Medical Secretary / Pathway Navigator- Haematology

at  Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Provide the focal point of communication for all medical, professional and allied healthcare staff, both within this Trust and with external organisations, using judgment to facilitate a successful outcome for all enquiries. Deal with concerned patients/relatives with tact, patience and discretion, especially when conveying sensitive information. Patient contact by telephone is an integral part of the departmental secretarial role, often to convey information, which could be difficult and distressing for patients to comprehend Manage own workload, follow through queries and chase progress, in order to free up clinical time for clinicians, improving information and access for patients Act independently to sort, distribute and prioritise incoming mail, including fax and e-mail, using judgement and experience to prioritise and pass to clinicians or pass directly to other areas for action and information, using own initiative Liaise with and support the departmental pathway coordinator with the partial booking process to ensure that appointments and clinics are managed efficiently to meet service demands. Be responsible for ensuring that patient pathways progress in a timely manner in order to meet required target dates in conjunction with the pathway co-ordinator Manage and communicate clinic changes including setting up additional clinics, changing, moving or cancelling clinics depending on clinician availability and/or service need.
Have an overview of all absences to identify sufficient clinic cover and capacity utilisation. Conduct a monthly forward look review with clinicians to ensure that all availability is accurate and any changes are acted upon in a timely manner. Support the 18/52 patient pathway by providing timely information to the medical 18 week team on a weekly basis on all tiers, 1, 2 and 3 as requested. This will involve the typing of outstanding letters on Big Hand, chasing approvals, chasing results/test/investigations and ensuring clinicians action to enable 18 week query to be reported on.
Have an overview of timescales for best practice tariffs to ensure that all patients receive timely appointments Maintain electronic diaries for the team, make appointments, plan and organise arrangements within the office. This will necessitate the post holder being able to prioritise Ensure all correspondence for the clinicians including clinical letters*, medico-legal reports, results, meeting minutes, IPRs etc are typed and dispatched promptly. *The post-holder will be required to support the medical transcription team by typing clinic letters for an agreed number of hours each week. During periods of high demand, secretaries will type departmental letters highlighted by clinicians as urgent.
Departmental secretaries will ensure that all actions are completed in a timely manner and typed letters are printed and dispatched promptly. To print off all inpatient urgent referrals from ICE and ensure that clinicians are aware the day they are received and that they are actioned and reported on that day At the request of clinicians arrange any procedures required Scan documents to Evolve as necessary Undertake audit work as required, e.g. collection, checking and interpretation of statistical data and departmental information where appropriate Maintain databases and provide reports from the databases as required Order and maintain non stock equipment and stationery for the office Organise and support regular/ad hoc meetings including business, clinical, educational and patient support group meetings. This will involve arranging the venue, equipment and catering and taking minutes if required.
Occasionally meetings will be out of normal working hours. Prepare PowerPoint presentations for both clinical and educational meetings. Implement policies for own area and office/department Ensure that the administration function within the department is appropriately staffed at all times to ensure the smooth running of the department. Support senior staff with the recruitment process within the department.
To include, liaising with recruitment, preparing paperwork. booking interview rooms and ensuring facilities are available to support any presentations/tests which form part of the interview process. Induct/train new departmental staff, including taking all new starters through the local induction booklet, arranging security badges, car parking, IT training etc Advise junior staff of work pattern and inform of departmental procedures. Ensure that the departmental webpage and intranet page are kept up to date To carry out any reasonable work requests to meet the needs of the service

Please refer the Job description for details