledge
Desirable criteria
60. Administrative/Secretarial qualifications, e.g.
61. RSA II / RSA III
62. Certificate in Office Practice
Experience
Essential criteria
63. Knowledge/experience of office procedures and systems.
64. Good knowledge and experience of IT systems including Word, Excel, databases and ability to produce high quality documentation.
65. Experience on the iCare System and Electronic Discharge Summaries System
Desirable criteria
66. Healthcare experience
67. Experience working in a similar role
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
68. Basic understanding of practical Data Protection issues
69. Good interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
70. Ability to work effectively alone and as part of a team
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
71. Present a professional image at all times
72. Ability to work in a stressful/busy environment
We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.
As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women’s staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.
Please note that sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route is subject to Trust allocation and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approval.
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Application numbers
To ensure fairness and manageable shortlisting processes, some vacancies may have an application cap. This means the vacancy will close once a set number of applications have been received even if this happens before the advertised closing date.
We recommend applying as early as possible to avoid missing out. All applications received before the cap is reached will be considered equally and assessed against the person specification.