Organisation: Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service Queensland Health
Job Title: Administration Officer
Word Limit: 2 pages max
Location: Toowoomba
Throughout my career I have delivered high quality services and support functions to a diverse range of internal and external clients. As the Departmental Support Officer (DSO) for the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at Toowoomba Hospital I managed a range of support functions for the Director and other staff within the department. This included responsibility for a variety of ongoing tasks (coordinating rosters, calendars, diaries and meetings and managing filing, data entry and office resources) and dealing with ad-hoc requests from the Director and other staff. My experience in providing support to medical education teams at both the Cunningham Medical Centre and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) is also relevant. In these roles I worked closely with internal staff to deliver quality programs and workshops and with participants and facilitators to ensure their attendance and participation at events. I also dealt directly with patients and their families in a number of roles. As the Secretary to the Director of Neonatology at RBWH I was the first point of contact for patient enquiries and had to demonstrate the highest level of sensitivity, diplomacy and tact in sometimes challenging and distressing circumstances. To provide excellent service I found that I needed to communicate effectively with clients, listening carefully to their requirements and always making sure I really understood their needs and expectations at all times.
I am a creative and innovative employee who can identify opportunities to improve processes and procedures to increase efficiency, and enhance service within the workplace. In the DSO position I established a schedule and process for ordering and replenishing stock and resources within the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department. Previously there had been no set procedure and requests were made on an ad-hoc basis. The process I established ensured that I knew the exact requirements for resources and I could guarantee when staff received their supplies. In the same role I also identified the need for a clear and concise role procedure for the position. This was to ensure that future handovers were easier to manage and that incoming staff had a resource to provide them with information about required duties and functions. Working for Medical Education and Training (MET) at RBWH I also demonstrated my ability show initiative and improve processes. In this role I reviewed and updated the RBWH Metro North Health Service District Resident Medical Officer Pocketbook (a detailed support manual containing a range of procedural and contact information for staff), ensuring its accuracy and currency. I then developed a procedure for use in future productions of the resource. At MET I also created evaluation tools for completion by Junior Doctors following medical education sessions. I then collated the results for use by staff within MET to improve and enhance the sessions.
I have exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. I have demonstrated strong written communication skills in a number of roles, preparing detailed medical correspondence, drafting agendas and minutes, responding to emails, and reviewing and revising substantial employee support documents such as the RBWH Metro North Health Service District Resident Medical Officer Pocketbook. I am also able to establish cooperative relationships with both internal and external stakeholders and have a calm and composed approach to liaising with both colleagues and clients. In previous positions I have had to communicate with senior specialist medical staff, patients, their families and other hospital staff on a daily basis. This range of interactions required very different skills and expertise. When dealing with senior staff I always displayed high levels of professionalism and respect, striving to communicate clearly and succinctly. I understood that they often have many demands on their time and required a prompt and efficient response. I acknowledged their seniority within the organisation and structured my interactions with them accordingly. I also dealt extensively with patients and their family in often emotionally sensitive circumstances. I ensured that I was extremely polite and understanding. I displayed compassion, empathy and kindness and let them know I would do the best that I could to answer their questions and help them. I also dealt extensively with staff from other areas of the hospital. This often required exchanges of information and developing a collaborative approach to patient management. I was always professional and helpful when liaising with other staff. I also have excellent skills in maintaining confidentiality and exercising discretion and judgement. I have worked in several positions where I had access to patient records and information and am aware of the policies and standards that govern the collection, storage, release and sharing of that information. I always show the highest respect for the confidentiality of the information I deal with, ensuring the physical security of hard and soft copy data, and seeing myself as being personally accountable for ensuring the privacy of patients.
Many of the positions that I have worked in have required that I establish and maintain productive, collaborative relationships with colleagues, clients and other stakeholders. I have provided service and support within a number of areas in the health sector, many of which rely on developing cooperative partnerships and relationships with other staff to deliver an integrated, seamless service to patients and other clients. For example, working within medical education and training I consulted extensively with the trainers, medical staff and facilitators to ensure the delivery of quality programs. In this role I also developed excellent relationships with external stakeholders who I liaised with to secure sponsorship support. Throughout my career I have focused on being reliable, efficient and delivering the service that I had promised. I always found that this type of effort on behalf of clients and colleagues helped to establish a trusting, mutually cooperative relationship where we could then work together to resolve any issues that occurred and to deliver excellent levels of service. I have always developed strong relationships with my colleagues. I listen to my team members, share information with them, and treat them with respect and courtesy at all times. I embrace different views and perspectives, and value and utilise those differences for the benefit of the team.
I always worked hard to build positive, productive relationships with other team members. This means treating everyone with respect and courtesy, sharing learning and supporting the contributions of others. As a productive team member I always tried to be supportive and encouraging of others, especially in busy or stressful situations. I have also often worked in positions where there is either an overlap of duties with other positions, or where the work I did was reliant on the activities of other staff. In these circumstances I always communicated clearly with my team members, ensuring that we worked together to deliver an integrated service. In many roles I have also had to work autonomously. As the DSO of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department and the Secretary to the Director of Neonatology at the RBWH, I worked primarily for very busy medical specialists who provided very little direct management. This meant I had to be self-reliant and be able to demonstrate initiative to deal with any issues or queries that arose.
I have exceptional organisational and time management skills and am able to manage multiple priorities in extremely busy work environments. In several positions I have managed a broad range of duties (for example relating to rosters, calendars, diaries, functions, events and workshops) all of which required completion or submission by strict deadlines. I was often required to prioritise a wide range of tasks, dealing with irregular events (like ad-hoc requests from senior management) along with ongoing regular duties. In addition to this I have had to organise and manage the time of senior management, scheduling appointments for them, organising their diaries and coordinating a range of meetings for them. One of the best examples of my organisational skills was my role in managing the CRuSE Workshops held at the RBWH on a monthly basis. My role in relation to these two-day events included booking the venue, organising catering, liaising with facilitators, coordinating all travel and accommodation, managing invoices, preparing support materials, updating all online records of the event, managing the registration process, and attending the workshop to welcome participants and facilitators. I delivered many of these successful workshops while undertaking a range of other duties and tasks within the unit. Similarly I coordinated a number of activities and events for the 2011 Orientation Week for approximately 95 new doctors. In addition to a substantial event management workload during the week, I also liaised with various organisations to source sponsorship for functions. As with the CRuSE workshops, I also had to continue to deliver my standard duties during this time.
I have excellent skills with a range of Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. I have used Word to prepare medical correspondence on behalf of doctors and specialists, develop agendas and minutes, and a range of other professional documents. I have used Excel for a variety of tasks including tracking expenses and monitoring stock. I have used PowerPoint to prepare presentations on behalf of senior staff and Outlook was the standard email and appointment management package in many roles I have held. I also have extensive experience with various financial, stock, client and records management systems within Queensland Health, including FAMMIS, WISENET, HBSCIS, OSIM, the Dictaphone System and MYOB.
I understand and fully support the values of Queensland Health of caring for people, leadership, respect, integrity, teamwork and courage. The information above demonstrates that my professional behaviour has always aligned with these values. I also understand the comprehensive policy framework that structures practice and procedures within the department and have the knowledge and skills to access, interpret and apply this information to a range of situations and circumstances. In particular I am aware of the legislation, policies and standards that relate to information security within the health sector and comply with these documents at all times.
