NHS 111 Health Advisor

NHS 111 Health Advisor - located onsite in Dorking, Surrey.

Ever wanted to play your part in an exciting service that really makes a difference to everyone's lives? As a key member of our team in Dorking you'll be doing just that.

This is your chance to train to be a Health Advisor in our 111 call centre handling calls from members of the public. You'll learn how to use a state-of-the-art triage tool called NHS Pathways to assess patients over the phone and direct them to the most appropriate care. Although these are not emergency calls, you'll also need to be prepared to deal with emotional, distressing or life-threatening scenarios and to arrange for 999 services if required.

We offer enhanced pay rates for weekends, at the moment we can only offer 24 hours per week to cover our core shifts over the weekend, mornings and evenings when patients most need us.

The extensive fully paid training equips you with valuable skills and includes assessments. We have full-time courses available Mon -Fri (9am-5pm) for 4 weeks.

Upcoming available start dates are:

• Monday 19th May 2025 - Full Time

After training, you can join the team part-time or full-time on your approved shift pattern.

Main duties of the job

• Manage calls from patients and healthcare professionals with urgent and non-urgent healthcare needs
• Direct patients to the service suitable for their needs, using the Pathways
• Capture patient information using computer systems
• Communicate effectively and empathetically in a healthcare environment with patients and colleagues

What you will get:

• Pay:
• £12.21 p/h daytime and during training (07:00-23:00)
• £15.71 p/h weekends (18:00 Friday-midnight; any hours worked on Saturday or Sunday)
• 25 days annual leave, increasing with service up to 28 days per year + bank holidays.
• Great job security, flexibility over hours (whenever we can), and full support for ongoing career progression into coaching, training and management roles.
• Practice Plus Group benefits including company pension scheme, life assurance, cycle to work scheme, retail discounts and an employee assistance programme for you and your family.

What you will need:

• GCSE/Functional English and Maths.
• Excellent listening and communication skills, with IT and keyboard skills, previous experience of working and communicating with the public.
• A passion for helping other people, with the ability to learn all sorts of new skills and to thrive and develop in a friendly well-supported team.

About us

Practice Plus Group is passionate about great healthcare. We believe that anyone should be able to access excellent care, whether via the NHS or privately. Our breadth of expertise spans surgery, diagnostics, general practice, offender health and urgent care, with an unrivalled range of different services provided across the country. We're proud to be at the forefront of developing new and exciting ways to support the nation's health too, helping patients to maximise their wellbeing and live life to the full. When you're part of the Practice Plus Group team, you don't just have a job. You have a career. We work with you to help you grow in your role and take your career in the direction you want to go. We'll help you be the best you can be. We want our team members to feel motivated and rewarded. So we offer a competitive package of pay and benefits. We also recognise the value of a healthy work-life balance so we always try to be flexible, helping you fit your working life around your home life.

Job responsibilities

JOB DESCRIPTION

You will manage calls from patients and healthcare professionals with urgent and non-urgent healthcare needs, using the Pathways System appropriately to direct the patient to the service suitable for their needs.

You will use computer systems to capture patient information along with being expected to demonstrate self-directed learning and practice.

There will be a period of competency-based training both initially and over the first 6 months of employment which you must complete in order to perform all the duties of the job to the required standard.

Principal duties and responsibilities:

• Receive requests for assistance, treatment or care to IUC / NHS 111 call centre. The requests may be from members of the public, healthcare practitioners or other professionals.
• Interact with Individuals using telecommunications. You will answer the calls in an efficient and courteous manner using organisational standards and protocols. This will involve triaging patient calls using the appropriate Pathways System.
• Communicate effectively in a healthcare environment with colleagues as well as callers to the IUC / NHS 111 service. You will need to adjust the way you communicate to fit their knowledge and deal with callers with empathy and understanding. You will accurately record and check or amend details on the call logging computer system.
• Direct requests for assistance, care or treatment using protocols or guidelines by signposting patients/callers to the most appropriate care/service using the Directory of Services where appropriate, guided by Pathways. This includes making judgements around what may or may not be significant changes in a patient's condition. This may involve recognition and appropriate response to emergency situations.
• Support the safeguarding of individuals following local protocols and standards. Relate to others in ways which support rights, inclusion and wellbeing of individuals, supporting individuals to keep themselves safe.
• Contribute to the effectiveness of teams. Work as part of a multidisciplinary team, actively contributing to service improvements where appropriate. Assist new members of staff. Assist in general administrative and clerical duties. Provide cover for sickness, bank holidays, and annual leave of other health advisors. Work flexibly across sites as required by the service.

2.0 General Duties

• Act within the limits of your competence and authority, i.e. work to Pathways competencies and adhere to local protocols and procedures.
• Make sure your actions reduce risks to health and safety by maintaining a tidy office/call centre at all times, cleaning equipment before use and supporting the maintenance of equipment by reporting any faults as per local procedures. Adhere to health and safety policies and report incidents and risks identified through Datix or via line manager.
• Comply with legal requirements for maintaining confidentiality by maintaining strict confidentiality of all issues concerned with the service. Adhere to requirements of the Data Protection Act 1984, information governance and Caldicott Principles.
• Foster people's equality, diversity and rights by being proactive against discrimination.

Managing Self

• Make use of supervision. Participate in regular supervision in line with local guidelines in order to continually improve your performance and gain support following difficult calls.
• Develop your own knowledge and practice, which includes reflecting on your practice, and taking opportunities to improve your practice and apply learning in the workplace.
• Ensure personal fitness for work presenting a positive image of self and the organisation. Maintain professional conduct including appearance at all times.

Developing Others

NB there is scope to add a Pathways coaching function to this role once the health advisor has gained experience in their role and is keen to support development of others. The additional competences would be.

• Undertake coaching or mentoring with new health advisors to support them in the IUC / NHS 111 call centre and their use of Pathways. This would require additional training to gain accreditation as an NHS Pathway coach or other Clinical Decision Making System equivalent.

Probationary periods

All staff new to the organisation are required to undertake Pathways training. Continuation in the role is dependent upon successful completion of training.

Equality and diversity

All staff have a role to play in supporting and championing equality and ensuring that our workplace and the services we deliver are free from discrimination. This includes delivering the organisation's obligations as they are set out within the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty, which means not only ensuring equal opportunities for staff and service users, but also ensuring that patients have equal access to NHS services and that health inequalities are reduced across all protected characteristics.

Treating people equally may mean treating people differently or more favourably, in order to ensure equal access for example, by giving staff with dyslexia more time to sit tests, or by giving people with learning disabilities longer appointments. All staff must ensure that they have the skills, knowledge and competences outlined within the competency framework to ensure that their practice and the care they provide meets the needs of all individuals with protected characteristics, where appropriate taking account of cultural or language needs, respecting differences and taking action to reduce health inequalities.

All employees must be aware of their obligations and abide by the spirit and nature of these requirements to avoid direct and indirect discrimination, instead championing equal access to health and care outcomes.

Additional Information:

Practice Plus Group operates a system of individual performance review/appraisal for the purpose of agreeing performance objectives and discussing development needs in line with requirements of service need in the operational plan.

Code of Conduct for Professional Group

All members of staff are required to work in accordance with their professional groups code of conduct (e.g. NMC, GMC, HPC).

This job description is intended as a basic guide to the scope and responsibilities of the post and is not exhaustive. It will be subject to regular review and amendment as necessary in consultation with the post holder.

Conflict of Interests

You may not without the consent of Practice Plus Group engage in any outside employment and in accordance with Practice Plus Group Conflict of Interest Policy you must declare to your manager all private interests, which could potentially result in personal gain as a consequence of your employment position in Practice Plus Group. Interests that might appear to be in conflict should also be declared.

Criminal Records Bureau

It is a requirement of this position that a Criminal Records Bureau disclosure at the enhanced level is undertaken.

Confidentiality

The post holder is required not to disclose such information, particularly that relating to patients and staff. All employees are subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and must not only maintain strict confidentiality in respect of patient and staff records, but the accuracy and integrity of the information contained within. The post holder must not at any time use personal data held by Practice Plus Group for any unauthorised purpose or disclosure such as data to a third party.

You must not make any disclosure to any unauthorised person or use any confidential information relating to the business affairs of Practice Plus Group, unless expressly authorised to do so by Practice Plus Group. Further guidance on confidentiality is contained within Practice Plus Group Information Security Management System (ISMS).

Data Protection

The post holder must at all times respect the confidentiality of information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act and the company's ISO27001 accreditation. This includes, if required to do so, obtain, process and/or use information held on a computer in a fair and lawful way, to hold data only for the specified registered purposes and to use or disclose data only to authorized persons or organizations as instructed.

Education and Training

Personal continuing professional development is encouraged and an annual appraisal system is in place to discuss CPD and ongoing objectives.

The post holder is required at all times to carry out responsibilities with due regard to Practice Plus Group Equal Opportunities Policy and to ensure that staff receive equal treatment throughout their employment with Practice Plus Group.

Health and Safety

As an employee of Practice Plus Group, the postholder has a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, to:

• Take reasonable care of the health and safety of themselves and all other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work.
• Co-operate with their employer to ensure compliance with Health and Safety legislation and the Health and Safety policies and procedures of the treatment centre, not intentionally or recklessly interfere with, or misuse, anything provided in the interests of health, safety, or welfare, in pursuance of any of the relevant statutory provisions.
• All members of staff have a responsibility to report all clinical and non-clinical accidents or incidents promptly and when requested to, co-operate with any investigation undertaken.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not exhaustive and the post holder may be required to undertake other relevant and appropriate duties as reasonably required.

This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• GCSE/Functional Skills English and Maths at Grade C (or equivalent) or above.
• Excellent listening and communication skills, ideally with IT and keyboard skills, plus some previous experience of working and communicating with the public.
• A real passion for helping other people, with the ability to learn all sorts of new skills and to thrive and develop in a fun, friendly, well-supported team.

Experience

• Experience of working with the public in healthcare, retail, hospitality, education, or service roles
• Experience working in a call centre

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.