Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 354-AB-20991
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Swandean
- Town
- Worthing
- Salary
- £27,485 - £30,162 pa / pro rata for part time
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 02/11/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 11/11/2025
Employer heading
Sussex Mental Healthline Call Operator
NHS AfC: Band 4
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may choose to use it to help prepare your application. We welcome innovation but ask that anything you submit reflects your own abilities, experience and voice. AI can support how you describe your skills and experience, but it should never replace your own words as we want to get to know you.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
We are the NHS 111 Mental Health Option service. The service is a 24/7 mental health crisis line for anyone who may be in crisis and in urgent need of help with their mental health.
We are an ageless service operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We are currently recruiting for a Mental Healthline Operator to join our busy team. You will be joining a friendly, supportive and dedicated team of Clinicians and Call Operators responding to Sussex-wide callers who require support for their own or others Mental Health difficulties.
The team are fully office-based on site at Swandean Hospital, Worthing.
Main duties of the job
As a Call Operator you will be trained in a specific triage tool, to be utilised alongside your existing skills, to support callers and where necessary escalate to a clinician or signpost to services across Sussex.
We place a large focus on staff training, including a bespoke induction and plenty of on-going in-house training. You will benefit from a full and robust supervision package, with ample opportunities for group reflection, development and mentoring.
There is no appointment system so the work is fast-paced and varied.
Working for our organisation
SPFT provides mental health and learning disability care for children, young people and adults across Sussex.
Working in Sussex:
- Travel easily between coast and countryside, with a blend of picturesque villages and seaside towns
- Embrace the city life with great access to visit Brighton and London
- With easy access to Gatwick and Heathrow and excellent railway links across the UK there is plenty of opportunity for adventure
We’d love you to join our organisation that is rated ‘good’ overall and ‘outstanding’ for caring by the CQC. Our staff agree, in our recent staff survey 82% told us that they recognise that care for patients is our top priority.
Key staff survey results include:
- 70% highlighting flexible working opportunities as a key point for satisfaction at work
- 79% reporting feeling able to make suggestions to improve the work within their team
- 77% identifying the opportunities to show initiative in their roles
We support flexible working. We know that a positive work/ life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about part time hours, if it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To be successful in this role you will share our passion, desire and empathetic approach to supporting people of all ages with complex mental health needs, who are often experiencing crisis.
Requirements:
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Competent IT skills
- Experience of working with people with Mental Health needs
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced and varied and demanding role
- Ability to work across the 24 hour period; to include evenings, weekends and nights.
- Shifts are E-7am-3pm, L1pm-9pm, L4 4pm-midnight Night 20.45-07.15 (Successful candidates will be required to work a full rotation of all shifts).
- Able to work autonomously
- Ability to travel and work from an office base in Sussex
Flexibility with working patterns to include some weekend and evening work is essential. This does bring with it increased rates of pay for unsocial hours as set out under the Agenda for Change (AfC) guidelines.
See attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details.
Person specification
Knowledge/Experience
Essential criteria
- Demonstrate current experience of working with people with mental health problems
- Experience of in working in urgent care/crisis settings
- Understanding of risk assessment / formulation and application
- Knowledge and experience in Child and Adult safe guarding procedures.
- Evidence of skills in change management and at organising and prioritising their workload
- Demonstrate ability to enhance care through evidence based knowledge
- Demonstrate professional development relevant to the specific care group.
- Computer literate. Sound working knowledge of various IT systems including Carenotes and Microsoft Office
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Lynda Mullins
- Job title
- Service Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07338 277 959
- Additional information
Please feel free to contact me to discuss the role in more detail.
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