Palliative Care Administrative & Secretarial Support

Job summary

We are seeking an enthusiastic & motivated individual to provide administrative support to the Palliative care service within the Medicine Care Group at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

You will need to be flexible and conscientious and have the ability to work on your own initiative, prioritising your work and meeting deadlines whilst maintaining high standards.

You should be a compassionate, accountable individual who treats all colleagues, patients and service users with respect and seeks to deliver excellence in their role. You will share the Trust values and be committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Main duties of the job

• You will be required to provide a comprehensive administrative service for the Palliative care Team in accordance with Trust policies and procedures.
• You should possess excellent verbal and written communication skills in addition to a clear understanding of patient confidentiality. You must possess a good working knowledge of IT packages and the ability to work across a mixed skill team.
• The role provides a link between the Trust, the patient and community services for parent/carers and other healthcare professionals. You will provide a comprehensive, efficient and responsive administration service to the medical staff and their Nursing team.

About us

At Sheffield Children’s, our purpose is clear: to provide healthier futures for children and young people. Our three strategic aims are:

1. Outstanding Patient Care
2. Brilliant Place to work
3. Leaders in Children’s Health

We work successfully with local, regional, and national partners to provide physical and mental healthcare across acute and community settings. Many of our clinicians are amongst the best in their field, recognised nationally and internationally for their expertise.

As well as having enormous pride in what we do, we are a friendly, welcoming, and motivated NHS Trust who are guided by our CARE values: Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence. Our nearly 4000 colleagues live these values, ensuring kind and compassionate care that makes patients and their families feel safe and at home.

As we approach our 150th anniversary in 2026, we remain committed to enhancing our reputation in children’s health leadership, improving the experiences of both patient and colleagues, and focusing on our communities and population health.

Date posted

16 August 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£24,071 to £25,674 a year per annum pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

6 months

Working pattern

Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

425-24-6502153

Job locations

Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Palliative care team

47 Wilkinson street

Sheffield

S10 2FJ

Job description

Job responsibilities

Main responsibilities

• To ensure post addressed to the consultant / clinical team is promptly collected, sorted, recorded and actioned as appropriate. To act on own initiative where appropriate in responding to incoming mail.
• Act as a focal point for the clinical team. Provide a friendly and professional service, deal with enquiries from a multitude of sources following Trust policies and standard operating procedures. Liaise with GPs, other hospitals, patients, internal medical/non-medical staff and medical/non-medical external staff by a variety of means i.e. face to face/phone/e-mail/letter on a daily basis.
• Ensure all duties are undertaken in line with standard operating procedures and to enable the achievement of Trust and service specific key performance indicators.
• Frequently receive and respond appropriately to telephone and personal enquiries from patients, relatives, GPs, other consultants and external bodies, referring enquiries to the consultants/clinical teams where necessary. This will require analysis of queries/issues, making judgements about how to deal with them and escalating as appropriate.
• Arrange investigations and follow up work and ensure that all results are presented to medical staff and subsequently filed into the patients medical record.
• Accurately record all paper/computerised patient records, updating and amending information in a timely manner and within standard operating procedures.
• Undertake routine or ad hoc data validation as required.
• Undertake typing of medical correspondence using copy, audio tapes and relevant IT systems to a high and accurate standard. This may include clinic letters, medico-legal reports and other administrative work.
• Process and action any direct instructions including checking appointments/review lists/investigations/diagnostic tests/interpreters have been booked as required.
• Keep appropriate statistical records/information as and when required for the clinical team for audit purposes. Provision of statistical returns required at regular intervals. This will involve entering statistical data onto databases.
• To be responsible for ensuring copies of correspondence are stored in the patients record in accordance with standard operating procedures.
• To attend meetings and committees to provide secretarial support by taking meetings and arranging meetings as and when required. This could include support to Consultants with research articles, preparation of teaching materials, etc.
• To be responsible for the preparation of discharge summaries in a timely manner in accordance with the locally agreed standards.

General

• To carry out general administration duties and provide clerical assistance as required.
• To support the induction and training of new staff within the secretarial service.
• To allocate work to support/relief staff.
• To order and take receipt of general office stationary and equipment and to organise equipment repairs.

Inclusive Recruitment & Selection

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and accurate data capture is an important part of that to ensure we are supportive and representative. Our aim is to ensure that all applicants can see themselves in the available categories on our application form, but we recognise that some of our data capture fields are not inclusive. We have flagged this with our system provider to ask for change.

We offer encouragement and active support to applicants with additional needs, including those from ethnic minorities, with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community. If you wish to adjust any aspect of the recruitment process or wish to find out more about our recruitment & selection processes, please get in touch with our Recruitment Manager: [email protected]

We are continually reviewing our recruitment & selection process to support the long-term aim of Sheffield Childrens being a champion of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. If you have any ideas for improvement, please get in touch with Catherine Gilbert at [email protected]

Trust Values

The Trust is committed to providing great quality patient care and keep children, young people and families at the heart of what we do by following our CARE values:

• Compassion leading by kindness and showing empathy, understanding and respect
• Accountability striving to do the right thing and owning responsibility
• Respect value differences, tackling inequality and fostering a culture of inclusion
• Excellence delivering a high-quality standard of care

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• GCSEs Grade C or above including English
• RSA II Typing / Word Processing or equivalent qualification or experience

Experience

Essential

• Significant general office experience
• Previous experience of dealing with the General Public

Desirable

• Medical Secretarial experience
• previous experience of working within the NHS

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Word processing skills
• Ability to use spreadsheet and data base software
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team
• Good communication skills

Desirable

• Ability to use Microsoft Word, Access and Excel

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Pleasant, tactful and understanding manner

Additional information

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Palliative care team

47 Wilkinson street

Sheffield

S10 2FJ

Employer’s website

https://www.sheffieldchildrens.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Read Full Description