Job summary
- Main area
- Administration
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 2
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (8-4, 8.30-4.30 or 9-5)
- Job ref
- 409-7201085
- Employer
- Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- St Helens Hospital
- Town
- St Helens
- Salary
- £24,465 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 13/11/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 21/11/2025
Employer heading
Administrative Assistant
NHS AfC: Band 2
After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
Job overview
We are seeking an enthusiastic, hardworking and motivated administrative assistant with excellent communication, organisational, time management and attention to detail skills to join our existing Admin Team to support Treatment Rooms, District Nurses, Phlebotomy and Community Matrons within Merseyside and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals.
The post will be based at multiple sites within the St Helens Community Administration Service with a need to be flexible to work at different locations if needed. You will be working in a busy environment and closely with the remainder of the Admin Team. Communication and customer care is key is this team. The post will be varied and a great opportunity to gain new skills and enhance your knowledge and experience by working within varies settings.
A flexible approach to day to day tasks is essential, in order to meet the changing demands of the service. Our philosophy is to keep the patient at the heart of everything we do. We look for people who are willing to go the extra mile, not because they are asked to, but because they are committed to being part of a healthcare team that delivers an excellent caring service to our patients.
Please note, this vacancy may close early if a sufficient number of applications have been received.
The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change
Main duties of the job
To provide a comprehensive administrative service to staff and patients.
To be confident, competent and efficient working on a computer.
Ensuring all the workload is effectively and efficiently processed including ad hoc office duties.
To complete all clinic related and documentation and data input.
Ensure cross cover working where appropriate. A ‘Buddy’ system is in place to cover colleagues workload when on annual leave etc
To be responsible for own workload on a day to day basis.
Provide an effective administrative service to support the team
Effective liaison with multi-disciplinary staff/patients/carers/outside agencies, including dealing with appointment/service enquiries
Responsibility, in conjunction with other administrative staff, for arranging clinics, maintaining records, creating referrals, booking appointments and associated data entry including the retrieval and maintenance of patient records
Mentor and help train new Administration Assistants on the day-to-day activities of the Department
Working for our organisation
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
KEY DUTIES
- To be responsible and accountable for all aspects of own workload and to support other members of the team as they would likewise.
- Effective use of appropriate IT systems
- Act as first point of contact for all telephone and reception enquiries, ensuring that messages are forwarded to the appropriate persons and visitors are welcomed to the department
- Provide an effective administrative service to support the team, including photocopying, data inputting and typing
- Effective liaison with multi-disciplinary staff/patients/carers/outside agencies, including dealing with appointment/service enquiries. To ensure communication is accurate, sensitive, complex and confidential and accurate information is communicated as and when required
- Responsibility, in conjunction with other administrative staff, for arranging clinics, booking appointments and associated data entry including the retrieval and maintenance of patient records
- Ensure appropriate records are maintained as directed by Line Manager. In line with Trust Policies and Procedures
- Contribute to the producing and sending of appointments and giving appropriate patient information/advice
- To register patient referrals for the service on appropriate systems following the service referral pathway
- To contribute to the maintenance of waiting lists, ensuring that appropriate appointments are scheduled / allocated to patients as directed, in line with service procedures by your line manager or clinician
- To work in a flexible manner when cover is required, to support and maintain service delivery
- Contribute to the processing of all incoming and outgoing mail
- Participate in the provision of cover and support and maintain service delivery borough wide
- Participate in serious untoward incident investigations/reviews as required. Support individual's equality, diversity and rights
- Participate in patient and public involvement activities
- Contribute towards service improvement initiatives to enhance quality of patient care
- Provide information and support to service users/carers as appropriate
- Contribute to the continued improvement and quality of the Administration Support Service
- Recognise and respond appropriately to urgent and emergency situations
- Report any concern regarding patient care to line manager
- To take delegated responsibility from the Service Co-Ordinator/Service Manager for specific tasks
- Ensure all mandatory training is up to date.
- Be able to work as part of a team and provide cover when necessary.
- Attend appropriate training, meetings, and education sessions at the request of manager
- To work in a flexible manner in accordance with the Trust Policy.
- Ensure 18-week pathways process is adhered to.
- Make follow-up appointments as required ensuring all departmental instructions are adhered to.
- Deal with non-attenders (DNA’s) in accordance with the Trust’s Policies and Procedures. Liaising with nursing and clinical staff.
- Provide a reception service for outpatient clinics.
- To deal with patients and their relatives in a friendly and sympathetic manner.
- Respond to enquiries in a positive and helpful manner and deal with telephone enquiries as they arise.
- Direct patients to correct departments.
- Deal with complaints on a first line basis or refer to the relevant department / member of staff. (NB - May occasionally experience stressful or distressing situations).
- Preparation of patient temporary case notes.
- Prior to clinics commencing, organise workload to ensure all patients health records checked liaising with Clinic Preparation section regarding health records not delivered/available.
- Liaise with other Trusts.
- Comply with Trust and Departmental Policies and Procedures.
- To meet departmental targets as set by the Departmental Manager
- Any other duties required by Line Manager
ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
- To undertake any other delegated duties as appropriate and commensurate with the contribute to the ordering of stationery supplies and associated procedures
- Contribute to the effective and efficient use of resources
- To undertake any other delegated duties as appropriate and commensurate with the post.
TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSIBILITIES
- Provide evidence to support development around the Trust Appraisal system or other competency profiles
- Participate in regular supervision, engage in reflective practice and be committed to continued development
- Develop own skills and knowledge and contribute to the development of others.
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
- All Trust staff will comply with financial processes and procedures
RESEARCH & AUDIT
- Participate in appropriate audit, quality assurance programmes and research as directed.
CONFIDENTIALITY
- To be aware of Records Management, Information Governance, Caldicott, confidentiality and data protection.
KET RESULT AREAS
- Take part in Trust appraisal process, agreeing objectives and a personal development plan annually.
- Ensure patient activity is recorded real time on relevant Trust Information System
- Liaise with consultants, wards, secretaries and other departments to ensure good communications exist within all areas of the Trust.
- Participate in and assist in outpatient audits.
- A flexible approach to working is needed as part-time staff will be expected to cover at times of absence up to full-time, in order to meet the demands of the service.
- Work across all sites of the St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals Trusts
TRAINING
- As required attend regular mandatory training and other training courses relevant to the job.
- To work towards NVQ qualification/Customer Care
GOVERNANCE
- To support the Trusts clinical governance agenda by understanding the key priorities for change and ensuring that new developments utilise the objectives within the governance agenda
Person specification
Other
Essential criteria
- Ability to travel to various locations
- Willingness and flexibility to provide cover for other clinics
- Ability to remain calm under pressure
- Flexible, adaptable approach
- Willingness to train and support new assistant administrators and bank assistant administrators in respect of general IT, administrative duties and procedures
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Educated to GCSE level or equivalent qualification and/or experience
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Reception/office experience
Desirable criteria
- NHS experience
Skills
Essential criteria
- Good IT/computer skills
- Accurate keyboarding skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Good knowledge and understanding of confidentiality
- Good interpersonal skills
- Ability to participate and work within a changing and demanding environment
- Able to present factual information and refer questions to others where appropriate
- Ability to organise and prioritise own workload
- Ability to work as a member of a team
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Jazmine Garth
- Job title
- Admin Service Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07469443868
- Additional information
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