Main area Surgery Grade NHS AfC: Band 3 Contract 12 months (NHS Employees should ideally secure their manager’s agreement for a secondment arrangement ideally prior to applying, as this will be a condition of any offer made. This vacancy is advertised on a fixed term basis as it is funded on a non-recurrent basis and will end in 12 months. Whilst this post is advertised on a secondment basis there is the potential that this post may become permanent in the future.) Hours

• Part time
• Flexible working

Employer Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Leigh Infirmary Town Leigh Salary £24,937 - £26,598 per annum, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 27/08/2025 08:00

Clinical Support Secretary

NHS AfC: Band 3

Choose Well - Choose WWL

Job overview

We currently have an opportunity for a suitably experienced secretary to join our team of Clinical Support Secretaries within our Medical Secretariat.

The available position is for 18.75 hours per week for 12mths based at our Leigh Site. Hybrid working (a combination of office days and working from home days) may be considered after a period of training.

This role is ideal for those wishing to pursue a career as a medical secretary, offering opportunities to gain knowledge and experience across multiple specialties to facilitate progression to a higher level.

This interesting & varied role requires the ability to work well on your own initiative whilst being committed to teamwork to ensure work is completed to meet Trust targets. You must possess the ability to manage a variety of tasks & prioritise these accordingly whilst working under pressure. Good communication skills and the ability to deal with confidential & sensitive issues in a professional manner are essential.

When completing your supporting statement, please refer to the person spec, demonstrating in your application how you match all points, providing examples of experience, understanding and transferable skills.

Please also indicate all of the specialities that you have experience of typing for, where applicable.

Main duties of the job

You will be working in a busy environment within the ‘virtual’ Clinical Secretary pool within a small team to designated specialties. You will be providing an efficient audio typing service using our Digital Dictation System, together with our existing Patient Information Systems. You will support our Consultant PAs, ensuring that patient and GP correspondence is typed and dispatched within a timely manner.

To be successful in this role you will need to be qualified to RSA III or equivalent or have a proven experience of audio-typing and providing a secretarial / audio-typing service. You will also need to be able to type accurately at speeds of around 40 – 50 words per minute. Having knowledge of medical terminology and / or an AMSPAR qualification will be a distinct advantage. Previous secretarial experience within a hospital or other medical environment would also be a distinct advantage.

Working for our organisation

Choose Well – Choose WWL

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust are the proud providers of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, we value our staff believing that ‘happy staff, makes for happy patients’. We have a recognised track record in staff engagement and living our values.

WWL are committed to placing the patient at the heart of everything we do, and in the provision of safe, effective care that acknowledges and ensures dignity. With this in mind we are seeking to recruit people who share our values and beliefs.

On-Call

Please note that senior positions (AFC band 8A or above) may be expected to participate in an on-call rota, if the role is predominantly operational.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The main duties of this role are

• Audio typing using the Digital Dictation System, photocopying and the composition of letters.
• Sorting, prioritising, processing and distribution of incoming mail, using judgement and experience to decide which documents are to be passed directly to other areas for action and information.
• Ensuring accurate and up-to-date inputting of information onto all Trust patient systems (PAS, ORMIS, EPR, Digital Dictation).
• General office management duties (photocopying, scanning, emailing documentation) as required.
• Assist other Clinical Secretaries with their workload
• Promote the dissemination of quality patient information.
• Provide non-clinical advice and information to patients/clients/relatives
• Knowledge of a full range of secretarial procedures and software programmes (PAS, theatre, EPR, digital dictation) and their application to improve service efficiency and effectiveness.
• Understanding of medical terminology and a willingness to assist colleagues with transcription outputs.
• Exercise judgement when dealing with patient enquiries, analysing and resolving problems at source.
• Assist in new staff induction together with the identification and support of their training requirements.
• Facilitate a supportive learning environment that enables all members of the secretariat team to develop.
• Recognise the effective utilisation of all appropriate development resources and opportunities.
• Promote the ethos of continuous improvement disseminating any new knowledge gained to other colleagues.
• Recognise and accept responsibility for own personal development.
• Supervising administration support and work experience students ensuring an effective office system is maintained.
• Providing cover for the work of absent secretaries, including across sites, when necessary

Person specification

Additional

• Motivated and proactive
• Demonstrates willingness to change as the role evolves.
• Speak English to an appropriate standard relevant to their role, i.e. with confidence and accuracy, using correct sentence structures and vocabulary, and without hesitation

Knowledge

• Demonstrates willingness to develop a range of medical terminology
• Understanding of the Data Protection Act
• Some knowledge of the 18 week policy, Choose & Book and Patient Choice; and how this role fits with these initiatives
• Knowledge of medical terminology within at least one specialty
• Knowledge of medical terminology within more than one specialty
• Knowledge of how to use Trust PAS and theatre systems

Experience

• Proven relevant experience of providing a secretarial or audio-typing service, or equivalent
• Experience of successfully working within tight time frames and to deadlines
• Experience of word processing
• Experience of using digital dictation systems
• Experience of coaching and training new staff within own work area
• Experience of using Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Outlook

Skills

• Ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner
• Ability to use VDU equipment
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to type 40 – 50 words per minute with an accuracy rate of 90%
• Ability to type documents in letter format
• Clear and accurate written & verbal communication skills
• Ability to type more than 50 words per minute with an accuracy rate of at least 95%

Qualifications

• Qualified to RSAIII Level or equivalent qualification / experience
• AMSPAR Certificate in medical terminology
• AMSPAR qualification, in addition to medical terminology

Our Trust prefers candidates to submit applications online. Please contact the Recruitment Team on 01942 244000 if you have difficulty applying online.

The Trust reserves the right to close adverts earlier than the stated closing date if there is a high volume of applications.

We endeavour to inform all applicants of the outcome of their application by email or SMS text message.

Guidance on Completing Your Application

Applications are scored against the person specification, therefore we recommend that you use the supporting information section of your application form to demonstrate how you meet the essential and desirable criteria for the role, providing illustrative examples where possible.

On-Call

Please note that some roles may require you to participate in an on-call rota, if the role is predominantly operational.

WWL has signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment. and will recognise your continuous or ‘unbroken’ service in any Greater Manchester Local Authority or NHS organisation, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service or Greater Manchester Combined Authority; giving you access to our service-related benefits.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Name Temandra Dennis Job title Deputy HCA Manager - Medical Secretaries Email address temandra.dennis@wwl.nhs.uk Telephone number 01942 264352