Headnote
A close relationship with your secretary is vital, but all too often that relationship becomes more than just professional. Dr Sneh Khemka suggests how best to develop and nurture a productive relationship, without overstepping the mark
Find your own secretary
Very few of us have the luxury of an individual secretary. More often than not, we are allocated one.
All is not lost, though. In your department, there will be a range of support staff and it should be relatively easy to identify someone who does good work. Find that person and slowly develop a relationship of support and trust.
Within a short time, the necessary arrangements can often be made to shift the person into your team, and you have your own secretary. You may have to share them, but you'll have their loyalty.
A two-way relationship
Any human relationship works in both directions. The boss-to-secretary relationship is essentially one of giving orders, so it is important to maintain the human side of things.
Encouragement, an occasional box of chocolates, or remembering a birthday will help redress the imbalance.
Through these actions, the professional aspect of the relationship can also be strengthened. It is all too easy to forget the personal touches, but in them lies the path to real quality.
Part of the team
The multidisciplinary team is a result of clinical governance. The concept is conducive to better outcomes, but secretaries are easily forgotten members of the team. They often act as the communicator, record keeper and general seamstress of the team's tapestry.
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If this is recognised, it can pay great dividends. Find ways to help them feel that they are an integral part of patient management - it will often provide a boost to any flagging enthusiasm.
Personal assistant or glorified typist?
Rising numbers of patients and the resulting throughput of correspondence have recently put unsustainable burdens on secretarial staff. Often, offices are piled high with four-week-old notes from outpatient clinics, with secretaries furiously typing away to clear the backlog and ignoring all else. It is imperative that you free your secretary to become the personal assistant who has the time to co-ordinate patients at your clinics or speak to that patient with the sensitive query.
It is now economical to outsource the bulk typing. In every other profession, the secretary is a defunct idea; it is the personal assistant who organises the manager's life and brings efficiency and professional excellence.
Financial incentives
Given the amount of training medical secretaries undergo, their salaries are appalling. A little boost is a great incentive for good work. If you maintain a private practice, offer the secretarial side to your NHS secretary (to be done outside NHS contractual hours). If you are paid a professional fee for a report typed by your secretary, give them an appropriate share. If their work over the year has been helpful to you, give them a Christmas bonus.
Lead by example
Not all doctors are blessed with the support of a good secretary. Sometimes you may be faced with someone untrained and inefficient. In such circumstances, a firm hand may be required to get the job done.
First, lead by example and demonstrate quiet and steady efficiency. If you can do this, others will usually follow suit. Ultimately, your central goal is to provide the best for your patient, so your need for efficiency and good support may lead to dismissal if circumstances dictate.
Finally, be a friend...
You may notice that not all is well with your secretary. It may be worthwhile asking tactfully and privately whether there is anything you can do to help. There are many occasions when this will be much appreciated.
But be sure to keep this separate both from the daily activities that you both have to do, and from your personal life. You don't want to become the subject of the latest hospital gossip.
Dr Khemka is a trainee ophthalmologist, South Thames, and an associate of Medical Writers UK. Email: admin@medicalwriters.co.uk
FURTHER READINC
* Building a relationship with your boss: A take charge assistant book. Jerri Wisinski, AMACOM 1999
USEFUL WEBLINKS
* www.medicalsecretary.org
Sidebar
CHECKLIST
* Identify and choose a secretary who will provide reliable long-term support
* Maintain a balanced relationship
* Use your secretary as a personal assistant, not just a typist
* Involve your secretary not only in your clinical duties but also study leave, professional meetings and management work
* Include secretaries as an integral part of the team
* Provide regular incentives and support
* Recognise and encourage their learning and training needs
* Involve them in social functions in your professional sphere
* Get tough if you need to
* Keep inside the boundaries of propriety!
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