Dispatch Support Assistant West EOC - Secondment

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust; Crawley; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS Pension

27 days annual leave

Professional development and training

Salary sacrifice schemes for cars or P

Push bikes

Occupational health services

Wellbeing hub

NHS discounts

Job summary

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust in Crawley is seeking a Dispatch Support Assistant (Band 3) on a 18 Month Secondment to join the Emergency Operations Centre. The role coordinates emergency resources across the South East and supports frontline crews and partner agencies.

The position offers AFC banding, unsocial hours enhancements, and opportunities for professional development, with a typical workload across busy operational shifts and data-recording responsibilities.

Qualifications

• The role requires excellent communication skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to remain calm in a fast-moving operational environment.
• Experience with emergency dispatch or coordinating resources is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Provide essential support to the Dispatch Team by undertaking operational and administrative tasks to keep emergency resources moving.
• Book on/off operational crews in the CAD system and maintain resource availability.
• Communicate with frontline staff, voluntary responders and partner agencies via telephone and radio.
• Allocate resources to incidents when directed by a Resource Dispatcher.
• Escalate welfare, staffing or resource concerns as needed.
• Maintain accurate records across operational systems.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the EOC to support safe patient care.

Job description

Job Overview

Base: Crawley EOC

£25,760 - £27,476 per annum NHS Agenda for Change Plus Unsocial hours enhancements

Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment where every decision helps make a difference?

Job Overview

Dispatch Support Assistant: Band 3. 18 Month Secondment

Base: Crawley EOC

Hours: Full-time/Part Time

Salary: £25,760 - £27,476 per annum NHS Agenda for Change Plus Unsocial hours enhancements

Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment where every decision helps make a difference?

We're looking for motivated and organised individuals to join our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) as a Dispatch Support Assistant. Working alongside our Dispatch Teams, you'll play a vital role in helping ensure emergency resources are coordinated safely and effectively across the South East.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop your knowledge of ambulance dispatch, working closely with Resource Dispatchers, frontline crews, voluntary responders and partner agencies. Every shift is different, and you'll become an integral part of the team responsible for supporting the delivery of emergency patient care.

Whether you're looking to develop your career within the EOC or gain valuable experience within the Dispatch function, this role offers excellent learning opportunities within one of the busiest ambulance services in the country.

Main duties of the job

As a Dispatch Support Assistant, you'll provide essential support to the Dispatch Team by undertaking a variety of operational and administrative tasks that help keep emergency resources moving.

• Supporting the booking on and off of operational crews within the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system.
• Maintaining accurate resource availability and out-of-service information.
• Communicating with frontline staff, voluntary responders and partner agencies via telephone and radio.
• Allocating resources to specific incidents when directed by a Resource Dispatcher.
• Escalating welfare, staffing or resource concerns appropriately.
• Maintaining accurate records across a range of operational systems.
• Working collaboratively with colleagues across the Emergency Operations Centre to support safe and effective patient care.

The role requires excellent communication skills, attention to detail and the ability to remain calm whilst working in a fast-moving operational environment.

Working for our organisation

• Option to join NHS pension scheme
• A minimum 27 days' holiday each year, increasing after 5 years’ service.
• Personal and professional development and training opportunities.
• Salary Sacrifice schemes for cars or push bikes.
• Access to occupational health and counselling services.
• Award winning wellbeing hub
• Access to NHS discounts, offering NHS employees a range of money-saving deals.

Joining Dispatch Support provides an excellent opportunity to gain experience within one of the most dynamic areas of the Trust whilst contributing directly to the delivery of outstanding patient care.

Other than in exceptional circumstances, the starting salary for staff new to the NHS will be the bottom point of the band to which they have been appointed.

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 Act 2010 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 to offering opportunities to individuals with disabilities 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.

Should you require an application form in an alternative format including large print or braille, please contact [e-mail] stating 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.

We understand that AI tools can be useful for generating ideas or structuring your application. However, any content submitted must reflect your own experiences, skills, and understanding. Applications that are generated wholly or in large part by AI, without personalisation or accuracy, may be excluded from consideration. We value honesty, authenticity, and integrity in the recruitment process and expect all applicants to uphold these principles.

If you are a current SECAmb employee, by applying for this 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. Section 2 unsocial hours will need to be claimed via your monthly timesheet. More information regarding section 2 can be found in the Agenda for Change handbook and on the our dedicated Section 2 page on The Zon e.