Job overview

The Switchboard Operator plays a key role in supporting the Trust’s communication infrastructure, ensuring that all internal and external calls are handled promptly, accurately, and professionally.

This role is integral to maintaining safe and effective communication across all services — including responding to time-critical emergency calls such as crash calls, major incidents, and EPR-related alerts.

The post holder will operate a range of communication and alarm systems, providing an efficient, courteous, and resilient service to staff, patients, and external callers. They will also play a vital role in supporting Seamless communication across clinical and non-clinical areas of the organisation.

 This is a dynamic role within a high-pressure environment, requiring excellent attention to detail, calmness under pressure, and a strong commitment to patient and staff safety.

Main duties of the job

- Operate the Trust’s main switchboard, ensuring all internal and external calls are handled efficiently, courteously, and accurately.

- Respond promptly to all emergency and crash calls, activating the appropriate emergency response procedures in line with Trust policy.

- Act as the first point of contact during major incidents or EPR-related events, coordinating and escalating communication across departments as required.

- Monitor, interpret and act on alarm systems, lone-worker check-ins, and emergency alerts, escalating any concerns immediately.

- Maintain confidentiality and ensure sensitive information is managed appropriately in accordance with Trust policy and Data Protection requirements.

- Support communication links between clinical teams, Estates, Facilities, and Security to enable effective operational flow and patient safety.

- Accurately maintain call records, incident logs, and directory updates to ensure all information is current and accessible.

- Provide calm, professional support to distressed callers, patients, and staff — demonstrating empathy and clarity even under pressure.

- Contribute to continuous improvement in switchboard processes, identifying opportunities to enhance service delivery and resilience.

- Participate in training and development to maintain knowledge of new systems, EPR integration, and communication technologies.

Working for our organisation

At the RUH we put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone’s contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.

We are proud to be in the top 20 best hospitals to work for in the country. 

We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks – celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.

A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.

We value staff wellbeing, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellbeing. We’ve even got a pool!

We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we’re providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.