Home First Call Handler

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free car parking

Annual leave 27–33 days with long‑term

Training & development opportunities

NHS pension

Job summary

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust is recruiting for a Band 3 Home First role in Gloucester. The post is permanent, full-time or part-time with a 37.5-hour week and a 7-day rota across 07:00–22:00.

You will join the new Countywide Home First Front Door Service and support discharge, referrals, and community-based care. The role focuses on coordinating referrals, maintaining records, and working with multidisciplinary teams to deliver person-centred care in patients’ homes where

Qualifications

• GCSE English & Maths Grade C or above or equivalent.
• NVQ 3 or working towards or, can demonstrate experience to that level.
• Understanding and comprehensive use of Electronic records and the local system (SystmOne).

Responsibilities

• Be the first point of contact for Home First referrals and enquiries.
• Manage incoming calls and referrals, ensuring information is accurately recorded.
• Support the safe and effective management of urgent referrals with clinical leads.
• Direct referrals using agreed pathways to the most appropriate service or clinical team.
• Maintain accurate records and update patient information on clinical systems (SystmOne).
• Coordinate with multidisciplinary teams to deliver patient-centered care.
• Participate in a rota to provide service coverage across 7am–10pm, 7 days a week.

Skills

Teamwork

Communication

Organisational skills

Decision-making

Education

GCSE English & Maths entry

NVQ 3 or equivalent

Tools

SystmOne

Job description

Main area Home First Grade Band 3 Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Part time

37.5 hours per week (Rotas will run 5 days out of 7, 1 weekend in 5, working shifts between 7am and 10pm) Job ref 327-26-631-D

Site Edward Jenner Court Town Gloucester Salary £25,760 - £27,476 per annum / Pro Rata Salary period Yearly Closing 19/11/2026 23:59

We love what we do and we think you will, too!

At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county .

We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care . We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking ‘what matters to you ’.

We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and w e are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality team s in all areas of the Trust .

Our application process aims to understand each candidates knowledge, skills and experience. We have found that candidates that use AI to generate their answers can lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.

It is really important to personalise your application to convey your individual skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively and for us to understand why you are applying for this role with GHC. We discourage over reliance on AI-generated applications as it will lessen your chances of success in securing an interview with us .

Job overview

This advert is for permanent roles, full time or part time - this will be over a variety of shift patterns that fall between the core hours of 07:00-22:00.

Job Overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join the new Countywide Home First Front Door Service, that launched on 1 September, and play a key role in shaping and supporting this innovative service from the outset. As part of the Home First Team, you will work within a multidisciplinary service that brings together Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Therapy Assistants, Home First Assistants, Planners and Reablement Workers to support people across Gloucestershire to remain independent and receive care in their own homes whenever possible.

Working as the first point of contact for patients, carers, healthcare professionals and partner organisations, you will manage referrals and enquiries into the Home First service, ensuring they are handled safely, efficiently and directed to the most appropriate clinical team. This is a fast-paced and rewarding role requiring excellent communication, organisational and decision-making skills, with a strong focus on delivering high-quality, person-centred care and support within the community.

Main duties of the job

• Act as the first point of contact for Home First referrals and enquiries from patients, carers, healthcare professionals and partner organisations.
• Manage incoming calls and referrals, ensuring information is accurately recorded and processed in a timely manner.
• Support the safe and effective management of urgent referrals in collaboration with clinical leads.
• Use agreed pathways, protocols and decision-support tools to direct referrals to the most appropriate service or clinical team.
• Maintain accurate records and update patient information on clinical systems, including SystmOne.
• Communicate professionally and sensitively with patients, families, carers and healthcare professionals.
• Work closely with multidisciplinary teams, acute hospitals, GPs, social care services and community partners to coordinate care.
• Escalate complex queries, concerns or risks to the appropriate clinical or operational lead.
• Provide administrative support to the wider Home First team as required.
• Contribute to maintaining service capacity, patient flow and effective team communication.
• Uphold confidentiality and information governance standards in line with Trust policies.
• Participate in a rota to provide service coverage across operational hours (7am-10pm, 7 days a week).

Working for our organisation

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people’s homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust’s priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Gloucestershire Health & Care Services deliver community health & social care services for adults & older people via a model of locality-based cluster teams. Each of the clusters consist of Nursing, Therapy and Reablement Teams working closely alongside social work professionals to provide support to people within their own homes and within bed based reablement units. We work closely with GPs, local communities, acute and community hospital(s) and other partners to enable people to live as independently and for as long as possible within their own home.

We are a clinically led organisation where individuals are valued for their unique professional contribution to ensuring best patient care. Continuing Professional Development is a key priority and we actively promote and develop the broadening roles that Physiotherapists and Allied Health Professionals are able to contribute. We have an extensive range of Advanced Practitioners, Clinical Specialists, Professional Leads and Non-Medical Prescribers across a wide range of specialisms that actively support clinical colleagues within our organisation. Our well established, structured Clinical Supervision and In-Service Training programmes contribute to the learning culture which develops and challenges thinking and practice.

To support compliance with UK immigration requirements, all applicants who require a visa to work in the UK must disclose their visa history in full. This includes current and previous sponsors, dates of sponsorship, visa category, and any changes of employment. If you are on a Graduate or Dependant Visa, please disclose the expiry date on your application. Incomplete information may mean we are unable to consider your application

Person specification

Qualifications

• GCSE English & Maths Grade C or above or equivalent
• NVQ 3 or working towards or, can demonstrate experience to that level

Experience

• Evidence of working as part of a team
• Experience of communicating over the telephone
• Proven ability to work unsupervised and manage working time effectively
• Ability to remain calm under pressure and deal with competing demands
• Evidence of good interpersonal skills

Professional Knowledge

• Evidence of willingness and ability to learn new skills
• Understanding and comprehensive use of Electronic records and the local system for patient records (SystmOne), including writing/typing appropriate paperwork on the system

When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:

• Free car parking at many of our sites
• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
• A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
• A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
• Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
• Recognition and long service awards
• Fast Track physiotherapy
• Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

If you are aged 16-30, you may be eligible for financial and pastoral support from the King’s Trust, with who we are in partnership with to support your first 6 months in role. We will pass on your details to the King’s Trust who will be in touch with you if you are eligible. If you would rather not be contacted, please let us know.

For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.

Good luck with your application.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.