Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Switchboard Operator

The closing date is 01 September 2025

Job summary

Switchboard Operator

The MFT Estates and Facilities Department is looking to recruit enthusiastic, highly motivated individuals to the role of Switchboard Operator to join our Telecoms Team.

The Switchboard Operator will provide 1st line support for Trust staff requesting assistance in emergency and non-emergency situations

Duties are varied and include answering incoming and internal calls, greeting callers, providing information, transferring calls and/or taking messages.

Participate in the delivery of excellent switchboard services to patients, staff and visitors to the Trust.

The successful candidate will have experience working in a health or social care setting and have excellent communication skills with the ability to prioritise and organise workload.

Main duties of the job

Delivery of switchboard services to patients, staff, and visitors to the Trust for all hospitals (ORC, WTWA & NMGH) and additional community properties as required. The post holder will provide first line support for Trust staff requesting assistance in emergency and non-emergency situations and will also be the primary point of contact for patients and visitors requiring Trust services.

The Trust Switchboard handles all emergency situations to ensure effective communications and as an operatory the decisions and actions taken could affect life or death situations for our patients - cardiac arrest calls, massive haemorrhage calls, major incident notifications, and requests for on-call staff to respond to care providing situations.

Switchboard Operators are essential in the public's perception of the Trust as the first contact and therefore providing the first impression - to achieve this they must be always calm, professional, and efficient, achieved by commitment to: undertaking training and remaining up to date; following standard operating procedures; and keeping clear and accurate records. Whilst working within a team, Switchboard Operators are required to work in isolation to deal with each call efficiently to ensure each caller achieves the outcome of the call that they require, e.g., information provided, or call transferred to the correct person/department.

About us

MFT is one of the largest NHS Trust In England with a turnover of over £3bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We're creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.

Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 30,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you'll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.

We've also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.

We're proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What's more, we're excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.

At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.

Details

Date posted

18 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£24,937 to £26,598 a year per annum (pro rata)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

349-EST-7426000C-RL4

Job locations

Trafford General

Moorside Road

Manchester

M415SL


Job description

Job responsibilities

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience youll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading. So that youre even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, youll need to take time to read the Candidate Essentials Guide that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how we care for you as you care for others. Most importantly, it also contains critical information youll need to be aware of before you submit an application form. Diversity MattersMFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating, and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at resourcing@mft.nhs.uk.Were looking forward to hearing from you!

Job description

Job responsibilities

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience youll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading. So that youre even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, youll need to take time to read the Candidate Essentials Guide that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how we care for you as you care for others. Most importantly, it also contains critical information youll need to be aware of before you submit an application form. Diversity MattersMFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating, and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at resourcing@mft.nhs.uk.Were looking forward to hearing from you!

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to GCSE level or equivalent

Desirable

  • Educated to NVQ level in an associated field

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential

  • Knowledge of switchboard services.
  • Excellent communication skills.
  • Experience at working to deadlines and specific task frameworks
  • Good standard of numeric and literacy skills
  • Ability to prioritise and organise own workload.
  • Be professional pleasant, friendly, courteous, and helpful at all times
  • A flexible and helpful approach to clients and work duties
  • To be able to work alone
  • To be able to work in a team and use your own initiative
  • Deal with difficult and angry upset callers
  • Prioritise calls and alarms
  • Relay important information
  • Work under pressure when dealing with emergencies

Physical & Mental Requirements

Essential

  • Required to undertake occasional repetitive work
  • Occasionally required to receive and respond to complaints which may involve irate clients
  • May be required to provide cover for holidays and sickness leave
  • Required to work on VDU for long periods of time
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to GCSE level or equivalent

Desirable

  • Educated to NVQ level in an associated field

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential

  • Knowledge of switchboard services.
  • Excellent communication skills.
  • Experience at working to deadlines and specific task frameworks
  • Good standard of numeric and literacy skills
  • Ability to prioritise and organise own workload.
  • Be professional pleasant, friendly, courteous, and helpful at all times
  • A flexible and helpful approach to clients and work duties
  • To be able to work alone
  • To be able to work in a team and use your own initiative
  • Deal with difficult and angry upset callers
  • Prioritise calls and alarms
  • Relay important information
  • Work under pressure when dealing with emergencies

Physical & Mental Requirements

Essential

  • Required to undertake occasional repetitive work
  • Occasionally required to receive and respond to complaints which may involve irate clients
  • May be required to provide cover for holidays and sickness leave
  • Required to work on VDU for long periods of time

Employer details

Employer name

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Trafford General

Moorside Road

Manchester

M415SL


Employer's website

https://mft.nhs.uk/careers/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Trafford General

Moorside Road

Manchester

M415SL


Employer's website

https://mft.nhs.uk/careers/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Deputy Switchboard Manager

Claudia Joddrell

claudia.joddrell@mft.nhs.uk

01617462981

Details

Date posted

18 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£24,937 to £26,598 a year per annum (pro rata)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

349-EST-7426000C-RL4

Job locations

Trafford General

Moorside Road

Manchester

M415SL


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)