Job vacancy: SPOC Telephone Advisor, East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust (Cambridgeshire), Luton

Job summary

Main area

Community Health Services

Grade

Band 3

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time
Flexible working

37.5 hours per week (shift patterns 08:00 - 16:00, 09:00 - 17:00, 13:00 -21:00)

Job ref

448-LCA-7954487-A

Employer: East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust (Cambridgeshire)
Employer type: NHS
Site: The Poynt
Town: Luton
Salary: £25,760 - £27,476 per annum, pro-rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 14/10/2026 23:59
Interview date: 29/10/2026

SPOC Telephone Advisor

Band 3

East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust delivers expert healthcare in people’s homes, community hospitals and local settings across the East of England.

Our nurses, therapists, clinicians, support teams and partners work together to provide coordinated care that supports independence, recovery and wellbeing. We believe people are best cared for close to home, in the communities where they live and belong.

By combining professional expertise with strong local relationships, we help people stay well, feel supported and access the right care at the right time. Expert healthcare, close to home, trusted by our communities.

Different ideas, experiences and backgrounds make us stronger and more creative and applications from all walks of life are welcomed. Our processes ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process.

East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust is committed to creating a modern and inclusive work environment. We actively promote flexible working opportunities where possible to meet the needs and wishes of our workforce and maintain and improve their wellbeing. We also offer flexible working patterns and we would encourage you to discuss this with the recruiting manager before or during the application process if this would interest you.

We welcome applications from people who share our values and can help us deliver outstanding care in our local community.

Before applying for this vacancy, please make sure you’re familiar with ongoing GOV.uk sponsorship eligibility criteria which will impact the organisations ability to provide sponsorship, whether this is currently or in the future.

Please note, our selection processes are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right values and skills. Please be advised that the use of AI in applications is monitored. We remain watchful of candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills.

Please note all new starters will be subject to a 6 month probationary period.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Provide an initial point of contact by telephone or email for patients, carers and referrers to Luton Community services including community nursing, end of life care (EOLC) and urgent response services.

To answer all incoming telephone calls, complete an initial screening and direct them to appropriate clinician/practitioner across the organisation

Will be responsible for inputting and uploading new referrals onto System one, completing triage templates to ensure all relevant information is obtained and adding to the correct Caseload.

Liaise with Clinicians and communicate appropriate referrals to the adult clinical services including Community Nursing staff providing home visits and urgent response services

Work with other healthcare providers and agencies to support hospital admission avoidance plus timely and safe discharge of patients to the community setting.

To complete accurate patient records to ensure continuity of care and enter appropriate minimum data set on Customer Relationship Management System/electronic patient records, using effective questioning skills and respecting patient confidentiality, working within Trust protocols and legislative requirements.

To contribute to the continuous improvement and development of the service provision

Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team to establish priorities and proceed with objectives with minimal supervision.

The Single Point of Access is a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year service that is covered by an specific out of hours nursing team each evening/night between the hours of 9pm until 8am. SPOC telephone Advisers will be expected to work a shift pattern to cover the service between the hours of 8am and 9pm.

Person specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential criteria

Good level of education equivalent of NVQ Level 3 or above

Desirable criteria

Training in telephone call handling/ triage within health care setting

Experience

Essential criteria

Knowledge and experience of working within a health care setting
Telephone call handling within a health care setting
Regular requirement for concentration
Regular requirement to deal with distressing or emotionally charged communication

Desirable criteria

Experience of Referral Management & prioritization using agreed protocols within health care setting
Telephone triage within health care setting- e.g. NHS Direct, 111, GP Out of Hours, GP Practice, Ambulance Service

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

Excellent accurate keyboard skills
Excellent telephone skills and manner
Proficient in use of computerised patient electronic record systems.
Proficient in the use of IT systems e.g. Word, Excel to a high standard
The ability to organise and prioritise own workload within an agreed schedule of work and to work under pressure and within agreed timescales
Ability to work flexibly as part of a team
Display the ability to exercise initiative, tact and judgement and be able to make decisions within agreed parameters when required to do so
Ability to communicate effectively when under pressure
Good customer care skills
Positive attitude and approach to responding to all queries and contacts in a helpful manner
Ability to analyse information quickly and effectively, thereby ensuring correct pathway is chosen

Desirable criteria

Using SystmOne (S1) A/I

Equal Opportunities - We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome all applications irrespective of age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion. Additionally, people with disabilities that fall under the Disability Confident Scheme will be offered an interview providing they meet the minimum criteria for the post (outlined in the Person Specification). All sites are Smoke Free.

If you need this application in an offline format, please let us know.
Immigration Status – East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust is a diverse employer and welcomes all job applications. However, potential applicants should note that although the Trust is registered with the Home Office as a sponsor organisation for migrant workers, sponsorship can only be offered against eligible roles. If you are an applicant from outside the UK and do not already hold a self-gained right to work, we recommend you check the Home Office eligibility requirements before making an application.

Please note: Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for some job roles, and this will be identified through filtering questions at the start of any job application on the Trac recruitment system.

Our safe recruitment pre-employment checks are undertaken before an appointment is confirmed and may include a DBS check. Where the role requires you to drive, we'll ask you to validate your driving licence online via the DVLA.

Redeployment - Please note that in the first instance priority for this vacancy will be given to staff who are on the Trusts Redeployment Register.
Closing and Interview Dates -This vacancy may close early if sufficient applicants are received.

Data Protection - A privacy notice detailing how we will handle your data is attached to this advert as a document. Your application will be transferred to our recruitment management system (Trac) once the advert has closed and you will receive notification then detailing how Trac will handle your data.

ALL CORRESPONDENCE will be via the e-mail address on your application form. If you have not been invited to interview within 2 weeks of the closing date, you unfortunately haven’t been successful on this occasion, but keep an eye on our vacancies as a job that’s just right for you may appear!