Job summary
Employer heading
Personal Secretary
Band 4
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 15,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.6 billion.
We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.
We’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country, supporting people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.
Our staff oversee around 6,500 patient contacts each day, delivering high standards of healthcare.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.
Job overview
The Cellular Pathology Laboratory, part of the Integrated Laboratory Medicine (ILM) Directorate, seek an enthusiastic and suitably qualified Personal Secretary within the admin team, in addition to providing PA support to the Laboratory and Directorate management.
This role involves working closely within the Cellular Pathology administration team, contributing to workflows supporting the patient diagnostic pathways alongside clinicians, Pathologists and laboratory staff. Post holders will be required to provide an efficient PA support to the laboratory and directorate manager as the major element of the role, including diary management, coordinating meeting agendas and transcribing minutes for internal and external meetings as required. The ability to work independently, following policies and procedures for the department is essential. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate excellent communication skills, flexibility, reliability and must have an organised approach to work.
This role is varied, with ad-hoc demands therefore post holders must possess excellent time management and planning skills. These positions provide the opportunity to work within a very supportive and welcoming team and to further develop existing knowledge and skills. Previous administration/secretarial experience is required for this post.
Main duties of the job
- Interview Date 7 October 2025
- 37 Hours 30 Minutes/Week
- You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy.
NO AGENCIES PLEASE
The successful applicant will be share some duties as part of a busy administration team carrying out tasks such as typing, referral handling, multi-disciplinary team meeting support, but primarily offering personal secretarial/PA support to management. This includes network wide communications, human resources paperwork preparation, meeting support for those often chaired by the managers and ad hoc requests as required.
Working for our organisation
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
Our staff oversee over 6,500 patient contacts every day, delivering high standards of healthcare from the following sites:
• Freeman Hospital
• Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
• Health Innovation Neighbourhood (on the former Newcastle General Hospital and Centre for Ageing and Vitality site)
• Newcastle Dental Hospital
• Newcastle Fertility Centre
• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
• Northern Genetics Service
• Cramlington Manor Walks
These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.
We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.
Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.
For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- To work as part of a team providing an efficient and effective administrative service within Cellular Pathology
- To act as primary point of contact for all genetic pathway referrals dealt with by the office
- To audio type histology reports onto the laboratory computer system.
- Organise and provide support for clinico-pathological meetings and multidisciplinary team meetings
- To provide an efficient and cost effective secretarial service for the department maintaining QA standards
Person specification
Qualifications & Education
Essential criteria
- Must have RSA 3 or equivalent which will includes: o Knowledge of secretarial procedures o IT Skills including the use of Office software packages o Good audiotyping skills
- Previous experience at personal secretary level
- Relevant experience working as a secretary in an office, including time in an Histology Office
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Must have knowledge and experience of using Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
- Must have knowledge of all office procedures
- Must have extensive knowledge of medical terminology
- Must have a basic knowledge and understanding of the role of Cellular Pathology in the diagnosis and treatment of disease
Desirable criteria
- Experience of using LIMS
- Knowledge of minute taking
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- To be able to use audio digital dictation
Desirable criteria
- Ability to organise conferences, meetings and events
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Sarah Leigh Nicholson
- Job title
- Laboratory Manager
- Email address
- Sarah-leigh.nicholson1@nhs.net
- Telephone number
- 0191 2829120
List jobs with The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Administrative Services or all sectors