Support Secretary, General SurgeryNHS

Job summary

An opportunity has arisen to join the General Surgery team as a Support Secretary to provide comprehensive administrative support to the General Surgery service, ensuring the efficient day-to-day running of the department. The post holder will support the management of outpatient and procedure booking processes, maintain high standards of data quality across Trust systems, respond to patient, clinician and staff queries, and undertake a range of administrative tasks to support effective service delivery. The post holder will work closely with clinical, operational and administrative teams to ensure patient pathways are managed efficiently, appointment capacity is optimised, and departmental performance standards are maintained.

Please be advised that sponsorship is not eligible for this post.

Closing Date: Please be advised that this job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested.

Secondment will be considered for internal candidates - If you are successful after interview, you must obtain approval from your current line manager to accept the offer.

Main duties of the job

• Manage the booking, rebooking and cancellation of outpatient appointments and procedures.
• Monitor clinic utilisation and support effective use of appointment capacity.
• Act as a first point of contact for patient, clinician and staff enquiries.
• Process referrals and ensure patients are scheduled appropriately on Trust systems.
• Undertake data quality validation exercises and correct inaccuracies and ensuring patient records, referrals, clinic outcomes and waiting list information are complete, accurate and up to date.
• Monitor and maintain departmental worklists.
• Support validation and tracking of patient pathways including RTT compliance.
• Coordinate special arrangements for patients including interpreters and transport.
• Undertake filing, scanning, photocopying and electronic document management.
• Produce routine reports and performance information.
• Provide administrative support to consultants, nursing and management teams.
• Provide cross-cover across the General Surgery administration team.
• Support the completion of PTL and waiting list actions as directed by operational managers and medical secretaries.
• Support management of cancelled clinics, appointment recovery activity and utilisation of available clinic capacity
• Assist with backlog reduction and service improvement initiatives within the General Surgery service
• Support implementation of operational action plans and service developments as required

Job description

The Support Secretary provides a comprehensive administrative and secretarial service, supporting consultants and clinical teams to deliver high-quality patient care. The role involves managing appointments, handling patient and clinician enquiries, maintaining accurate patient records, processing correspondence, and ensuring administrative processes are completed efficiently and within required timescales. The post holder will work closely with multidisciplinary teams, provide excellent customer service, and contribute to the effective delivery of outpatient and clinical services while demonstrating UHCW values and behaviours.

For further details please see the attached job description.

About us

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, rated as good by the Care Quality Commission, is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the UK.

We are extremely proud of our employees across our hospital sites, with high quality patient care at the heart of everything we do.

Boasting some of the most modern facilities in Western Europe, the Trust is renowned for being at the forefront of research and innovation as part of its blossoming reputation as a worldwide leader in healthcare.

We are proud to be recognised as a Pathway to Excellence designated organisation - please click the link for further details about this prestigious award. Pathway To Excellence - University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire (uhcw.nhs.uk)

By joining our exciting journey, you will form part of a passionate, talented team and will be able to access a wide range of learning and development opportunities. There has never been a better time to join our team.

The Trust is committed to building an organisation that makes full use of the talents, skills, experience, and different perspectives available in our diverse society. We want everyone to feel they are respected, valued, can achieve their potential and receive the most appropriate and relevant care. We will create an environment where the equality and human rights principles of fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy are promoted and are part of the organisation's core values.