Receptionist

Royal Marsden; Greater London; Remote; GBP 19,000 - 23,000; Full time

Job summary

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a full-time Shift Receptionist to join our front-of-house team. The role combines customer care with operational and administrative duties in a fast-paced hospital setting.

Based primarily at Chelsea, the post holder will provide flexible cover across Trust sites, including Wallace Wing Reception and Switchboard, and will work a 7:00–23:00 rota across 37.5 hours per week.

Qualifications

• Good general education with English GCSE standard or equivalent.
• Educated to diploma level, City & Guilds in Customer Service / Customer & Reception Services.
• Reception or Customer Service experience which demonstrates the understanding of the key function for providing a support service.

Responsibilities

• First Point of Contact: Provide friendly and professional front-of-house reception service for patients and visitors.
• Facilities Helpdesk Duties: Log and resolve routine requests; escalate more complex matters to appropriate manager.
• Team Support and Flexibility: Provide reception cover at other sites or departments as required, with flexible hours.
• Policy and Governance Awareness: Stay up-to-date with Trust policies and procedures.

Skills

Communication

Organisation

IT literacy

Teamwork

Decision making

Attention to detail

Time management

Discretion

Education

English GCSE standard

Diploma City & Guilds in Customer Service / Customer & Reception Services

Tools

Microsoft Word

Outlook

Excel

Job description

The Main Reception Team at The Royal Marsden, Fulham Road, is looking for a full-time Shift Receptionist to join our busy front-of-house service. This is a varied and responsible role, combining excellent customer care with a range of operational and administrative duties in a fast-paced hospital environment.

We are looking for someone reliable, organised and confident, with excellent communication skills and the ability to remain calm under pressure. You will need to manage competing priorities, use initiative, work independently when required and respond professionally to patients, relatives, staff, contractors and emergency situations. Strong IT and administrative skills are essential. Previous NHS experience is helpful but not required. This full-time post is 37.5 hours per week, working a rota across 07:00 to 23:00, Monday to Sunday, including Bank Holidays. Applicants must therefore be able to work flexibly across the full shift pattern.

Main duties of the job

The Shift Receptionist is a key front-line representative of the Facilities Directorate, delivering a professional, welcoming, and efficient reception service to patients, visitors, and staff. Based primarily at Chelsea, the post holder will provide flexible cover across Trust sites as required,supporting both the Main Reception and Wallace Wing Reception functions.

The post holder is expected to exercise sound judgment, initiative, and effective problem-solving skills in managing a wide range of administrative and operational tasks. While day-to-day priorities will be set by line management, the post holder is also expected to respond appropriately to ad-hoc requests from other members of the Facilities Directorate, where these align with the scope of the role.

The Shift Receptionist plays a key role in maintaining high standards of professionalism, confidentiality, and customer care, acting as a reliable point of contact for internal and external stakeholders across the Trust.

Working for our organisation

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre. Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. We employ over 4,500 staff in a diverse range of careers including nursing, medical, science, radiography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, finance and administrative services. We have two hospitals – one in Chelsea, London, and one in Sutton, Surrey – as well as a Medical Daycare Unit in Kingston Hospital.

At The Royal Marsden, we deal with cancer every day, so we understand how valuable life is. When people entrust their lives to us, they have the right to demand the very best. That's why the pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of everything we do.

At the heart of the hospital is our dedicated team. We offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment, a wide range of staff benefits, learning and development opportunities and clear career pathways. There are opportunities to work flexibly across a range of areas and specialities and we welcome flexible working requests from point of hire to support employees work life balance. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and can play a crucial role in our on-going achievements.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification

• First Point of Contact: To provide a friendly and professional front-of-house reception service. Greet and welcome all patients and visitors, acting as the first point of contact and ensuring that everyone is treated courteously and efficiently.
• Facilities Helpdesk Duties: To serve as a central contact point for Facilities-related requests and queries. Log all incoming requests (in person, by phone, or via email) and use initiative to resolve routine issues. Exercise judgment to elevate more complex or urgent matters to the appropriate Facilities manager or service (e.g. Estates, Security) in a timely manner, ensuring no request is overlooked.
• Team Support and Flexibility: To demonstrate flexibility in supporting the wider team. Provide reception cover at other sites or departments (such as the Wallace Wing Reception andSwitchboard) when required, adjusting to different working locations or shifts to maintain service continuity. Be willing to adjust working hours or take on additional relevant duties at short notice to cover for colleague absences (sickness or annual leave) or peak operational periods.
• Policy and Governance Awareness: To take personal responsibility for remaining up to date with Trust policies, procedures, and relevant government initiatives.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• Good general education with English GCSE standard or equivalent
• Educated to diploma level, City & Guilds in Customer Service / Customer & Reception Services

Experience

• Reception or Customer Service experience which demonstrates the understanding of the key function for providing a support service

Skills Abilities/knowledge

• Ability to communicate verbally in a clear and effective way to patients, visitors and staff
• Ability to take clear and concise messages
• Ability to respond to emergencies by following the appropriate Trust Procedures
• Proficient in the use of IT systems including Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel
• Evidence of working well in a team
• Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with all levels of staff, patients and relatives
• Confidence in making decisions when dealing with competing priorities
• Evidence of organisational skill and attention to detail
• Ability to work methodically in a busy environment and meet deadlines
• Ability to concentrate even with frequent interruptions
• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information appropriately
• Able to demonstrate tact and diplomacy in a patient focus environment

Other Requirements

• Effective in managing own time
• Able to demonstrate tact and diplomacy when dealing with patient and staff related issues
• To adhere to the Trust dress code
• To maintain a tidy and organised working environment
• A commitment to the values of equality and diversity

The Royal Marsden values diversity and is committed to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority groups. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are working to create a workplace that enables all staff to reach their full potential. We are committed to this because we know that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to an even greater positive impact for the people we serve.

Due to the high volumes of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close any adverts before the published closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications. We advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment. Please ensure your information is accurate to avoid errors with processing your application

All applicants will be contacted by email to the address supplied on your application. Applicants are advised to check their email accounts regularly and to ensure that email filters are set to allow our emails.

Flu Vaccination – What We Expect of our Staff

At The Royal Marsden we have an immune compromised patient population who we must protect as much as we can against the flu virus. Each year, seasonal flu affects thousands of people in the UK. Occurring mainly in winter, it is an infectious respiratory disease capable of producing symptoms ranging from those similar to a common cold, through to very severe or even fatal disease.

The wellbeing of our staff and patients is of the upmost importance to us, and it is the expectation of The Royal Marsden that all patient-facing staff have an annual flu vaccination, provided free of charge by the Trust.

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.