Trainee Emergency Call Handler - Waterloo/Newham London, England
Job description
Do you want to make a difference?
Do you want to work for the biggest Ambulance service in the U.K?
Do you like working as part of a supportive and motivated team?
Would you like generous NHS Benefits, including 27 annual leave days (plus 8 days bank holiday) and NHS Pension?
Would you like to develop your career with the London Ambulance Service?
If you answered yes to these questions, then we would welcome an application from you..
This is a vital role for the London Ambulance Service, receiving and taking charge of all incoming emergency calls. You are the first point of contact for our callers and patients, some of whom will be distressed, anxious or panicking. Using effective communication, interpersonal and persuasive skills, you will deal with all callers in a professional manner in order to obtain the required essential patient information.
Using the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS), you will obtain an initial assessment of both the patient and the scene in an efficient manner. You will also be responsible for accurately recording essential patient information in a precise and timely manner.
This role is Band 3 rising to Band 4 on completion of 12 months service. After you have gained vital experience as a Call Handler, there is a clear Career path to being either a Emergency Resource Dispatcher (B5) or Emergency Call handling Supervisor (B5).
You must be able to remain calm in an emergency. When people are panicking, your role is to be clear and assertive where required to ensure the caller remains focused. You will need to be able to follow a script and reassure the caller, but also to be firm where necessary about what they need to do.
Our staff are on the end of the line while new life is born into the world and we helped to deliver them. We provide support and reassuring words for someone alone with no one else to turn to. We stay on the line with those who are vulnerable having engaging conversations to find out more information. We are the voice that comforts those who have lost a family member and we are there, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Following a shift you will need to be able to switch off, which can be hard, especially after dealing with difficult calls. As part of a team, your colleagues are there for you and will help, support and enable you to realise the difference that you have made.
We are one of the world’s busiest ambulance services. We have around 8,000 staff and volunteers in our Service: around 3,300 frontline crews in ambulance stations across London, 500 people in our two 999 control rooms and hundreds of support staff based in our offices across the city.
Working for us is an experience like no other, in a city like no other. Whatever your role you’ll be helping people who need us the most.
Together, we all play a key part in making sure that we can respond to anyone needing our help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
We are committed to promoting equal opportunities across everything we do, in terms of employment and training, providing services and our engagement and decision making. We welcome diversity and look for self-motivated, enthusiastic people from all backgrounds who care about making a difference.
What We Can Offer You
- Salary starting at £26,618 including HCAS (After training)
- Unsocial hours enhancements (In accordance to NHS Terms and Conditions Agenda for Change section 2)
- Generous NHS Pension Scheme
- 27 days annual leave plus additional bank holiday leave allocated
- MPDS qualification (Nationally recognised triage system used in 45 countries)
- NHS Discounts in over 200+ stores including Holidays, Days out, Car insurance, Restaurants and Clothing
To ensure all calls are answered and responded to as laid out in the Trust’s policies and procedures
To be confident in utilising the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) to accurately enter patient information in an efficient way
To ensure all details are inputted and passed to relevant personnel to ensure appropriate dispatch of resources
To deal with complex, sensitive or contentious information regarding a patient’s condition.
To communicate tactfully and empathetically with callers showing care when handling all calls
To monitor patient incidents to ensure all information is gathered and the patient’s condition has not deteriorated
To maintain effective control of the call to ensure efficient handling time to improve the response to the patient
To remain calm and resilient in a pressurised environment
To be able to modify and adapt communication styles taking into consideration the differing needs of the callers especially in complex situations
To be able to effectively communicate and deal with highly emotional callers, including traumatic incidents such as death
Be confident to utilise negotiating skills when handling calls where the caller is abusive or uncooperative
To cover a 24/7 rotating shift pattern
To continually maintain standards and develop through annual education and personal development
Please note that the training for this role will take place in Barking. The role is based at either our Waterloo or our Bow site (which is moving to Newham), and may require travel to other EOC sites subject to the requirements of the service.
If your application is shortlisted, you will be required to attend a Typing, Audio Recall and Comprehension assessment, and if successful will be invited for an interview.
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