Health Advisor - 111/999 Call Taker

We are expanding, come and grow with us! Do you have excellent communication, listening, and computer skills? Do you enjoy solving problems and genuinely want to make a difference in the lives of others? If so, join our army of life-savers as a Health Advisor taking 999 and 111 calls. Being a Health Advisor is challenging but rewarding as you can directly help those most in need. You will work as part of a close-knit team of people who have a passion for helping those in crisis, where no two days are the same. You don’t need any medical knowledge, and full training in managing calls and use of our systems will be provided.

This role could be the first step of a great career in healthcare and can give you the knowledge to go even further. In this role you will:

• Be a strong communicator, asking questions in a way that can help assess a caller's needs in a pressurised environment, where time is of the essence.
• Manage calls supported by a computerised medical assessment tool, to help give patients the most appropriate care response—from an ambulance in life-threatening emergencies, through to a GP appointment, dentist appointment, or referring the patient to a range of community-based services, such as a walk-in center.

As a 24/7/365 service, you will be expected to work Bank Holidays including Christmas. Any Bank Holidays worked will be added to your holiday allowance.

As a Health Advisor for the ambulance service, you will be the first point of contact with patients, healthcare professionals, and other callers. Working within Operations Centres located at HQ - Newcastle and Hebburn, you will use NHS pathways to record patients' demographics and clinical information to assess their condition to ensure they are directed to the most appropriate healthcare professional or service.

You will provide basic advice and health information to patients calling 111, supporting callers to access the appropriate level of care.

Your training is pass or fail, and while you will be trained initially to handle 111 calls, over the next 12 months it is expected that you will be given additional skills, via a career progression programme, to enable you to handle 999 Emergency calls. All of our Health Advisors are expected to take both types of calls.

On occasion, you may be required to work from one of our alternative sites to enable the Trust to fulfil its obligations.

In line with the code of practice on English language requirements for public sector workers, applicants must have the ability to converse under pressurised circumstances with members of the public and document and provide instruction in accurate spoken and written English.

We employ 3,500 staff in 63 locations and serve a population of 2,600,000 in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, County Durham, and Tees over 3,230 square miles.

Many people think the job of the ambulance service is to collect patients and take them to the hospital, but we do much more!

Paramedic skills have developed hugely in recent years, meaning we carry out more treatment at the scene and en route to the hospital.

We have a dedicated clinical assessment service that allows us to provide patients with the most appropriate care from the beginning of the patient journey.

We have a specialised branch of the Trust called HART that deals with explosions or terrorist attacks.

Ultimately, patients are the heart of everything that we do to support our mission of "safe, effective, and responsive care for all."

We value and respect the diversity employees bring to our workplace. We recruit a workforce that reflects the community we serve and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. To ensure we deliver on our aims in relation to diversity and inclusion, we assess ourselves against a range of frameworks. We are an ENEI Gold employer, Disability Confident Leader, Dyslexia Smart Award employer, Dementia Friendly, and part of the Mind Blue Light programme and the Race at Work Charter from the Princes Responsible Business Network and are achieving across all objectives in NHS Equality Delivery System.

Band 3 Plus potential salary including unsocial hours payments; from £29,500-£31,500 pa depending on rota/pro rata.