Medical secretaries. Making the grade

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Surgical Services Administration
• Human Resources in Medicine

Background:

• Surgical directorates historically faced challenges in recruiting and retaining medical secretaries.
• Frequent reliance on agency staff impacted service continuity and operational efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the role of medical secretaries within a surgical directorate.
• To identify strategies for improving recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction for medical secretaries.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a comprehensive review of existing medical secretary roles and responsibilities.
• Introduced a new position: Business Coordinator.
• Facilitated the upskilling of all medical secretaries to the Business Coordinator level.

Main Results:

• Achieved zero turnover among medical secretaries in the surgical directorate.
• Successfully transitioned all medical secretaries to the Business Coordinator role.
• Reported increased job satisfaction among the medical secretary staff.

Conclusions:

• Reviewing and redefining roles, coupled with career progression opportunities, can effectively eliminate turnover in medical secretarial positions.
• Expanding the scope of practice for medical secretaries to a Business Coordinator level enhances job satisfaction and operational stability.
• This model offers a sustainable solution for staffing challenges in surgical directorates.