Job vacancy: PA/Medical Secretary, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester

Job summary

Main area: Clinical Oncology Admin Support - E00093
Grade: Band 4
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Part time - 22.5 hours per week
Job ref: 413-110165-CNS-TM

Employer: The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Clinical Oncology Admin Support - E00093
Town: Manchester
Salary: £28,392 - £31,157 Per annum, Pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 01/09/2026 23:59

PA/Medical Secretary

Band 4

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Liaise with all consultants in your area of responsibility to provide a full secretarial service, including all administrative duties and dealing with mail, which includes placing it in order of priority and acting on matters which can be dealt with without further reference.

• Appropriately disseminate a variety of correspondence/documentation, some of which is highly confidential.

• Organize and schedule meetings and maintain an up-to-date diary for appointments, meetings and interviews.

• Effectively monitor clinic templates liaising with clinical team and appropriate administration staff to ensure clinic numbers are manageable. Escalating to Admin and Service Managers when appropriate.

• Liaise with staff at all levels both internally and externally, answering written and verbal enquiries when necessary, acting on all matters which can be dealt with without further reference.

• Answer written and verbal enquiries from patients/relatives, referring enquiries to consultants only when necessary.

• Deal with stressful phone calls which can be emotional / abusive and of a sensitive nature from relatives/patients.

• Liaise with internal and external departments to arrange clinical investigations/procedures.

• Liaise with patients involved in trials undertaken by the team, coordinating all necessary information between patients, hospital and organizing bodies.

• Ensure accurate input of patient details when entering data onto information databases and Patient Administration System (Careflow) including routine use of the case note tracking system.

• Receive new patient referrals and organize appointment/admissions and arrange treatment as required.

• Contribute to the appropriate management of the waiting list, particularly in relation to patients who fall within the two-week wait category

• Co-ordinate annual leave within the group to ensure clinics are capped or cancelled as necessary in order that clinics are managed effectively, and nursing staff are allocated appropriately to other areas.

• Contribute to the training of new members of staff within a given area as required.

• Ensure case notes are kept up to date and that all investigations and other material (outside notes and films) are available for clinic appointments/admissions.

• Provide information required to support the investigation of litigation cases.

• Provide statistical information to the Information Department as required.

• Work with Clinicians, Managers and Administration staff to review working practices, identify new improved ways of working and find solutions to problems.

• Work with the management team to improve quality and range of services, with resources being managed according to agreed policies and priorities.

• Ensure all relevant information is available for multi-disciplinary meetings for your team. Co-ordinate case notes and reports where necessary.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Always follow risk management procedures including the identification, assessment, and management of risk within the division.

To abide by all Trust policies and Procedures.

To be responsible for own professional /personal development, including participating in ongoing appraisal and personal development planning.

This job description is not intended to be exhaustive but reflects the main responsibilities of the post holder. Other duties and flexibility may be required from time to time, which are commensurate with the grade of the post. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

5 GCSE’s grade C or above including Maths and English or equivalent.

Desirable criteria

Evidence of further development

Experience

Essential criteria

Previous secretarial experience in a similar environment
Experience of working in a health care setting for a minimum of two years.
Experience of working as part of a team and in isolation.
Experience in managing priorities under pressure, to meet service needs and strict deadlines.

Desirable criteria

Previous secretarial experience in Oncology

Skills

Essential criteria

Audio typing
Copy typing
Sound knowledge of medical terminology
RSA stage II
Word-processing
Willing to attend training courses appropriate to role

Desirable criteria

Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint)
RSA stage III
AMSPAR Diploma (or equivalent)

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Excellent communication skills
Typing - ability to produce accurate, well presented work
Ability to work as part of a team
Organisational abilities to work to tight deadlines
Ability to use own initiative
Ability to work under pressure
Reliability
Flexibility to work within the team where necessary

Values

Essential criteria

Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours.

Other

Essential criteria

Ability to work as part of a team
Ability to work on own and to use initiative
Excellent interpersonal skills
Flexible and pro-active approach
Self-motivated and Enthusiastic

The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.

📝 Application Information - If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.

🌍 Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

🔍 Pre-Employment Checks - To confirm your suitability for the role, we will carry out pre-employment checks in line with NHS Employment Check Standards. These include:

Identity verification
Right to work check
Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role, payment of this will be the applicants responsibility)
Professional registration and/or qualification check
Occupational health assessment
Employment history and reference validation

All applicants external to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust will be required to provide their HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years employment. This information will used to validate employment history and references.

If you require sponsorship, we will assess your eligibility based on current government guidance. If the role is not eligible and you cannot demonstrate your right to work, your conditional offer may be withdrawn.

✅ If You're Offered the Role - you will be agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

🌍 Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

🚭 No Smoking Policy - You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.

📣 Additional Information - We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect. The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels. In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.

We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in all our activities. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery in any of its forms, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, and human trafficking. We are fully committed to acting ethically and with transparency in all our business dealings and relationships, and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our organisation or supply chains.