Switchboard Operator

Kings College Hospital; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is inviting applications for a Telephonist on our NHS Switchboard at Denmark Hill. You will handle external and internal calls with professionalism, ensuring accurate information flow in a fast-paced environment.

The role starts at band 3 with potential progression to band 4 after training; shifts include evenings, weekends, and 24/7 coverage as required. We value accuracy, calm decision-making, and teamwork in delivering patient-centred service.

Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE standard or equivalent, including English Language and Mathematics.
• Experience in NHS environment and good understanding of medical terminology.
• Effective communication and IT literacy required.

Responsibilities

• Operate as Telephonist on a Siemens ISDX Switchboard handling external and internal calls.
• Work unsociable hours on a 24 hr shift pattern including weekends and bank holidays.
• Operate Securitas numeric bleep system and Pageone messaging; relay accurate information.

Skills

Effective communication

IT Literacy

Education

GCSE or equivalent (English & Maths)

Job description

Employer King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Denmark Hill Town London Salary £31,554 - £33,270 pro rota per annum in HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 06/09/2026 23:59

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£2.1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley.

We encourage all our staff to have a healthy work/life balance. In doing so, you can apply for flexible working from the beginning of your employment. We offer a range of options which are designed to suit different circumstances and priorities in line with service requirements.

To be an ambassador for the Hospital Trust as the first line of contact with the outside world, with the need to be able to proficiently operate the computer-based switchboard. Answering in a professional manner and dealing with patients, relatives, visitors and GP enquiries, incoming calls, internal calls, numeric bleeps, message pagers.

Be able to make decisions and deal with emergency calls calmly and efficiently in a high-level fast-moving environment, dealing with cardiac arrest calls/trauma calls, stroke calls, fire calls, major incidents, bomb threats, chemical spillages and medical gas alarms.

Various shifts are currently available (subject to change), with hours to be discussed and agreed at interview. You might be required to cover other shifts as we run a 24/7 service:

Duties:

Sat-Sun: 15.00-22.00

Initial recruitment is for band 3. This will be increased to band 4 following successful completion of training.

Main duties of the job

• Operate as a Telephonist, deal with incoming calls on Switchboard
• Work unsociable hours on 24 hr shift working pattern
• Operate a Securitas numeric & Pageone bleep system
• Deal with emergency calls & Medical gas alarms and emergency lift alarms calmly and efficiently following correct procedures
• Operate the on-call Rota watch
• Communicate to a high level and pass on information accurately to the Team leaders and Manager
• Log/distribute/activate new Internal numeric bleeps and message pagers.
• Communicate with Patient, Relatives, Visitors, GP’s and all hospital staff, medical & ancillary
• Ability to work on your own, making appropriate decisions and dealing with any situation that may arise
• Follow department procedures and keep accurate records of any tasks undertaken, ensuring that during any hand over the appropriate senior staff are apprised of any problems/changes
• Prepared and willing to be called in at very short notice, in the event of a Major Incident
• Work as part of a team including taking share of covering overtime/Bank Holidays, occasionally at short notice
• To test and exchange faulty bleeps, reprogramming the control unit to keep the user on the same number
• Reset passwords and transfer/accept accounts for users of NHS Net e-mail

Working for our organisation

The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. Transforming Healthcare is the vision at the heart of the King’s Strategy – 2026 to 2031. Together, we are pursuing six strategic ambitions: delivering high-quality patient care; being a great place to work; leading pioneering research, innovation and education; building strong and successful partnerships; providing timely and efficient care; and ensuring long-term financial sustainability. Achieving these ambitions will require all of us to work as one Team King’s, united by a shared commitment to our values of being caring, collaborative, inclusive and innovative. By living these values every day, we will transform healthcare for our patients, our communities and each other

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To operate as a Telephonist, dealing with incoming calls, both external and internal, on a Siemens ISDX Switchboard with computer based screen consoles.
• The ability to work unsociable hours on 24 hr shift working pattern i.e. Weekends, evenings and bank holidays
• To operate a Securitas numeric bleep system
• To operate a Pageone Message System being clear and concise with appropriate messages often having to use medical terminology.
• To deal with emergency calls calmly and efficiently (e.g. Cardiac Arrest, Trauma, Fire, Bomb Threats and Major Incidents) following correct procedures and following up on any problems that may arise in these events.
• To deal with Medical gas alarms and emergency lift alarms calmly and efficiently following correct procedures and following up on any problems that may arise in these events.
• T operate the on call Rota watch doctors rota System.
• To be able to communicate to a high level and pass on information accurately to the Team leaders and Manager i.e. any changes to rota’s or personal information requiring entry into the telephone databases.
• Log/distribute/activate new Internal numeric bleeps and message pagers.
• To test and exchange faulty bleeps, reprogramming the control unit so as to keep the user on the same number. Arranging for repair and re-distributing of repaired bleeps back to original user.
• Communicate with Patient, Relatives, Visitors, GP’s and all hospital staff, medical and ancillary, effectively, politely and with courtesy.
• Answer and dealing with customer queries in a professional manner.
• Ability to work on your own, making appropriate decisions and dealing with any situation that may arise.
• To follow department procedures and keep accurate records of any tasks undertaken, ensuring that during any hand over the appropriate senior staff are apprised of any problems/changes.
• To follow disaster and recovery procedure in event of system failure. Put into operation emergency back-up plan, if bleep system goes down. Arranging distribution of radios to all relevant on-call doctors. Ensuring that all staff involved in cardiac arrest and trauma teams are fully informed and are easily contactable.
• To be prepared and willing to be called in at very short notice, in the event of a Major Incident.
• Work as part of a team including taking share of covering overtime/Bank Holidays, occasionally at short notice. This is to ensure a highly motivated and efficient workforce whose prime interest is in helping the Trust staff care for its patients.
• To be prepared to carry out training to improve standards, this may include customer services skills and computer skills at higher NVQ levels.
• Reset passwords and transfer/accept accounts for users of NHS Net e-mail
• Input and manipulate data and information within Service Desk database, Active Directory and other databases as required
• To act as stand in for line manger as when directed
• To form part of an on call team on a rota basis for escalation as when required.
• To act as help desk for any enquires e. opening closing times, directions clinics, visiting times, clergy details and finding accommodation etc..
• To undertake any other duties as required ensuring the efficient operation of the King’s telephone system.
• Authorise, record and time all business calls as per the Trust’s telephone policy

Please see the Job Description for details.

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE standard or equivalent, including English Language, Mathematics; or equivalent work based experience

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience in a similar environment, operating Liberty Converse screen-based console or equivalent experience
• Experience of working within the NHS environment & good understanding of medical terminologies.

Skills and Competencies

• Effective communication, attention to details and IT Literacy skills preferable

AI tools like chatbots and virtual assistants can support you as you complete your application. For example, they can check for spelling or grammar errors, or help you to decide what to include. They shouldn’t however replace your own responses or be used to write the application for you.

Relying too much on AI can negatively impact your chances of success because automatically generated answers:

• might not be specific or relevant enough to address the criteria in the recruitment profile
• often seem generic and not personalised enough – an AI response won’t show your unique voice and perspective
• could misrepresent information about you, such as your qualifications, skills and experience

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reports and Other Corporate Publications

King's Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre Website

King's College Hospital is part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC), a pioneering collaboration between King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts.

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