Job vacancy: Switchboard Operator, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, Nuneaton

Job summary

Main area: Switchboard Operator
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 3
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Part time - 15 hours per week (week 1 Sat & Sun 14:30 - 22:30, Week 2 Wed & Thu 14:30 - 22:30, Week 3 Mon & Wed 08:00 - 16:00)
Job ref: 230-36776013-CORP-EHS-B

Employer: George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust
Town: Nuneaton
Salary: £25,760 - £27,476 per annum pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 29/06/2026 23:59

Switchboard Operator

NHS AfC: Band 3

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust opened in 1948 and provides a range of elective, non-elective, surgical, medical, women’s, children’s, diagnostic and therapeutic services to a population of more than 350,000 people.

The hub of the Trust is located on the outskirts of Nuneaton and its services cover a large footprint, including north Warwickshire, south west Leicestershire, and north Coventry. We also provide primary and community services across Coventry, Warwickshire and Leicestershire.

Our vision is "to EXCEL at patient care". If you think you've got what it takes, help us realise this and join #TeamEliot.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour aren’t as likely to apply unless they meet every qualification of non specialist roles.

We’re dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role and meet our values, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with everything in the Job Description or Person Specification– apply anyway or email the Recruiting Manager to discuss the role further

We are proud to support the Armed Forces community. We are a Veteran Aware and Reservist Friendly organisation and welcome applications from Veterans, Reservists, Cadet Instructors, and family members of serving personnel.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To maintain a helpful and confident manner when dealing with patients, visitors, and staff at the main hospital reception desk or via the Switchboard, to assist the public with directions and enquiries and to promote the caring and professional image of the trust.
To support patients and relatives who may be experiencing distress, feeling unwell, worried, emotional, or upset. To ensure that all patients, visitors, and relatives receive assistance with general advice in response to queries, information, and taxis.
Liaising with porters and security.
To deal with Parking queries at the main reception desk and help visitors, patients, and staff. To issue Blue Badge Disabled forms and frequent outpatient appointment forms and pass on to the team leader, dealing with cash and issuing refunds when needed, also taking card payments when needed.
To deal with ad hoc incidents and report jobs via the Estates team.
To provide excellent customer service to visitors, patient and staff and act as the first point of contact when visiting the Hospital.
To maintain a helpful and confident manner when dealing with patients, visitors and staff in order to promote the caring and professional image of the Trust.
To assist the general public with directions and enquiries at the reception window, which may include but not exclusive to PPE, patient transfers via porters, etc.
To be responsible for the operation of a computerized busy 24-hour telephone switchboard in all it’s aspects (i.e., handling incoming and outgoing calls and the withdrawal of information as and when required).
To operate the hospital pager system including daily testing, dealing with faults / transferring pagers, issuing batteries as required, dealing with doctors rotation and providing on-call lists and pager lists to relevant departments and wards.
To use the Lorenzo system for locating patients in the hospital and A&E department.
To maintain all appropriate records including on call Rota’s, Safe care, Pager lists, Blue Badge Forms, Frequent Outpatient Forms. To pass on any changes or information to the team leader for updating the Switchboard phone book.
Undertake clerical tasks within the department including emails, filing, typing, scanning, printing, photocopying and data input.
To ensure that all important messages / information is communicated to the person(s) or area concerned as soon as received, to make sure the relevant documents get changed.

For a full comprehensive list of main responsibilities and duties, please kindly refer to job description and personal specification attached.

Person specification

Experience and Knowledge

Essential criteria

Ability to liaise and communicate clearly with staff, visitors and contractors.
Good organisational skills
Experience in a switchboard environment
Worked within a customer focused environment
Ability to deal calmly with emergency or difficult situations using tact and diplomacy. Eg answering emergency telephone and respond accordingly directing staff via bleep to cardiac arrests, fire calls etc
Confidence in using two way radio to speak with security and porters if required

Qualification(s) and Professional Training

Essential criteria

Basic Numeracy & Literacy Skills to Level 1 or equivalent
NVQ Level 3 or 5 years equivalent experience as a switchboard operator

Desirable criteria

Keyboard Skills RSA Level 1

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

Ability to work within a busy and demanding department
Ability and experience to work for a large proportion of time autonomously, in accordance with operational plans and national guidelines.
Ability to organise and to prioritise effectively

Please note:

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust utilises a third party recruitment system (TRAC). When applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into TRAC where all subsequent information regarding your application will be generated. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages via the NHS Jobs website. Furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any emails/messages sent to us via the NHS Jobs website.

By applying for this post you are consenting to George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system, TRAC.

The Job application data you provide will be used to assess your application for employment at GEH, to verify your information and conduct reference checks, and to communicate with you. If you accept employment with GEH, the information collected will become part of your employment record and will be used for employment purposes.

All information provided will be used for recruitment purposes only and processed in a lawful, fair and transparent manner.

Other:

The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of individuals and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of our safe recruitment practice, if appropriate for the role, it is a mandatory requirement for all newly appointed staff to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service application.

In response to NICE guidance and to support the reduction of health harm from tobacco, the Trust has a smoke-free site policy which applies to anyone on Trust sites. Staff who smoke will be supported to quit or not smoke whilst on Trust sites.

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust is committed to creating and sustaining a positive and inclusive working environment for all our employees as they are at the heart of our patients journey. Our aim is to ensure that employees are equally valued, respected, empowered and included within an organisation that is representative of all members of the community. We define diversity as valuing everyone as an individual – taking pride in that we value employees, job applicants, students, volunteers, patients and visitors as people. This is reflected within our excel behaviours with a vision to create a workplace that represents a culture of kindness, joy and inclusion.

Mindful employer. Being positive about mental health.

Applicant requirements

This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.

Application numbers

If you wish to use this feature the locally agreed Trust capped amount of applications should be set to 50. Please select if you would prefer to:

Enforce cap and close advert automatically - selecting this option sets the vacancy advert to close automatically once the cap set in the Maximum number of applications setting is reached.

Send warning email once cap is reached - selecting this option does not close the vacancy advert automatically. Instead, an email is sent to the Appointing Manager and HR Recruitment Contact to inform them once the cap is reached.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name: Simone King
Job title: Switchboard Team Leader
Email address: [email protected]
Telephone number: 02476 351351
Additional information: Work days Mon - Fri 0800 - 1600

List jobs with George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in Support Services or all sectors

Apply online now Alert me to similar vacancies

Find jobs in...

Featured jobs:

Senior Custody Healthcare Practitioner

Salary: The starting salary is £66,876.20, which includes allowances totalling £17,206.20.

The salary is broken down as £49,670. basic salary. Plus, a shift allowance of 20% and a location allowance of £2,009 and a non-pensionable allowance of £1,000. Plus a market supplement allowance of £5,000.

Location: Met Wide

As a Senior Custody Healthcare Practitioner, you’ll bring your clinical expertise to a role that sits at the heart of safe, effective custody healthcare. Working across a cluster of police custody suites, you’ll help create an environment where detainees receive the right care, and colleagues feel supported to deliver it. It’s a senior, hands-on role where your judgement, confidence and leadership will make a real difference every day.

School Nurse

We are pleased to be further strengthening our School Health Centre by introducing a new nursing structure, creating new opportunities to support both staff and pupils more effectively. As part of this development, we are now recruiting for additional School Nurses. These additional roles will provide vital day-to-day clinical support within the Health Centre, enabling our nursing team to focus on delivering high-quality care, early intervention, and strategic health promotion. Together, these changes will improve capacity, enhance continuity of care, and ensure our service remains responsive, proactive and centred on the needs of our school community.

Please click for more information.

Senior Occupational Health Advisor

Make a difference where it matters most.

Are you an experienced occupational health professional who wants to make a real difference to people’s lives at work? At West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, we know that protecting our communities starts with looking after our own. An opportunity has arisen for a compassionate, experienced and forward-thinking Senior Occupational Health Advisor to join us and lead our Occupational Health Unit.

This is a role where you can genuinely shape how we support our people, helping colleagues stay well, return to work safely and feel supported when it matters most. You will play an important part in strengthening both individual wellbeing and the resilience of the service as a whole.

What you’ll do.
Working as part of our Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing (OHSW) function, you will lead the day-to-day delivery of our Occupational Health service, combining clinical expertise with supportive, people-focused leadership.

Please click for more information.

Healthcare Support Worker

The role

As a Healthcare Support Worker within the Woodfield Health Centre, you will be a valued member of a close-knit clinical team, providing hands-on care and support to 800 pupils aged 11 to 18. Working under the guidance of our registered nurses, you will contribute to the day-to-day wellbeing of young people across the school, from the Health Centre to the boarding houses and everywhere in between.

The role has genuine variety. You might be supporting a pupil recovering from illness, assisting with medicines management, contributing to infection control procedures, or helping boarding house staff navigate a health concern with confidence. No two days are the same, and the relationships you build with pupils and colleagues will be at the heart of everything you do.

This is a newly created position, part of a wider investment in the Health Centre team. You will be well supported, working alongside experienced nurses in a team that is committed to both the care of its patients and the development of everyone within it.

Please click for more information.

Job summary

Employer heading

Switchboard Operator

NHS AfC: Band 3

Job overview

Main duties of the job

Working for our organisation

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Person specification

Experience and Knowledge

Essential criteria

Qualification(s) and Professional Training

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

Application numbers

Documents to download

Further details / informal visits contact

Find jobs in...