Community Administrative AssistantNHS

Job summary

We are looking for an enthusiastic, organised and compassionate Community Administration Assistant to join our Community Services team. This is a varied and rewarding role where you will provide high-quality administrative support to clinical and multidisciplinary teams, helping services to run efficiently and ensuring patients, families and healthcare professionals receive a professional and responsive service.

This part time Band 3 position will work as part of a wider Community Administrative Team and there will be lots of opportunities for support and development.

Main duties of the job

As a key member of the administrative team, you will undertake a broad range of duties including managing telephone enquiries, processing referrals, coordinating appointments and clinics, maintaining electronic records, supporting meetings, managing databases and spreadsheets, and assisting with staff rotas, training records and other administrative processes. You will also support the Single Point of Access, often acting as the first point of contact for patients, relatives, carers and healthcare professionals.

Excellent communication and customer care skills are essential. You will communicate with a wide range of people on a daily basis and will sometimes support patients and families who may be anxious, distressed or experiencing communication difficulties. You will be expected to respond with sensitivity, patience, professionalism and respect, recognising when an enquiry requires escalation to an appropriate member of the clinical team.

The successful candidate will have strong organisational and IT skills, with experience of Microsoft Office and administrative systems. You should be confident working independently, using your initiative and prioritising competing demands while maintaining accuracy and meeting deadlines. Experience of healthcare services and electronic patient record systems such as EMIS would be beneficial, although these are listed as desirable rather than essential.

Job description

The successful candidate will work 15 hours per week within the Bladder and Bowel Administrative Team, comprising 7.5 hours on a Monday and 7.5 hours on a Tuesday.

A key aspect of the role will be providing a professional and compassionate first point of contact for patients, families and carers, primarily through telephone communication. The post holder will work closely with other members of the administrative team to support the effective coordination of the service. Duties will include organising clinic appointments, preparing and sending patient correspondence, maintaining accurate records, responding to enquiries and liaising closely with the clinical team to support the delivery of timely and effective patient care.

The successful candidate will also work 9 hours per week with the Rapid Response Nursing Team. These hours will generally be worked on a Wednesday; however, flexibility will be required as there may occasionally be a need to work on an alternative day across the seven-day service.

Within Rapid Response, the post holder will work collaboratively with the wider clinical and administrative team as part of the Single Point of Access, helping to coordinate enquiries and referrals and ensuring information is communicated promptly and accurately to the appropriate members of the team.

About us

Based in the North East of England we provide a range of hospital and community health services from our leading facilities, including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Blaydon urgent care centre and Bensham Hospital, all within Gateshead.

Established in 2005, we were one of the first foundation trusts in the country and since then have consistently achieved the highest levels of care for patients.

We now employ around 4,800 staff and currently provide 444 hospital beds across the Gateshead region.

Our values should be the 'golden thread' which runs through everything we do - they are the core of who we are. Our five values can easily be remembered by the simple acronymICORE; Innovation, Care, Openness, Respect, Engagement.

We have a number of staff networks including the Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) network, D-Ability network, LGBTQ+ Network and the Women's Network, to challenge us and help us to constantly improve. Our Armed Forces network is one of our emerging networks.

The health and wellbeing of our staff is one of our highest priorities, and we offer a range of support and initiatives as part of our 'Balance' programme balancegateshead.com to cater for our diverse workforce, so that your individual needs can be supported, allowing you a happy and healthy working experience with us.