Emergency Medical Advisor (999 Call Handler) : Secamb

Main area - 999, Call Handler, NHS, Ambulance, Contact Centre, Call Centre, Customer Service
Grade - Band 3
Contract - Permanent
Hours -Full time
- Part time
37.5 hours per week (Minimum 23 hours per week)
Job ref - 278-999CHC-#####-JG
Site - Crawley Emergency Operations Centre
Town - Crawley
Salary - £22,816 - £24,336 per annum NHS Agenda for Change Section 2 + NHS Unsocial Hours
Salary period -Yearly
Closing - 21/04#####4 23:59
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) has a vision to ‘support our staff to provide a caring, high quality and efficient urgent and emergency care service to our communities’. We are rated ‘Good’ for care by the Care Quality Commission and while the other areas under their most recent report require improvement, our aim is to continually improve and to reach outstanding across all areas of the Trust.
Our 4,000+ workforce provide services to 4.9m people across Kent, Surrey, Sussex and North East Hampshire. We handle over 1 million calls to 999 and 1 million calls to NHS 111 every year. More information regarding our services and locations can be found on our website.
Job overview
Your NHS needs YOU!
Why apply for this role?
Our 999 Emergency Call Handlers (Emergency Medical Advisors) are people just like you: people who have come to us from all walks of life, from different backgrounds and age groups, people who all have the same things in common.
You are the first person our patients speak to when they call 999 in an emergency.
What makes a great 999 Emergency Call Handler (Emergency Medical
Advisor)?
Our 999 Emergency Call Handlers are all caring and empathetic
They all have great communication skills
They're all happy and able to work flexibly
Main duties of the job
As a SECAmb 999 Emergency Call Handler, you are the first point of contact and are responsible for ensuring the correct information is obtained from the caller, whilst offering advice or re-assurance sometimes under difficult circumstances. You will enter details into a computer system about the patient and their condition which categorises the seriousness of their illness or injury to ensure the patient receives the most appropriate care from us, this may be an emergency ambulance response, a telephone assessment by a clinician, a referral to an alternative care pathway or self care advice.
We will provide full training in a warm, friendly environment in our Emergency Call Centres.
Our comprehensive training programme:
9 weeks full time training
Is full time, even for part time applicants
Has a ‘must’ attend policy due to you obtaining your Pathways licence
Comprises of 3 weeks of Monday to Friday classroom training, then observing and mentoring periods within the working environment for a further 6 weeks before you go “live”.
Is designed to fully support full transition to call handling independently
Working for our organisation
As we are a 24/7 service, this role will involve working a varied shift pattern including earlies, lates, nights and weekends on a rota pattern. These rotas are fixed to ensure a safe provision to our patients. If you have a requirement to work nights ONLY, this can also be catered for.
For a detailed insight in the Call Handler role, please see the information slides attached to this advert.
What we can offer you:
Competitive salary of £22,816 - £24,336 with the earning potential of up to £28,000 per annum.
Unsocial hours enhancements - For all hours that you work between 8pm and 6am Monday – Friday and all-day Saturday you will earn a shift bonus which means you will earn approximately £15.75 per hour. For Sundays and Public Holidays, you will earn approximately £19.75 per hour.
35 days’ annual leave inclusive of Bank Holidays (pro rata)
Flexible working hours on a rota pattern
Free parking
Blue Light discount card Blue Light Card
Generous NHS Pension Scheme
Award winning Wellbeing hub
Staff networks
Training and development
Salary Sacrifice schemes for cars or push bikes
Access to occupational health
Enhanced DBS check
Bonus schemes
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The role of an Emergency 999 Call Handler (Emergency Medical Advisor)
When you dial 999, your call goes through to a call handler based in one of our 2 Emergency Operation Call Centres. These staff are trained to use the NHS Pathways system to provide assistance in a variety of situations, from minor illness to life threatening situations. The assistance you will provide will range from offering lifesaving advice whilst an ambulance is on route, to directing callers to other more suitable services.
This role can be demanding, challenging, and ultimately very rewarding however, it's not for everyone. Applicants will need to have a range of skills to be able to deal with often stressful and emotional situations, whilst also demonstrating compassion and empathy to all callers, no matter what the situation.
Successful applicants demonstrate high levels of personal commitment to facilitate the delivery of a patient-focused service
We need individuals who have the drive and passion to make a difference to people’s lives, but also the personal resilience to work in a high-pressured environment
You will need to be able to work well within a team and independently, have fast/accurate typing skills and a good standard of education or equivalent experience
This role is suited to people who remain calm under pressure, good at problem solving and have excellent interpersonal skills, with an empathetic nature
Further Information
All successful applicants will be required to undertake an Enhanced DBS check for adults and children.
Upcoming training dates
We have availability on courses starting in May and June
Person specification Qualifications Essential criteria
Educated to GCSE or Functional Skills level and possesses a fundamental level of Maths, English and ICT skills OR Evidence within previous employment that they have used Maths and English to GCSE level or higher
Desirable criteria
Level 2 in Customer Service or Health and Social Care
Experience Essential criteria
Previous experience working and communicating with the public
Ability to communicate with a variety of different people and build rapport
Desirable criteria
Experience of working in a computer based role - strong IT skills
Previous experience working in a team or with stakeholders across a range of settings
Please note that the salary range noted on the vacancy is in line with agenda for change (AFC) pay scales. All successful applicants would be placed automatically at the bottom of the banding, unless proven, relevant NHS or equivalent experience can be demonstrated.
Following the revision of current national legislation (Vaccine as a Condition of Deployment), the Trust has reviewed our requirements relating to staff uptake of the SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) vaccination.
Going forward, for patient facing positions, we strongly recommend that new starters will be appropriately vaccinated unless medically exempt in order to offer greater protection against exposure to the virus for front line staff.
In line with this recommendation, if you are successful in your application for a front line post, we will seek information from you in relation to your vaccine status, including exemption status, as applicable.
Please note, all positions come with a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check relevant to the post. This will either be a basic, standard, or enhanced check depending on the role. The level of check will be outlined in the conditional offer letter sent to successful applicants.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to declare any unspent/unfiltered convictions. If you are shortlisted you will then be sent a self declaration form, which must be completed prior to attending interview. for any queries relating to declarations, please contact the Recruitment Advisor listed on the vacancy.
The Trust is passionately committed to being an inclusive employer - a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed. As an employer we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement networks, facilities and services to support staff from different backgrounds.
We actively support equality of opportunity for all our staff and welcome applications from individuals regardless of age, any disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief. The Trust is making progress towards its aim of becoming more reflective of the diversity of our community in our workforce and guarantees an interview to candidates with disability who meet the essential criteria specified. We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and disabled applicants and those from other under-represented groups.
The Equality Ac#####10 protects disabled people - including those with long term health conditions, learning disabilities and hidden disabilities such as dyslexia. If you tell us that you have a disability we can make reasonable adjustments to ensure that any selection processes - including the interview - are fair and equitable. We are a committed Disability Confident Employer and offer on-going support, should you be successful, with any adjustments you may need when performing your role.
When completing the application please use your name as it appears on your passport and please ensure you include email addresses and contact numbers for your referees to avoid delay in the recruitment process.
Please note that under our Trust policies, we're unable to employ anyone under the age of 18 years old.
The majority of our roles will include some travel between sites for business purposes. If the vacancy you’re applying for includes work related travel, you will be required to ensure that you hold and have covered the cost of suitable car insurance to support this.
If you have previously applied for this role and were deemed not appointable at any stage of the recruitment process, you cannot normally apply for the same or similar role for a minimum of six months from the date of application. This is to allow time for the candidate to receive feedback and undergo the appropriate development.
Should you require an application form in an alternative format including large print or braille, please ##### the vacancy reference number and we will be happy to provide this.
When completing the reference section, please include details to cover the last three years’ history.
Due to the high volume of applications at SECAmb, we regret that we will only be able to contact those applicants who are shortlisted for interview. If you have not heard from us within 10 working days of the closing date, then please assume you have not been shortlisted for interview on this particular occasion.
Please note that we contact all applicants via Trac Jobs and would advise you check your Trac Jobs account regularly.
Please be aware that the Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy early if sufficient applications are received. For this reason we recommend completing your application as early as possible.
If you are a current SECAmb employee and applying for a substantive position, if successful you will move to the terms and conditions associated with the post. Any unsocial hours payments will be paid under the Section 2 agreement of agenda for change. If you are currently paid under Annex 5 and this post is the same banding as your current role, you can request to remain on Annex 5, or move to Section 2.
Section 2 unsocial hours will automatically be paid via your monthly timesheet. More information regarding section 2 can be found in the Agenda for Change handbook and on theour dedicatedSection 2 page on The Zone .
If you are a current SECAmb employee and applying for a Secondment/Acting Up position, this would not be classed as a permanent change to your terms and conditions so if your application is successful, your current unsocial hours arrangements will not change for the duration of the secondment/acting up period.
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