Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 354-AB-21081-B
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Swandean
- Town
- Worthing
- Salary
- £28,392 - £31,157 pa / pro rata for part time
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 21/06/2026 23:59
Employer heading
NHS 111 Mental health Option 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 tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn’t based on your real experience.
Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we’ll explore your examples further at interview, so it’s important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page.
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/Select the 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.
The shifts are Early 7-3pm, Late 1-9pm Night 20.45-07.15, the success applicant will be required to work a mixture of all shifts.
We are currently recruiting for a NHS 111/Select the Mental Health Option Call Operator 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.
All work is telephone based at our offices in Worthing.
Main duties of the job
As an NHS 111/Select the Mental Health Option 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 and for children and young people
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 encourage 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 flexible working, for example, 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 flexible hours; to include evenings, weekends and nights
- 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
- Working knowledge of mental health policies and procedures
- Demonstrate experience and understanding of risk management in Mental Health
- Child and Adult safe guarding procedures
- Change management skills and ability to organise and prioritise their workload
- Demonstrate ability to enhance care through evidence based knowledge
- Demonstrate professional development relevant to the specific care group
Desirable criteria
- Additional training in Mental Health
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.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Lynda Mullins
- Job title
- Service Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07388 277 959
- Additional information
Please feel free to contact me to discuss the role in more detail.
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