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.
An opportunity has just become available for the right candidate to join the Urology Department Secretarial team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as Medical Secretary.
We are seeking for dedicated, motivated, proactive person to join our team to help us provide high quality care to our service users.
The post holder will provide administrative and secretarial support to the Urology medical team and Senior Management Team. The post holder will also be required to attend meetings where agenda and minutes/note taking will be required. Communication is a must between external and internal members of staff as well as the public.
You must enjoy working in a busy environment and be able to prioritise your own workload. You will need good interpersonal skills with the ability to work as part of a team, be IT literate, and able to work well under pressure in a fast paced environment.
Main duties of the job
To provide a full secretarial and clerical service to the consultant team. The post is a vital link between the patient, the consultant, the wider Trust and other People involved in the Provision of health care.
To act as a central point of information and communication for the clinical team.
To provide a full secretarial support service to consultants and members of their teams in respect to their general medical duties and specialist work.
To act independently ensuring that daily tasks and ongoing workloads are prioritised and completed in agreed timeframes
Working for our organisation
Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:
1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
5. Making equalities mainstream
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To act as first point of contact on behalf of the consultant and the Trust and deal effectively and courteously with all enquiries from GP's, parents, patients ,carers, other departments within the Trust and external bodies.
To produce correspondence, reports and clinical letters by the use of audio transcription technology (describe).
To type urgent clinical letters, including those of a sometimes distressing or emotional nature from audiotape or direct dictation as agreed.
To deal with all telephone calls relating to the service, ensuring patient focus is maintained and enquiries are handled in a courteous, tactful and prompt manner and respecting patient confidentiality at all times.
To prioritise and process incoming correspondence and ensure that it is dealt with promptly by the appropriate member of staff.
Person specification
Essential criteria
6. AMSPAR, or equivalent. RSA 3 typing or equivalent.
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
7. Excellent audio and word processing skills.
8. Excellent computer literacy [Word, Excel, PowerPoint]
9. Excellent organisational and administration skills
10. Good customer care skills. Effective communication skills.
11. Ability to prioritise a busy workload
12. Advanced keyboard skills
Experience
Essential criteria
13. Previous experience of working in a busy healthcare environment.
14. Previous secretarial experience.
Desirable criteria
15. Previous experience as a Medical Secretary.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
16. Sound understanding of practical Data Protection issues.
17. Excellent knowledge of medical terminology.
18. Basic knowledge of child and adult protection issues
Other
Essential criteria
19. Able to work on own initiative and within a team.
20. Able to work to tight deadlines and within available resources.
21. Flexible approach to work.
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.