# Switchboard Operator > NHS job listing from Job Clerk for West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. ## Canonical URLs - **HTML:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/switchboard-operator/4a6b6a8c-93c7-409e-acfe-c6743643d4fc - **Markdown:** https://www.jobclerk.com/job/switchboard-operator/4a6b6a8c-93c7-409e-acfe-c6743643d4fc.md ## Summary - **Status:** Live - **Employer:** West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust - **Location:** West Suffolk Hospital - **Workplace type:** onsite - **Profession:** Switchboard operator - **Grade:** Band 3 - **Salary:** £25,760 - £27,476 per annum pro rata - **Contract type:** Permanent - **Employment type:** Part time, Flexible working, 17 hours per week (various hours available) - **Closing date:** 2026-10-28T08:00:00.000Z - **Posted:** 2026-10-14T13:59:51.811Z - **Source information URL:** https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Suffolk/Bury_St_Edmunds/West_Suffolk_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Switchboard/Switchboard-v8310271 - **Application URL:** https://apps.trac.jobs/job-advert/8310271?ShowJobAdvert=&feedid=9002 - **Employer website:** https://www.wsh.nhs.uk ## Job Content ### Job overview The job role within the switchboard office is varied, our priority is answering the telephone calls, we receive on average 28,500 a month, the calls come into the switchboard via different lines and are answered in the following order, The Emergency Calls, The Emergency Communication Calls, The GP Calls, the External Calls, The Internal Calls and each operator has their own internal extension. The high priority call to answer is the Emergency line, we receive on average 500 Emergency Calls each month. On many occasions these emergency’s calls are not straight forward and we have to use our initiative to get a good outcome. The shift patterns that someone could expect for a role in switchboard are 06.00-14.00 14.00-22.00 22.00-06.00 ### Main duties of the job Some of the responsibilities you will have are: - Emergency calls that are made to the switchboard, these are usually via a 2222 call, these include Maternity Emergencies, Paediatric Emergencies, Cardiac Arrests, Stroke Alerts, Stroke Thrombolysis, Massive Blood Loss, Traumas and RPI’s. These groups are tested on a daily basis to ensure all emergency bleeps are working correctly, following an emergency call we are responsible for getting the on-call teams to the right place, procedures vary slightly in hours and out of hours. - External Emergency calls to the Fire Brigade and Police. - On- call Rotas for all departments within the trust, we check these rotas on a daily basis and transfer this information onto our Doctors Board and issue a daily on call list to various individuals across the trust. - The booking of contract taxis, these can be to take a patient home, to take patients medication or belongings home, arrange the transfer of pathology samples to other hospitals, to transfer staff who are working at other trusts or collecting staff who have gone on a transfer with a patient to another hospital, we also book the contract taxis for the psychic liaison team for patients who are being discharged from A & E. - Issuing of Loan Alertive devices - Assisting Site Manager for issuing Radios to the on- call teams in the event of switchboard or bleep system failure. ### Detailed job description and main responsibilities Please see the full job description and person specification attached for more details on the job role. ## Person Specification ### Experience **Essential** - Experience of working within a customer service role/environment. **Desirable** - Experience of working in a switchboard environment. - Experience of working in an acute hospital environment. ### Qualifications **Essential** - GCSE at A-C (or equivalent) qualifications - Basic skills in literacy and numeracy. **Desirable** - NVQ in Customer Services, or willing to work towards. ### Skills/Knowledge **Essential** - Good communication skills with the ability to develop effective working relationships throughout the organisation - Good organisational skills and the ability to address and develop solutions to problems - Ability to work on own initiative and as part of team. - Evidence of good written and verbal communication skills. - Able to follow written instructions and procedures - Good attention to detail. ### Personal Qualities **Essential** - Ability to work alone, unsupervised, whilst remaining able to prioritise conflicting demands. - Ability to cope with demanding and pressured situations. - Flexible approach to working hours and duties. - Dedication and commitment to the team. - Customer focused with a excellent telephone manner. - Approachable and tactful. ## Documents - [job description (pdf, 608.3kb)](https://www.healthjobsuk.com/documents?vdoc=10695001) ## Agent Notes - This Markdown page is generated from the same Job Clerk job record as the HTML job detail page. - Use the canonical HTML URL for user-facing references. - Use the application URL when the user wants to apply on the source NHS site.