Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services. Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital. Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients. In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research. We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit. Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’. The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients. We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS. Job overview We are looking for customer service oriented staff, to work in our busy Call Centre, supporting our Cancer Nurse Specialist (CNS) Helpline where you will be talking and engaging with cancer patients, signposting their calls to their specialist clinical team. This role focuses on Customer Services soft skills and is a telephony based role with no face to face customer or patient contact. You will be trained and multi skilled in call handling for our call center and hospital switchboard services. Hours: You will be required to work full time (37.5 hours) on a rolling rota. Shift patterns between Monday - Sunday 8:00am - 20:00, weekends and bank holidays. Skills required: •Professional telephone manner •Team player •Excellent Communication Skills: calls can be highly challenging due to emotive circumstances and caller anxiety •Compassion, Empathy •Active listening skills •Reliable, flexible •Intermediate IT Skills You will be required to work as part of small team dealing with emergency calls and should have the ability to deal with these situations in a calm and professional manner who will provide a warm, courteous and prompt response to all telephone enquiries in an efficient and professional manner to our patients, staff and other stakeholders. Previous Applicants from six months need not to apply. Main duties of the job As a Call Centre Operator you will enjoy working directly with patients and/or customers to identify their needs and signpost them accordingly. You will recognise the importance of first class communication skills to achieve customer satisfaction. The primary objective is to provide; A positive experience for each patient and external contact – every call matters. Professional and high quality customer service to every caller. Effective and timely resolution of all queries received Support to patients and external clients, ensuring that they are welcomed to the Trust. To support the Trust in providing quality care to its patients. As the first line of contact for callers the post holder is responsible for providing an efficient and responsive service as our department is the interface for the hospital and will often be the caller’s first experience of the Trust. You will need excellent communication skills and the ability to adapt your call handling methods to suit the variety of callers you will come in to contact with is paramount. You will often be engaging with distressed or vulnerable callers that will look for guidance and signposting. Working for our organisation What We Offer The NHS Pension Scheme - one of the most generous and comprehensive in the UK. When you start working for the NHS you automatically become a member and you will get an excellent package of pension benefits. Interest free Season Ticket Loan Long Term Service Awards Subsidised on-site nurseries and childcare vouchers A comprehensive staff health and well-being programme, Ride to work scheme Employee assistance programme Free stop smoking service Our Trust values are Put patients first, Take pride in what we do, Respect others, Strive to be the best, Act with Integrity Detailed job description and main responsibilities Operate as a call centre operator using Trust technology; identifying and escalating operational issues appropriately. Provide a consistently high quality of service to all customers, identifying their needs, offer advice and assisting them to access services provided by the Trust and those of our partners. Responsible for answering all enquiries pleasantly, efficiently and effectively with patients, staff and public on the telephone in line with departmental standards and deal with problems as they arise. Problem solve queries and ensure that each query has been effectively managed and responded to in a timely manner. To use advanced listening, probing and facilitative skills across a wide range of calls; some of which can be highly challenging due to emotive circumstances or caller aggression. Deal with a high volume of telephone enquiries and use your own initiative to prioritise workload and call urgency. Pass on information accurately i.e. any changes to personal information requiring entry into the relevant information pages including patient databases. Deal with emergency calls (where appropriate) as a priority adhering to processes and procedures. Competently use a bleep and/or pager system to contact Trust staff (if appropriate to the service) as agreed in standard operating procedures. To meet daily key performance indicators (KPIs) and targets. To work at any hospital site as required, including telephony managed service sites. Understand the operation of key systems within the department relevant to the query. Participate in a rotating shift pattern that may include Public Holidays and weekends; in line with service requirements; unless otherwise agreed. Single point of contact for oncology patients to access the services of their Clinical Nurse Specialist and Acute Oncology Service Utilise existing pre-agreed triage tools and standard operating procedures to triage and process advice line calls; escalating to a clinician where appropriate Facilitate the ability to report on patient contacts by recording details of all patient interactions in line with agreed procedures and processes. Participate in annual skills review and training sessions deemed appropriate. Person specification Knowledge Essential criteria GCSE in English and mathematics or equivalent NVQ in Customer Service or equivalent Skills Essential criteria Excellent verbal & written communications skills with the ability to communicate effectively by phone, in writing, and in person. Ability to develop good working relationships with hospital staff at all levels. To deal tactfully and efficiently with patients and colleagues. Ability to make effective decisions within established procedures Capable of following procedures and systematic processes Evidence of delivering a first class service to a diverse range of customers from initial point of contact Ability to remain calm when dealing with difficult or distressed people A methodical and accurate approach to work activities Experience Essential criteria Significant experience of working within a contact centre or busy / large telephony environment First class customer services soft skills and/or Call Centre Experience Ability to cope with a high volume, pressured environment 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 equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s 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. Flexible working 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 in to account the individual’s personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process. Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis. Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now." Further details / informal visits contact Name Tracy Harding Job title Call Centre Operations Manager Email address [email protected] Telephone number 0207 188 6506