Administrative Assistant - Rheumatology

Administrative assistant for the Rheumatology Team at Luton and Dunstable Hosptial. The administration assistant will provide an essential clerical support service to the Rheumatology Team contributing to the overall efficient and effective running of the department.

The post holder will be required to communicate effectively with all levels of staff and deal sensitively with queries from patients. The department is a busy expanding unit and therefore flexibility and the ability to work well under pressure is essential.

Provide a friendly, welcoming and professional first point of contact to patients and a range of health care professionals. Telephone calls should be dealt with in a sensitive and tactful manner especially when liaising with distressed, angry or confused patients and/or relatives.

Deal with telephone calls and emails, responding in a timely manner and taking appropriate action as required. Provide non-clinical information to patients as appropriate recognising when to redirect calls to senior staff.

Use information systems effectively ensuring a high standard of information recording is maintained.

Support other administrative staff with the organisation of clinics and appointments and provide other administrative duties appropriate to role.

Record and update patient information on hospital IT systems accurately. To use departmental database (Infoflex) to log calls coming into the department via the nurse advice line and update patient treatment records.

Organise the admission of patients for procedures/treatments, liaising with the relevant department and contacting the patient to inform them of the admission arrangements.

Liaise with GPs and other referrers when necessary to obtain further information for the clinicians prior to the patients appointment.

Print and distribute clinical correspondence accurately within Trust timescales, ensuring that all instructions and enclosures are actioned prior to distribution.

Ensure all documents that require scanning onto the electronic patient record are uploaded accurately and appropriately in a timely manner so that patient information is available to clinical staff.

Record and update patient information on hospital IT systems accurately.

Perform basic data entry for departmental database.

Sort, prioritise and distribute incoming mail to the appropriate members of staff.

Maintain stock of stationery equipment and patient information material in the department and clinical rooms.

Provide cover for and undertake duties of absent colleagues appropriate to experience and competence.

Take an active role within the department attending staff meetings and participate in discussions to improve and evaluate the service

Undertake relevant training identified in conjunction with line manager.

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job

Qualifications

Knowledge

Experience

Personal Skills