Switchboard Operator - York

Main area: Switchboard Operator

Grade: Band 3

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Part time - 6 hours per week (These hours are part of a rolling four week rota. On week 3 the working hours will be 22:00-06:00 on a Thursday & Friday, and on week 4 it will be 14:00-22:00 on the Sunday.)

Salary: £25,760 - £27,476 pro rata

Closing date: 06/08/2026 23:59

We are looking to recruit a flexible, enthusiastic, friendly, self-motivated Switchboard Operator based in York Hospital. Some switchboard experience would be an advantage, but training will be given. The switchboard is a 24 hour service that runs seven days a week; this is therefore a job that would suit candidates who enjoy the flexibility of working different shifts. The shift patterns include days, nights, weekends and bank holidays.

Please note: The working pattern for this vacancy will be rostered over a 4 week rota. You will need to have the ability to use your initiative when lone working, and maintain a professional, confidential and patient cultured approach at all times.

Main duties of the job:

• You will be expected to deal with emergency calls in a calm and efficient manner over the emergency bleep system.
• To operate switchboard and communication systems, liaising and negotiating with internal and external callers.
• To deal and resolve (wherever possible) all enquiries in a professional manner, acting as help and advice and dealing with the public on the phone.
• To update and process electronic information onto the ARC system as and when required, chasing updated information by contacting consultants, secretaries, departments, IT etc.
• Administrative duties as well as taking calls, which include processing the information sent to the Switchboard Email Group and writing up the doctors on call rota, and accurate logging of the Trust taxi usage.
• Dealing with people face to face to re-programme and issue replacement pagers/bleeps when faults are reported, and replace batteries for paging equipment.

Working for our organisation:

We offer a range of benefits to support our staff including:

• Access to the NHS Pension Scheme, providing generous benefits upon retirement, as well as a lump sum and pension for dependants.
• 27 days holiday rising to 33 days (depending on NHS Trust service).
• A generous relocation package of up to 30% of salary (capped at £18k) to support with relocation expenses for hard to fill positions where relocation would be an expectation to undertake the role fully.
• A variety of different types of paid and unpaid leave covering emergency and planned leave.
• Confidential advice and support on personal, work, family and relationship issues, 24/7, from our Employee Assistance Programme.
• NHS Car Lease scheme and Cycle to Work scheme.
• An extensive range of learning and development opportunities.
• Discounts on restaurants, getaways, shopping, motoring, cinema and finance from a range of providers.

For further information on the fantastic range of benefits we offer please visit the Trust's dedicated Staff Benefits pages.

Person specification:

• Education, Qualifications and Training: English & Maths C or equivalent, previous office / administrative experience in a NHS environment, previous experience in a similar role i.e. telephonist, receptionist etc.
• Skills & Attributes: Good level of communication skills, experience of dealing with confidential information.
• Aptitude & Personal Qualities: Ability to adapt to various situations over the telephone.
• Experience and Knowledge Required: Experience of Windows based computer systems.

York Teaching Hospital Facilities Management LLP (YTHFM LLP) provides a full range of estates and facilities services to York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, together with project management for capital investments. YTHFM LLP is a partnership between York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management Limited.

New starters will be employed by YTHFM and not directly by the NHS, however, they will enjoy the same terms and conditions as NHS staff covered by Agenda for Change. YTHFM employees have access to the NHS pension scheme.

Please note that some of our substantive vacancies may be available on a smaller number of hours than advertised.

DBS Checks: Please be aware that all new employees starting work with us will be charged for the cost of their DBS check if it is required for the role. The cost will be deducted from your salary either in 1 payment or over a six month period once you start employment. By applying you are agreeing to this undertaking.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): Please note, the selection processes at York Teaching Hospital Facilities Management are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right skills and values. We remain vigilant against candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills.

Agile and Flexible Working: We are committed to helping all staff balance their work with other commitments and have recently launched our new Agile and Flexible Working policy to support this, entitling all staff to request flexible working from day one – for all posts.

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP): All our employees have access to a free, confidential counselling and wellbeing support service. Our EAP is available 24/7, 365 days a year.

Relocation Package: The YTHFM offers a generous relocation package of up to 30% of salary (capped at £18k) to support with relocation expenses for hard to fill positions where relocation would be an expectation to undertake the role fully.

A bit more about us and the surrounding area: York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is situated in a fantastic part of the country that is home to two national parks, a beautiful coastline, and the city of York - consistently voted one of the best places to live in the UK.

We provide a comprehensive range of acute hospital and specialist healthcare services for approximately 800,000 people living in and around York, North Yorkshire, North East Yorkshire and Ryedale - an area covering 3,400 square miles. Our annual turnover is approaching £0.5bn. We manage eight hospital sites and have a workforce of around 10,000 staff working across our hospitals and in the community.

Sponsorship: Please note: Under current Home Office Immigration Rules we are unable to offer sponsorship for roles with a salary of less than £25,000 pa as they do not meet the UK Visas & Immigration criteria. Currently, this rules out sponsorship for Band 2, and some Band 3 roles.