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Northumbria Healthcare - NHCT Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
About
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is an award winning NHS Foundation Trust which provides hospital and community health services in North Tyneside, and hospital, community health and adult social care services in Northumberland.
Contact
- Address
- Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Human Resources Department
- Northumbria House
- 7/8 Silver Fox Way, Cobalt Business Park
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- NE27 0QJ
- Contact Number
- 0191 2031415 Option 2
Switchboard Operator
Accepting applications until: 09-Apr-2026 23:59
Vacancy status: Open
Accepting applications until: 09-Apr-2026 23:59
Key details
Location
- Site
- Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing and Innovation Hub
- Address
- Avenue Road
- Town
- Seaton Delaval
- Postcode
- NE25 0QJ
- Major / Minor Region
- Tyne and Wear
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Flexible working
Salary
- Salary
- £25,760 - £27,476 pro rata per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (Band 3)
Specialty
- Main area
- Surgical
Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England? Work for an organisation that was voted the best acute and combined acute and community trust in the country, based on the experience of its staff (NHS Staff Survey 2022). Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn’t, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare and, this is…the Northumbria Way!
What the Northumbria Way means for you:
- Extensive staff health and well-being programme including access to our specialist Wellbeing Hub
- Support and connection through a variety of Staff Network groups
- A range of flexible working opportunities
- Generous annual leave and pension scheme
- Access to lease car and home electronics scheme (qualifying criteria applies)
- Opportunities to improve your professional development through our vast training programmes
- Access to savings scheme via salary sacrifice with Northumberland Community Bank
We work closely with Kids First Nurseries that are based within our trust grounds at Wansbeck, North Tyneside and Hexham hospitals to care for our Trust family's children, they offer care for children from 6 weeks old up to 4 years. There are a number of funding options run by the government to help working parents, including Early Years Funding and Tax Free Childcare.
Flexible working offers choice in where, when, and how we work, ensuring patients remain at the heart of all we do. It’s open to everyone, and we aim to find solutions that work for both you and the organisation. All arrangements must be reasonable and balanced to maintain safe and effective patient care.
We are proud to be one of the country’s top performing NHS trusts – rated ‘outstanding’ overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). We provide a range of health and care services to support more than 500,000 people living in Northumberland and North Tyneside across the largest geographical area of any NHS Trust in England. Our teams deliver care from hospitals, a range of community venues and people’s homes. Our hospitals include a specialist emergency care hospital (the first of its kind in England), three general hospitals and community hospitals. In the community we deliver a wide range of community and public health services.
We lead in innovation and quality, having opened the Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing and Innovation Hub during the Covid-19 pandemic and have recently launched our Community Promise – a pledge to make a real impact not just in healthcare but on the wider factors that affect people’s lives, such as education, employment and the economy.
If Northumbria Healthcare sounds like somewhere you could belong we would love to hear from you. Visit our website to catch up on our latest news.
Whilst Northumbria Healthcare are a highly innovative organisation, the use of Third Party Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a risk to the integrity of our Recruitment & Selection processes. If you use AI, and it poses a risk to the integrity your individual recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process.
Job overview
Full time 37.5 hpw (or part time hours may be considered)
Applications are invited to join our switchboard team. Switchboard deals with a high volume of calls and respond to a range of emergencies including Fire & Cardiac Arrest.
Applicants must have excellent communication skills, the ability to deal with staff and members of the public on all levels and the ability to work as part of a team. Keyboard skills are essential. PAS experience would be desirable. Previous experience of working on a busy Hospital switchboard would be advantageous.
Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the closing date once the required number of suitable applications have been received.
Please note: for Secondment roles before an application is submitted, please ensure you have received the appropriate approval from your current manager and have completed documentation required beforehand (see secondment policy) , as this may delay the process if an offer was to be made.
The posts will be based at Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing and Innovation Hub, Avenue Rd, Seaton Delaval, Whitley Bay NE25 0QJ but the post holder may be required to work at other sites within the Trust.
Advert
Due to the requirement to cover a 24 hour shift pattern there will be occasions where out of hours work is required. Staff are often required to cover a wide range of shifts sometimes at short notice.
Working for our organisation
We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, in addition to our state-of-the-art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. We also care for people in their homes and provide services from facilities in local communities such as health centres. We give people greater choice and control over their care to help them to live independently at home and avoid hospital admission where appropriate. High quality patient care is at the heart of everything we do and we strive to ensure every single patient and service user has an exceptional experience with us. We have one of the most extensive patient experience programmes of any trust in England.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To ensure that all calls to 11 Trust sites are connected to the relevant location in an accurate and timely manner.
To respond to all emergencies including Cardiac Arrest, Fire, Security and Major Incident etc.
To ensure that emergency group calls are instigated via the Multitone Bleep System.
To activate daily testing of all Multitone Systems, ensuring that non responses are followed up and to maintain accurate records.
To authorise relevant agreed actions in the event of paging system failure and to liaise with the IT Department and outside companies e.g Multitone.
To receive and respond to All Trust alarms Via the Multitone Alarm System and to activate agreed urgent and emergency procedures and to liaise with relevant Trust personnel.
To attend to car parking and security issues.
To maintain and update a wide range of databases and spreadsheets on a daily basis.
To maintain switchboard and emergency alarm systems in the event of Fire evacuation from the main Switchboard and to transfer to an alternative site in order to maintain continuity of service.
To collate and maintain accurate records of Trust on call personnel, tracking information via Trust intranet and email systems.
To change identity numbers on bleep/pagers and to keep accurate up to date records of all changes and faults.
To provide support and information to bleep/pager users
Applicants who are members of the Armed Forces, those who have a disability that requires support in the work place (two ticks pledge) and those who have been looked after by the care system as a child or young person (for example, in foster care, children's homes, kinship or local authority care) who meet the essential criteria will be interviewed under the Trust's interview guarantee scheme.
We recognise the positive value of diversity and inclusion and are committed to a workforce that is diverse, equal and inclusive. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME people are currently under-represented in our workforce as well as other under-represented groups such as LGBT+ and disabled candidates. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, we have a Gold award from the Defense Recognition Scheme, and we are delighted to support Apprenticeships, Age Posi+ive and are a mindful employer.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to attend interview please make the recruitment team aware as soon as possible by calling our HR Recruitment Team on 0191 203 1415 option 2.
Applicants who meet the Fit and Proper Person Requirements (FPPR) will require additional pre-employment checks in line with CQC and NHS England statutory guidance.
Make sure to read the ‘applicant guidance notes’ before submitting your application and make sure you know everything there is to know before joining our fantastic trust!
Certificate of Sponsorship
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust proudly hold a sponsor licence. In order to provide sponsorship you and the role you are applying for must meet UKVI eligibility requirements. Please check your eligibility prior to submitting an application. Skilled Worker visa: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Please note that it is a requirement of this Trust that all successful applicants pay for their own DBS certification if a DBS check is required for the post. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first monthly pay.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- ECDL / Advanced keyboard skills or equivalent experience with an ability to use Microsoft Office packages, spreadsheets, email, internet systems and the ability to adapt to any new software required
- NVQ level 1-2 in administration or equivalent experience
Desirable criteria
- Basic knowledge of medical terminology
Experience and knowledge
Essential criteria
- Experience of a call centre/customer services role
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Desirable criteria
- Previous switchboard experience
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Robert Pearson
- Job title
- Contact Centre Admin Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0191 203 1277
- Additional information
Helen Cass
Operations Manager
Contact Centre & Switchboard
0191 203 1252
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