Switchboard Operator Harefield Hospital

We are delighted to offer the opportunity for a reliable, friendly, professional and empathetic person to join our busy Switchboard Team, based at Harefield Hospital. You will be the first point of contact for our community and will use your excellent communication and listening skills to signpost patients to the appropriate pathway. You will be dealing with patients, relatives and clinical staff, directing their calls to the relevant departments. You will also coordinate calls to the hospital emergency teams and follow processes for alerting Cardiac Arrests, Trauma Calls and Major Incidents. As you will be dealing with emergency calls, you should have the ability to deal with situations in a calm and professional manner. You must demonstrate the ability to work as part of a close-knit team, show a commitment to providing the highest standard of service and possess excellent communication skills.

Main duties of the job:

• Be the first point of telephone contact for patients and other service users.
• Make and receive calls as required following procedures and policies previously agreed with the Switchboard Manager.
• Respond to emergency calls, alarms and incident procedures/gas and plant alarms and follow Telecom failure procedure.
• Deal and coordinate time critical calls for medical emergencies (crash calls), fire alarms, security and intrusion alarms.
• Process bleep calls, connecting Hospital staff with other clinicians.
• Work as part of a small team to deliver a quality telephony service to our community.

This position is based at Harefield Hospital but you have the opportunity to work across any of our sites if the service requires it. On 1st February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals became part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – a truly once-in a generation development. Together, we are taking our first steps towards our vision of creating a brand-new centre of excellence, which will be the global leader in the research into and treatment of heart and lung disease in patients from pre-birth to old age.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

Please refer to the Job Description and Person specification for further details, ensuring that you meet the essential criteria.

Person specification:

• Education & Qualifications: Good standard of education i.e. GCSE’s or equivalent NVQ in customer care or equivalent.
• Experience & Knowledge: Evidence of previous switchboard experience, preferably in an NHS environment.
• Skills & Abilities: Keyboard skills including MS Outlook. Computer literate. Knowledge of switchboard specific telephony systems and/or bleep systems.
• Personal Qualities: Able to demonstrate strong interpersonal skills, and evidence team working abilities.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitably according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or studies at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership. Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends. We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work-life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking into account the individual’s personal circumstances as well as the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the onboarding process.

Due to recent changes in the UK immigration rules which affect Skilled Worker Visas, Global Business Mobility, Higher Skill Level and Increased Salary Thresholds, please ensure that you are able to meet the requirements to live and work in the UK before applying. Further information about eligibility is available on the UK Government website.

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