Call Handler

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust; Accrington; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Call Handler to support the Initial Response Service (IRS). The role involves taking calls from professionals and service users, clarifying appointment times and answering general enquiries, while ensuring accurate recording of information in the IRS Network stack.

You will be assisting clients with a range of mental health conditions, acting as a liaison with the clinical team, and supporting patients to receive high-quality and

Qualifications

• NVQ 3 in Care, Customer Care or Business Administration or commitment to work towards.
• Experience of working within a mental health setting.
• Person centred care.

Responsibilities

• Support patients and callers as a liaison between the patient and clinical team.
• Handle calls from professionals and service users and clarify appointment times or general enquiries.
• Record information accurately to aid onward referral in the IRS Network stack.
• Maintain resilience when handling crisis-related calls and work within supervision structure.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Prioritisation

Literacy skills

Education

NVQ 3 in Care, Customer Care or Business Administration

Job description

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Call Handler

The closing date is 20 November 2026

This role is not eligible for sponsorship. Applicants must have an existing right to work in the UK and be able to maintain that right for the duration of employment without sponsorship from the Trust

An exciting opportunity has arisen for patient focused Call Handlers to support the Initial Response Service (IRS)

IRS offers a single point of access into mental health services. This is an exciting time to be part of the crisis pathway and support people with mental health to ensure they access the most appropriate support at the right time. Call handlers will be expected to accept calls from both professionals and services users, and will be required to complete administrative tasks such as clarification of appointment times or general enquiries. The calls will be from callers across the trust footprint and processes will need to be followed to ensure the activity is recorded in the IRS Network stack for the callers location.

Excellent IT skills are an essential component due to the fast pace of this role and the accurate recording of information to aid onward referral.

Main duties of the job

The role involves assisting clients who may be experiencing a range of mental health conditions. You will act as a liaison between the patient and the clinical team, to support all patients in receiving a positive, high quality and seamless experience throughout.

This role also requires the post holder to manage calls from service users who may be in crisis and you will supported through a training package to determine the immediacy of the situation and needs of the individual caller at that time.

The post holder will be resilient, resourceful, and be able to manage calls that may at times be distressing or require an emergency response. A robust supervision structure is in place to support staff due to the challenges of the role.

We are excited to receive applications from people who have the drive and passion to make a difference and have the resilience to work in a high-pressured environment.

About us

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you'd like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.

The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Explore our full wellbeing offer here: Keeping our workforce well

Job responsibilities

Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• NVQ 3 in Care, Customer Care or Business Administration or commitment to work towards

Experience

• Experience of working within a mental health setting
• Person centred care

Skills

• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to prioritise and manage own workload
• Enhanced Literacy skills

Personal

• Flexible
• Open to change
• Open and honest
• Motivated
• Demonstrates respect, dignity and integrity

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.

Employer name

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

£25,760 to £27,476 a yearper annum (subject to confirmation)