Telephonist

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

This job is now closed

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for conscientious team players to join the Switchboard team. The position is for 37.5 hours per week.

The Switchboard department is the heart of the hospitals telecommunication service which oversees calls for Warwick, Leamington, Stratford and Ellen Badger Hospital sites.

The successful candidate will support the Switchboard/Telephony functions, based at Warwick Hospital.

The candidate must be confident, articulate, flexible, have good organisational & IT skills and be able to maintain the highest standards of professionalism and confidentiality.

In addition to the switchboard/telephony activities, the role also includes administration, dealing with emergency alarm systems, key management and a point of contact for patients and visitors who may need assistance.

The candidate will need to have at least 2 years' experience working within the telecommunications service environment and customers facing roles, ideally gained within the NHS but not essential.

Working days/hours are a mixture including early, days, evenings and/or weekends, on a rotation basis, to support the departmental needs. There may be occasions where additional hours and/or nights cover is required to support annual leave or sickness. Flexibility is key for the position.

Full training will be provided to the successful candidate. The majority of the training provided will be during the working day.

Main duties of the job

To undertake general telephonist/receptionist duties acting as the first point of contact for our patient, visitors and staff.

About us

Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further. In addition our staff survey results have placed us 4th in the country for recommended place to work.

We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.

Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, inclusive, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

Date posted

09 April 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£22,816 to £24,336 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

203-SS835

Job locations

Warwick Hospital

Lakin Road

Warwick

CV34 5BW

Job description

Job responsibilities

To receive and re-direct telephone calls to the appropriate departments in an efficient friendly manner.

To maintain a helpful and confident manner when dealing with patients, visitors and staff in order to promote the caring and professional image of the Trust.

To assist the general public with directions and enquiries at the reception window, which may include but not exclusive to PPE, patient transfers via porters, etc.

To operate the hospital bleep system including daily tests, dealing with faults and to issue batteries as required and recycle the batteries.

To issue and maintain records of key allocation and door codes for key personnel.

To monitor and escalate the emergency numbers 2222 & 3333, at all times.

To support on the activation of emergency procedures in the event of fire, cardiac arrest, maternity emergencies and major emergencies and to inform appropriate personnel.

To maintain all appropriate records including on-call rotas, on-call mobile phone numbers.

Programme the on-call phones to the relevant on call consultants.

To provide on-call lists for the relevant wards and departments.

To deal with requests for access from the general public to hospital wards in an efficient and friendly manner.

To deal and escalate requests for non-emergency transport from wards and departments using SWFT logistics.

Follow set procedures when reporting faults with equipment.

To regularly carry out the testing the emergency red phones throughout the hospital.

To initial assist and escalate the emergency lift phones/communication as and when required.

To support in the regular testing of alarms and systems in conjunction with Estates.

To regularly monitor alarm panels and report any issues to security, porters or estates, blood bank, or any other associated team.

To liaise with Estates out of hours on-call staff with regard to issues relating to maintenance for all South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust Hospitals. Warwick, Stratford, Rehab, Ellen Badger.

To be the primary site contact for calls relating to patient transfers/discharges for via the agree logistics service provider.

Update the internal telephone directory from the starters and leavers list.

To support the internal postal team relating to mail redirecting around the Trust which cannot be identified.

To support queries relating to car parking in the absence of the Security team.

To take all necessary care for the security of equipment and information.

To co-operate with colleagues and management to ensure the health and safety of themselves and others.

To liaise with relevant personnel and co-ordinate any queries concerning the mortuary out of hours.

To contact and assist, if applicable, the on-call manager with regard to out of hours queries.

Regular use of the Trust computerised Patient Administration System- Lorenzo to locate patients and assist with enquiries.

To communicate and respond to patients and/or departments that contact the Trust whom are hard of hearing, via the dedicated handset.

To liaise with Medical staffing about locum Doctors.

To issue locum packs, identity badges and accommodation keys.

To provide the support for issuing of temporary ID cards which may need required out of hours.

Sign out fall back smart card for A&E staff when necessary.

Deal with contractors, out of hours, upon request.

To accept and forward any calls/information for a number of complex teams around the Trust, out of hours.

Hand out Rheumatology prescriptions and blood forms to patients obtaining signatures.

To be a primary contact for access to the main hospital site, out of hours, for patients, visitors and staff via the intercom.

There will be a requirement to work alone and unsupervised from 5pm Monday to Friday, weekends and some bank holidays

Communications and Working Relationships

To have good interpersonal skills and to be able to communicate with all levels of staff, patients, visitors and all hospital users.