Job summary
Employer heading
Sussex Mental Healthline Call Operator
NHS AfC: Band 4
Welcome from our Chief Executive
Our organisation is expanding and we're looking for people with the right values, skills and/or potential to join us. We need people with energy, expertise, enthusiasm to help us provide the very best possible specialist NHS mental health and learning disability care. This involves helping us achieve our strategy to improve the quality of life for the communities we serve through People, Prevention and Partnerships.
So what can we offer you in return?
We're an organisation which puts people first. We'll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. We'll help you learn, acquire new skills and gain further experience to support your career development. And we'll provide the opportunity for you to bring your fresh ideas to work about how we can do things differently and continue improving.
You will also be joining a health and care system committed to working together to do the best we can for the communities we serve. Above all, at Sussex Partnership you'll have the chance to make a difference to the lives of the patients, carers and families across our communities.
As a Trust we are committed in making a difference. Your development is important to us, so don't forget to ask us during interview what opportunities we can offer. We can offer fully funded lifelong learning opportunities such as an apprenticeship from GCSE to Masters level.
If you like the sound of that, then come and join our team.
Job overview
We are the Crisis Line/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.
All work is telephone based at our offices in 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 and for children and young people in Hampshire.
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
- Knowledge of MHA (1983/2007) and DOLs
- Knowledge of Mental Capacity Act (2005)
- Child and Adult safe guarding procedures
- Change management at organising and prioritising their workload
- Demonstrate ability to enhance care through evidence based knowledge
- Demonstrate professional development relevant to the specific care group
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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