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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Transcription and production from winscribe of typewritten reports/correspondence, for the consultant’s team and visiting consultant team which may include outpatient reports, discharge summaries, and other relevant clinical and non-clinical correspondence.

- Open and prioritise correspondence (which is often of a highly sensitive and confidential nature) on behalf of consultant/s ensuring that urgent correspondence receives prompt attention. In the consultant/s absence, Medical Secretary is responsible for ascertaining which correspondence requires referral to an appropriate clinician/nurse for urgent attention.

- Retrieve and act upon correspondence received by e-mail.

- Process case-notes of patients discharged from hospital; follow through ongoing care plans as indicated in notes. Allocate notes to relevant clinician for dictation, or ensure that any standard letters are completed as appropriate. Where standard letters have been generated at ward level, ascertain from case-notes whether any supplementary letter/action is required and deal with appropriately. Ensure that follow up appointments or referrals to other specialties are arranged where necessary.

- Ensure that relevant investigation results received after patient’s discharge are communicated to GP’s where appropriate, particularly where treatment may be required.

- Ensure that discharge summaries and other time-sensitive information are dictated and typed within the designated time limits.

- Ensure the correct closure of outpatient episodes have been completed, following consultant appointments with patients.

- Receive, manage and prioritise telephone and personal enquires, complaints, messages and information from patients, relatives, General Practitioners, Consultants and other medical staff and external organisations on behalf of Consultant and clinical team. Deal with enquiries relating to the medical and social welfare of patients and relatives in a sensitive manner, referring to medical staff or other Healthcare Professionals where appropriate. When responding to enquires, ensure that relevant guidelines or protocols are followed.

- Respond to enquiries from patients and Healthcare personnel as appropriate. Provide empathy and reassurance to patients where necessary. May be required to convey clinical/medical information to patients, medical, nursing, pharmacy or other healthcare staff, when instructed by, or with permission of Consultant.

- Manage patient investigation results. Check all incoming laboratory/radiology results, ensuring that abnormal results are communicated promptly to appropriate Clinician. Ensure all reports are seen and signed by Clinician prior to filing in case-notes. Retrieve patient results from the ICE system, ensuring that results are available as soon as possible. Responsible for chasing up missing results.

- Maintain systems for monitoring and retrieving outstanding investigations. May be required to instigate appropriate referrals to other disciplines in respect of specific abnormalities in line with Departmental protocols.

- Undertake self-supervision and effective self-organisation in terms of:

a) co-ordinating annual and other leave in co-operation with other secretaries, and with the approval of management;

b) liaising with other secretaries to ensure fair distribution of work by mutual

assistance;

c) liaising with manager and other secretaries regarding any flexi-time

arrangements within the office.

- Establish and maintain efficient office systems, including filing systems for the clinical team and maintain a booking out and/or booking in system for case-notes using the hospital patient administration system.

- Co-ordinate arrangements for urgent outpatient appointments/hospital admissions, domiciliary visits etc - liaising with wards, departments and other agencies as required.

- Liaise with Admissions Department in respect of patients requiring hospital admission, ensuring that relevant information or instructions are communicated effectively. Ensure that all relevant investigations are available prior to admission and in particular that any problem with the potential to delay admission/surgery is brought to the urgent attention of the relevant clinician (may be necessary to liaise with or organise input of other Clinicians prior to admission (eg anaesthetic assessment) or to co-ordinate arrangements where procedures require multidisciplinary input).

- Maintain confidentiality at all times, ensuring that information is only divulged to authorised sources and by appropriate means.

- Provide administrative and secretarial support for Consultant’s non-clinical NHS obligation and commitments.

- Provide essential cover for colleagues during periods of sickness, holiday absence, non-working days and home worker