Night Controller

Location: Milton Keynes

Start date: ASAP

4 on 4 off shift rotation (1900-0700)

All 12 hr shifts: 1900-0700

45-minute break allowance which is paid

Average weekly hours (inc paid breaks): 42hrs per week

Annual salary: £30,221.10

Key Working Relationships

• Patients, relatives, and carers.
• The general public.
• Colleagues at all levels
• Management team
• On a daily basis, liaise with clinical and non-clinical staff across the organisation, providing and receiving information.
• Customers including hospital trusts and ambulance trusts
• External agencies in relation to patient experience and safeguarding, such as:

• Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
• Independent Complaints Advocacy Services
• Other NHS and independent patient experience teams
• Local Authorities
• Social Services
• Police and ambulance services
• Other safeguarding teams

Main Purpose of the Role

This is a role highly engaged in the service delivery of the contract in accordance with service agreements. The Controller will be responsible for ensuring patient journeys are being allocated in a timely and efficient manner, whilst verifying the accuracy of telephone and online booking requests. The postholder is key to minimising any service disruption by utilising all available resources, in alignment with our internal processes and targets. The Controller will be first point of escalation for crews and site teams in respect to patient waiting times, queries and transport options.

Key Tasks

• Ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the service
• Lead consistent, smooth and timely deployments, ensuring effective communication with site teams before each deployment wave
• Allocating work to internal and subcontractor resources in the most efficient manner, taking into consideration patient mobilities, disabilities and requested equipment, in-line with the diverse resource specifications
• Minimise subcontractor utilisation where possible and escalates any expected spikes in usage
• Monitor the Control system and crews to ensure no delays or problems occur
• Ensure you remain patient centred and focused to maintain the priority of managing patient care and safety
• Communicate with all colleagues in a professional and timely manner
• Answering all crew messages within 5 minutes, calls within 3 minutes and emergency response requests within 1 minute
• Ensure all patient communications, actions and booking changes are captured within the respective Cleric docket for operational & audit purposes
• Deliver a personable and friendly service to every stakeholder across all communication channels
• Maintain and respond to our internal communication channels ensuring you are an active participant
• Ensure patients, CAS teams and the respective clinics/wards receive notification of any service delays in-line with our communication process
• Operate with a proactive mindset to deal with challenges before they arise
• Provide feedback to any challenges impacting the service to the management team so service improvements can be facilitated
• Monitor and drive accurate timestamp cleansing, educating crews with any changes that have been applied
• Comply with the approach mandated by the Trust in respect of patient transport journeys.
• Liaise with third party providers to co-ordinate onwards movement.
• To accurately report any concerns including, but not limited to safeguarding
• Handle informal complaints or issues brought to your attention, ensuring action is taken to de-escalate, or escalates to line manager where appropriate.
• Ensure all tasks completed work towards achieving performance targets, proactively finding solutions where performance is at risk.
• Continuously develop knowledge of planning patient routes and mapping skills, so you are equipped to deal with all exceptions
• Manage the daily exception reporting process by driving accurate and detailed exception comments and coordinating with the customer to minimise exception rejections
• Apply processes and utilise the control system to maximise the most efficient use of resources
• Identify where service needs are outside of contractual obligations and work collaboratively to understand and manage the implications to the business
• Work in collaboration with fleet & base/site ops teams, minimising crew downtime and avoid taking vehicles out of service where possible
• Maintain links with hospital teams to support positive working relationships to ensure a collaborative approach to managing patient care
• Ensure compliance with all policies and procedures including Health & Safety guidelines and CQC reporting

This list is not exhaustive, you will be required to perform ad-hoc duties, within your skill base, as required by the Company to support an effective and efficient service.

Personal

• To be responsible for own personal and professional development, including statutory and mandatory training and continuous professional development.
• To attend and actively participate in Company refresher training as required.
• To ensure that statutory regulations and organisational policies and procedures are implemented and adhered to at all times.
• To demonstrate commitment to the Company’s values and display high standards of integrity and professionalism towards patients, public, customers and colleagues.

General Requirements

1. Our Values
   The post holder must treat all colleagues in a manner that conveys respect for the abilities of each other and a willingness to work as a team. The post holder must uphold our Company values: Kind, Inclusive, Accountable, Adaptable.
2. Policies and Procedures
   All duties and responsibilities must be undertaken in compliance with the Company’s policies and procedures. The post holder must familiarise the ways in which to raise a concern to the Company, e.g., Freedom to Speak Up and Whistleblowing. In addition, ensuring incidents and near misses are reported in a timely manner.
3. Health and Safety
   The post holder must be aware of the responsibilities placed upon themselves under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, subsequent legislation, and Company policies, to maintain safe working practices and safe working environments for themselves, colleagues, and service users.
4. Confidentiality
   Everyone working for or on behalf of the Company are bound by a legal duty of confidentiality (Common Law Duty of Confidentiality). The post holder must not disclose either during or after the termination of their contract, any information of a confidential nature relating to the Company, its staff, its patients, or third parties, which may have been obtained in the course of their employment.
5. Equality and Diversity
   We believe that equal opportunity and diversity is vital to the success and an essential prerequisite to the achievement of its goals in delivering seamless, high quality, safe healthcare for all, which is appropriate and responsive to meeting the diverse needs of individuals. In working to achieve our goals, it is important that staff and users are treated, and treat others, equitably, with dignity and respect, and are involved and considered in every aspect of practice and changes affecting their employment or health care within the Company.
6. Infection Prevention and Control
   The post holder will ensure they follow the Company’s infection prevention and control (IPC) policies and procedures to protect patients, staff, and visitors from healthcare associated infections. They will ensure that they use personal protective equipment (PPE) in accordance with policy and procedure. All staff must challenge non-compliance with IPC policies immediately and feedback through appropriate line managers if required.
7. Safeguarding Children and Adults
   We take our responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults seriously. The Company expects all staff to identify their own responsibilities appropriate to their role within statute and guidance. This will include accessing safeguarding training and may include seeking advice, support, and supervision from the service’s safeguarding team. Where staff are unclear of their responsibilities, they must seek guidance from their manager.
8. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
   If the post you are undertaking requires you to complete a DBS disclosure, this will be managed and processed in line with the DBS Policy.