Medical secretary

Medical secretaries provide secretarial support for doctors and other professionals in the health service. Their duties include word processing medical notes and letters, filing and retrieving patients’ records, making appointments, managing clinic lists, reception work and answering telephone enquiries. They might also have to calm and reassure anxious patients or their relatives.

Work activities

Medical secretaries provide administrative support for one or more doctors and other people employed in the health sector. They are responsible for organising the office, arranging efficient filing systems, retrieving medical reports and dealing with correspondence. They use a computer to type confidential letters and medical notes and to update patients’ records in a patient management system. Secretaries sometimes prepare presentations for conferences and type reports for specialist journals. In hospitals, they might be working in one department, dealing with just one type of medical condition, or in a centralised office covering a number of departments. In a general practitioner’s surgery or health clinic, they might be dealing with correspondence and records covering many different types of medical condition.

Medical secretaries type from recorded speech (audio transcription) or from written notes. They might sometimes take notes in meetings and use these to produce minutes (a record of what was discussed and agreed). In some hospitals, they might accompany consultants on their ward rounds and take notes as they go. They are often involved in reception duties, dealing with incoming calls, making appointments and arranging transport for patients. They might also be responsible for maintaining a doctor’s diary and clinic list. In some cases, they might have to reassure anxious patients and their relatives, either face to face or on the telephone.

Personal qualities and skills

As a medical secretary, you’ll need to have:

• Word-processing and audio-transcribing skills.
• A good grasp of the English language.
• Strong organisation skills.
• The ability to plan and prioritise your workload and manage your time well; you will need to be efficient and accurate.
• A very methodical approach to your work. You should be able to concentrate and pay close attention to detail.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, to deal with patients and their relatives, as well as a wide variety of medical staff.
• Teamworking skills.
• A good telephone manner and a polite, tactful, reassuring and helpful approach.
• The ability to deal with personal, confidential and sensitive information.
• A respect for data protection and medical ethics (rules of conduct).
• General IT skills such as email, databases, spreadsheets and presentation software.
• The ability to use your initiative, think quickly and stay calm under pressure.
• An interest in human biology.

For some posts, you might need a minimum typing speed of 50-65 words per minute (wpm), for example. For some posts, you might need shorthand skills. You will need the ability to learn a lot of medical terminology.

Pay and opportunities

In the NHS, medical secretaries typically start on band 3 or 4 of the Agenda for Change payscale, earning at least £22,816. You could progress to band 5, earning as much as £34,581. You could earn more in the private sector.

Most secretaries work 37.5 hours, Monday to Friday. Full-time, part-time, temporary and flexible working arrangements might be available.

Employers include the NHS (in general practice and hospitals), the private health sector, research associations, drug companies, pathology laboratories and medical schools. Temporary work, whether on a casual basis or through short-term contracts, might be available from private medical secretarial employment agencies and from health authorities’ work “bank” agencies. Opportunities for medical secretaries occur in towns and cities throughout the UK.

Where are vacancies advertised?

Vacancies are advertised on the NHS Jobs website, on job boards, in local/ national newspapers, and on the Government’s Find a Job service.

Entry routes and training

Many entrants have completed a college course leading to a recognised medical secretarial qualification. Some employers might prefer applicants to have these qualifications. Others might ask for GCSEs at grades 9-4 including English and a recognised text-processing qualification such as OCR level 3.

City & Guilds (AMSPAR) offers relevant level 3 qualifications including the certificate in medical administration and the diploma for medical secretaries. AMSPAR is the Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists. Study programmes are available on a full- or part-time basis; on average, they last between 12 and 24 months. City & Guilds provides a full list of approved colleges and centres providing these qualifications. The British Society of Medical Secretaries and Administrators (BSMSA) also offers courses.

A level 3 (advanced) apprenticeship in the role of business administrator is a great place to start. This will provide you with the basic skills and knowledge needed to do the job, as well as relevant qualification. Your training will be predominantly work-based.

Medical secretaries in general practice could become practice managers, after further training and experience. In a hospital, a medical secretary can go on to manage secretarial services or follow the routes into other areas of administration or management.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: Working in health services as a medical secretary with access to people receiving health care is an exception to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that you must supply information to an employer about any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings, if they ask you to. This is different from other careers, where you only have to reveal information on unspent convictions if you are asked to.

Qualifications

If you wish to enter this career through an advanced apprenticeship, you will need GCSEs in English and maths, although you may be able to complete these alongside your programme.

Job advertisements might ask for the level 3 diploma for medical secretaries, awarded by City & Guilds, or similar. This is suitable for people with a minimum of 4 GCSE passes at grades 9-4 including English, although entry is at the discretion of individual colleges. These entry requirements might be relaxed for people with existing secretarial skills. Other employers might ask for 5 GCSEs at grades 9-4 including English and a recognised word-processing qualification such as OCR Level 3.

Some people enter with A-levels or equivalent qualifications. A relevant work-related qualification in a business subject, such as an Edexcel (BTEC) level 2 First qualification or an Edexcel (BTEC) level 3 National qualification, might be accepted for entry.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

Some health authorities and colleges consider applications from candidates who do not meet their usual entry requirements, if they have relevant secretarial skills. You should check individual admissions policies.

A number of centres offer relevant part-time courses, including the City & Guilds/Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists (AMSPAR) certificate and diploma courses.

Related careers

• Administrative assistant
• Health records officer
• Medical receptionist
• Secretary