Job summary
To work as part of a team which provides comprehensive, high-quality switchboard/call handling service to Oxford University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. As a major trauma centre (MTC) the hospital is responsible for care of the most severely injured patients involved in a major trauma for a wide variety of specialist clinical services. The Switchboard Service has a key function for supporting such emergency responses.
Switchboard Supervisors are responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the team. The Switchboard is the first point of contact by telephone with the Trust, and the team can answer general queries regarding the organisation and/or direct callers to the correct department. The Team boasts a breadth of knowledge around key contacts and functions across the Trust and all its sites which supports this.
Working as part of team, the post-holder will acquire the skill of receiving emergency calls and coordinating alert to emergency response staff. In case of clinical emergency or major incident, the Switchboard and any of its team members could be integral for ensuring that all necessary clinical and operational expertise are alerted promptly. In this way, the functions of the post-holder may contribute directly to health outcomes and/or safe management of incidents.
Main duties of the job
- To respond to internal and external calls to the Switchboard
- Promote a positive and competent impression of the Trust.
- To act as first point of call for any complaints received to the Trust.
- Receive calls related to University Clinical Trails.
- To respond to any queries relating to a patient location, by referring to EPR and ensuring that the Patient Locator Operating Procedure.
- If receiving complaints relating to Switchboard itself, these need to be reported in a timely manner to the Switchboard Manager and/or Switchboard Service Manager.
- To maintain a personal Outlook email account, including reading and responding to requests for action, by Switchboard management team. Staff must check their email account at least once per shift.
- To assist any hospital staff requiring replacement analogue phones as per department guidelines.
- Under correct circumstances, use the EPR system to locate patients and pass the information securely. To be aware of the Patient Data Protection Guidelines and ensure that in case receiving a call to enquire on the location of a patient who has a password protection applied, that this is only disclosed when the password is shared.
About us
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trustis one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. Find out more here www.ouh.nhs.uk
The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.
Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call thisDelivering Compassionate Excellenceand its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via theOUH YouTube channel
Job description
Job responsibilities
General Duties
- To respond to internal and external calls to the Switchboard
- Promote a positive and competent impression of the Trust, through interactions with external agencies and organisations, general queries from the public, which may potentially relate to any of the departments. This necessitates developing a thorough knowledge of the Trust to be able to direct callers to the correct department swiftly.
- To contribute to diffusing stress displayed by patients, visitors, and staff.
- To act as first point of call for any complaints received to the Trust.
- Receive calls related to University Clinical Trails.
- To respond to any queries relating to a patient location, by referring to EPR.
- If receiving complaints relating to Switchboard itself, these need to be reported in a timely manner to the Switchboard Manager and/or Switchboard Service Manager.
- To maintain a personal Outlook email account, including reading and responding to requests for action, by Switchboard management team.
- To assist any hospital staff requiring replacement analogue phones as per department guidelines.
Bleep System Maintenance
- To arrange and carry out bleep clinics on the other hospital sites.
Emergency, Major Incident Calls and On-Call Responses
- To receive telephone calls made to the emergency lines which are 4444 for Fire and 2222 for clinical emergencies.
- Efficient retrieval and recording of information.
- To record the essential procedural actions which are expected as part of the Emergency Call Standard Operating Procedure.
- To participate in incident investigations, partaking in culture of transparency, openness, self-reflection and learning to support minimising the risk that any clinical harm is related to the process for notifying the crash team.
On-Call Rota
- The Supervisor will liaise with Service based staff across all hospital sites to receive highly complex on-call rotas.
- To be amenable to being requested to work a shift at very short notice, in the event of a Major Incident.
Software and System Competencies
- To ensure having a full understanding of the Trusts Voice Recognition System.
- To operate the internal paging system to contact staff for both internal and external calls.
- Replace batteries for internal paging receivers, arrange a replacement pager if faulty and provide instructions to bleep holders on correct usage.
- To re-program bleeps to ensure they are compatible with the internal telephone system and issue new bleeps when orders are received into the department.
- Dispatch faulty bleeps to the external company (Multitone), keeping up to date records making sure bleeps are returned to the rightful owner.
- In case observing a technical issue related to telephony or software, to report this to IM&T, and the Supervisor and support these colleagues toward rectifying issues.
- Ensure that if becoming aware of any corrections to directory information that this is informed to the Network Telecoms Team.
- Highly developed keyboard and memory skills for procedures, queries, geographical department location, are essential for providing service delivery with levels of clinical safety, speed and accuracy that is expected of an experienced operator.
Trust Alert Systems
- Monitor the alarm systems which span all sites, and may include Boiler, Medical Gas, Lift, Fridge/Freezer & Mortuary Alarm faults.
- Being able to understand and interpret a variety of Personal Attack, Intruder & Window alarms and pass on relevant information to the appropriate respondent.
Training
- The post-holder will be expected to gain competence in a wide range of work procedures and practices. Competencies for responding to a fire alarm or a 2222/4444 emergency call.
- To be available to attend regular departmental training up to once every 6 months, even when scheduled during business hours, if this does not fit with your current shift pattern.
- To participate in training of new Switchboard staff, including the operation of telephone functions and associated equipment.
- To be responsible for keeping up to date with Trust Mandatory Training, through booking courses in consultation with the Switchboard Manager for timetabling purposes.
Supervisory
- To produce and maintain staff rotas to ensure that Switchboard meets the organisational requirement to deliver a 24/7 Service.
- To participate in the recruitment selection & interviewing of appropriate grades of staff.
- To assist the Switchboard Manager with the Hospital payroll system ensuring this is accurate and finished by the payroll deadline.
- To respond to annual leave requests from Operators.
- To conduct quarterly Quality Monitoring and Assurance (QMA) meetings involving audit of the Switchboard Operators calls.
- To support the Switchboard Manager and Switchboard Service Manager in conducting annual staff appraisals.
- To conduct Return to Work Interviews where an Operator has returned to work following sickness and to complete documentation in support.
- To support promoting a healthy team dynamic through judgement, compassion, learning, leading by example, supporting improvement, analysis of person and system related complexities and evaluation of management options.
- To report any issues relating to performance or conduct to the Switchboard Manager and to confirm this action to staff involved through confirmation email.
- To contribute to maintenance of the Department Training Manual, through updating any new procedures and communicating any requirements for update to the Switchboard Manager and Switchboard Service Manager.
Job description
Job responsibilities
General Duties
- To respond to internal and external calls to the Switchboard
- Promote a positive and competent impression of the Trust, through interactions with external agencies and organisations, general queries from the public, which may potentially relate to any of the departments. This necessitates developing a thorough knowledge of the Trust to be able to direct callers to the correct department swiftly.
- To contribute to diffusing stress displayed by patients, visitors, and staff.
- To act as first point of call for any complaints received to the Trust.
- Receive calls related to University Clinical Trails.
- To respond to any queries relating to a patient location, by referring to EPR.
- If receiving complaints relating to Switchboard itself, these need to be reported in a timely manner to the Switchboard Manager and/or Switchboard Service Manager.
- To maintain a personal Outlook email account, including reading and responding to requests for action, by Switchboard management team.
- To assist any hospital staff requiring replacement analogue phones as per department guidelines.
Bleep System Maintenance
- To arrange and carry out bleep clinics on the other hospital sites.
Emergency, Major Incident Calls and On-Call Responses
- To receive telephone calls made to the emergency lines which are 4444 for Fire and 2222 for clinical emergencies.
- Efficient retrieval and recording of information.
- To record the essential procedural actions which are expected as part of the Emergency Call Standard Operating Procedure.
- To participate in incident investigations, partaking in culture of transparency, openness, self-reflection and learning to support minimising the risk that any clinical harm is related to the process for notifying the crash team.
On-Call Rota
- The Supervisor will liaise with Service based staff across all hospital sites to receive highly complex on-call rotas.
- To be amenable to being requested to work a shift at very short notice, in the event of a Major Incident.
Software and System Competencies
- To ensure having a full understanding of the Trusts Voice Recognition System.
- To operate the internal paging system to contact staff for both internal and external calls.
- Replace batteries for internal paging receivers, arrange a replacement pager if faulty and provide instructions to bleep holders on correct usage.
- To re-program bleeps to ensure they are compatible with the internal telephone system and issue new bleeps when orders are received into the department.
- Dispatch faulty bleeps to the external company (Multitone), keeping up to date records making sure bleeps are returned to the rightful owner.
- In case observing a technical issue related to telephony or software, to report this to IM&T, and the Supervisor and support these colleagues toward rectifying issues.
- Ensure that if becoming aware of any corrections to directory information that this is informed to the Network Telecoms Team.
- Highly developed keyboard and memory skills for procedures, queries, geographical department location, are essential for providing service delivery with levels of clinical safety, speed and accuracy that is expected of an experienced operator.
Trust Alert Systems
- Monitor the alarm systems which span all sites, and may include Boiler, Medical Gas, Lift, Fridge/Freezer & Mortuary Alarm faults.
- Being able to understand and interpret a variety of Personal Attack, Intruder & Window alarms and pass on relevant information to the appropriate respondent.
Training
- The post-holder will be expected to gain competence in a wide range of work procedures and practices. Competencies for responding to a fire alarm or a 2222/4444 emergency call.
- To be available to attend regular departmental training up to once every 6 months, even when scheduled during business hours, if this does not fit with your current shift pattern.
- To participate in training of new Switchboard staff, including the operation of telephone functions and associated equipment.
- To be responsible for keeping up to date with Trust Mandatory Training, through booking courses in consultation with the Switchboard Manager for timetabling purposes.
Supervisory
- To produce and maintain staff rotas to ensure that Switchboard meets the organisational requirement to deliver a 24/7 Service.
- To participate in the recruitment selection & interviewing of appropriate grades of staff.
- To assist the Switchboard Manager with the Hospital payroll system ensuring this is accurate and finished by the payroll deadline.
- To respond to annual leave requests from Operators.
- To conduct quarterly Quality Monitoring and Assurance (QMA) meetings involving audit of the Switchboard Operators calls.
- To support the Switchboard Manager and Switchboard Service Manager in conducting annual staff appraisals.
- To conduct Return to Work Interviews where an Operator has returned to work following sickness and to complete documentation in support.
- To support promoting a healthy team dynamic through judgement, compassion, learning, leading by example, supporting improvement, analysis of person and system related complexities and evaluation of management options.
- To report any issues relating to performance or conduct to the Switchboard Manager and to confirm this action to staff involved through confirmation email.
- To contribute to maintenance of the Department Training Manual, through updating any new procedures and communicating any requirements for update to the Switchboard Manager and Switchboard Service Manager.
Person Specification
Essential
Essential
- GCSE or Equivalent
- Excel, Word and Outlook Knowledge
Desirable
- Supervisory / Management Experience
- Office Administrative Experience
Person Specification
Essential
Essential
- GCSE or Equivalent
- Excel, Word and Outlook Knowledge
Desirable
- Supervisory / Management Experience
- Office Administrative Experience
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
