Job Description -April 2024

St. Francis Hospice Dublin

JOB DESCRIPTION

MEDICAL SECRETARY – CLINICAL ADMINISTRATION TEAM

RAHENY / BLANCHARDSTOWN

GRADE IV

PERMANENT

20.5 HOURS PER WEEK

Job Reference: 2024 - 010
Issue Date: April 2024

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section Page

1. JOB PURPOSE 3

2. ACCOUNTABILITY 3

3. KEY DIMENSIONS 3

4. OPERATING ENVIRONMENT 3

5. SALARY SCALE, ANNUAL LEAVE, PENSION SCHEME 4

6. THE PERSON: QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES 5

7. OUTLINE OF JOB DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES 6 - 7

1. JOB PURPOSE

The person appointed to this position will work as part of the overall Clinical Administration Team and
will report to the Hospice Administrative Services Manager. The Clinical Administration team provides
administration support to the following areas namely: Community Palliative Care Team, Inpatient
Unit, Medical Administration, Outpatient and Day Service, Reception and Social Work.



2. ACCOUNTABILITY

The position reports to and is accountable to the Hospice Administrative Services Manager or
designated person in relation to her/his role as Medical Secretary in all matters relating to the job.



3. KEY DIMENSIONS

Direct reporting to the Hospice Administrative Services Manager or designated person.

Key internal relationships that will influence the success of the role: Medical Administrators, Medical
Consultants, Doctors, Nurses, Allied Health Care professionals, Community Palliative Care Team,
Outpatient & Day Service Team, Volunteers, Medical Secretaries, Ward Clerk and Clerical Officers.

Key external relationships that will influence the success of the role: Primary Care Teams, Acute
Hospitals, PAS support Team.



4. OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

Contractual Hours: 20.5 per week.

Hours of work: These hours will be worked over 7 days. Flexibility will be required depending on the
needs of the service. Details of starting and finishing times, which may vary in accordance with Hospice
needs will be notified by your line manager. There will be times when you will be required to work
outside of the normal office hours.

Location: This position is based across two sites: Raheny & Blanchardstown. In the interest of patient
care and changing needs, candidates are required to be flexible and are obliged to carry out duties in
any department or location of the Hospice or associated locations when required to do so by the
Hospice Administrative Services Manager.

The post holder maybe be moved to any other position within clerical, administration or secretarial in
the Hospice at any time during their employment on a temporary or permanent basis.

As St. Francis Hospice Dublin is an expanding service the demands for services can change and it will
be necessary to meet these changes through the organisation. In such circumstances it may be
necessary to review the work location for this post and, on behalf of the Board of Directors, the
Leadership Team reserves the right to change the terms and conditions as necessary. However,
notification will be given of any such changes.

Garda Vetting: The successful candidate will be required to satisfactorily complete the Garda Vetting
process prior to a formal job offer being made.

5. SALARY SCALES, ANNUAL LEAVE & PENSION SCHEME

Salary Scale: Department of Health - Consolidated Salary Scale (1st January 2024) – 0558 – Clerical
Grade IV

33,422.00 35,512.00 36,351.00 38,471.00 40,413.00 42,112.00 43,756.00 45,975.00 47,587.00 49,210.00 50,714.00 33,422.00

Annual Leave: 26 days per annum. (Pro Rata)

Pension Scheme:

Your post, position, or office is pensionable for the purpose of the Single Public Service Pension

Scheme (the “SPSPS”)

6. THE PERSON: QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES

Essential Desirable

Qualifications • Be educated to leaving certificate • Qualification at Level 6 -NFQ or

Standard or equivalent. its equivalent in a relevant

discipline.

• To have undertaken an Office

Administration/Secretarial Course or
other relevant course.

Experience • Have a minimum of two years

clerical/secretarial/administration • Experience working in a
experience. hospital/Hospice/Health Care

• Be fully competent in MS Office suite and setting

other relevant packages.

• Previous experience in Information

Systems e.g. Patient Management
systems

Other • Flexible working approach – must be

available to work across two sites
(Raheny & Blanchardstown) within
various clinical areas, as the
Organisation requires.

• Full driving license
  

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Demonstrate an understanding of the application of the values and ethos of SFHD.

• Demonstrate effective communication (verbal & written) and interpersonal skills including the

ability to collaborate with colleagues, volunteers, families, carers etc.

• Ability to develop positive working relationships internally and externally.

• Have proven planning and organisational skills together with the ability to perform duties of the

role in a sensitive and caring manner.

• Have the ability to work on own initiative, meet deadlines, prioritise and manage a number of

issues simultaneously and demonstrate attention to detail.

• Be able to identify potential difficulties and formulate solutions.

• Demonstrate a commitment to continuing professional development.

7. OUTLINE OF JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The role of Medical Secretary – Clinical Admin includes but is not limited to:

PROVIDING COVER TO ALL AREAS OF CLINICAL ADMINISTRATION. SOME OF THE TASKS INVOLVED ARE LISTED BELOW, THIS
IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST.

Within all areas the successful candidate will be dealing with patients and families both on the

telephone and in person, arranging appointments, taking messages, creating records, updating files

and healthcare records, updating the Patient Administration System.

• Community Palliative Care Team

o Processing referrals to the team

o Providing administrative support to the multi-disciplinary team.

o Dealing with calls from patients and families.

o Filing in Healthcare Records.

• Outpatient and Day Service Team

o Arranging appointments for patients to attend the multi-disciplinary team.

o Providing support to the multidisciplinary team.

o Arranging transport for patients when required.

• In Patient Unit

o Processing referrals to the Inpatient Unit

o Managing the patient healthcare record.

o Providing support to the multidisciplinary team.

• Social Work

o Providing support to the Social Work and Bereavement Team

o Managing appointments for the Team.

o Organising Bereavement Information Evenings and Services of Remembrance and

issuing invitations to same.

• Clinical Administration and Medical Records

o Supporting the role of the clinical administration team in Medical Records, Data

Collection and Reporting.

• Reception

o Meeting and greeting patients, families, visitors and donors to come to St. Francis

Hospice.

o Answering all calls to the hospice in a professional way and directing calls to relevant

departments.

o Processing donations.

o Supporting other departments in evenings and at weekends.

• The successful candidate must be flexible and available to work across our two Hospices in

Raheny and Blanchardstown and across clinical areas within St. Francis Hospice Services.

• Working closely with the Hospice Administrative Services Manager and the Medical

Administrators to support the work of the clinical administration staff in St. Francis Hospice.

• Providing a professional, values-based service to patients and clients of St. Francis Hospice at all

times.

• Ensuring confidentiality with healthcare records and patient information and ensuring that

healthcare records are kept up to date with correspondence and notes.

• Attendance and minute taking at Departmental team meetings.

• Minutes taking at different committees as per management request.

• Involvement in project work / tasks as determined by the Hospice Administrative Services

Manager, Medical Director and/or Hospice Leadership Team.

• To carry out any other reasonable duties, appropriate to the office, that may be required by the

Hospice Leadership Team.

General

• Comply with the Mission Statement, Ethos and Values of St. Francis Hospice Dublin.

• Ensuring compliance with Health and Safety procedures in relation to all Hospice activities.

• Contribute to and comply fully with the St. Francis Hospice Dublin Safety Statement including safe

working practice as laid down by the Safety, Health and Welfare at work Act 2005 and any other
relevant legislation.

• Comply with the St. Francis Hospice Dublin policies relating to confidentiality and ensure

confidentiality in all matters of information obtained during the course of employment.

• Adhere to the Policies & Procedures of St. Francis Hospice Dublin at all times.

• Actively engage in continuous personal development and learning.

• Present and act in a professional manner at all the times.

Carrying out any other reasonable duties, appropriate to the office that may be required from time to
time by the Hospice Administrative Services Manager and other designated officer in all matters
relating to the job.

The successful candidate will be required to update their knowledge and skills to fit the changing
requirements of the post. Therefore, this Job Description is an outline of the current broad areas of
responsibility and accountability and should not be regarded as a comprehensive listing. It will be
reviewed and updated in line with future needs.

The successful candidate will be required to maintain, enhance and develop their knowledge, skills
and attitudes necessary to respond to a changing situation.