Home First Call Handler

Role description

Job summary

This advert is for a permanent role for 37.5 hours per week - this will be over a variety of shift patterns that fall between the core hours of 07:00-22:00.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the new Countywide Home First Front Door Service, launching on 1 September, and play a key role in shaping and supporting this innovative service from the outset. As part of the Home First Team, you will work within a multidisciplinary service that brings together Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Therapy Assistants, Home First Assistants, Planners and Reablement Workers to support people across Gloucestershire to remain independent and receive care in their own homes whenever possible.

Working as the first point of contact for patients, carers, healthcare professionals and partner organisations, you will manage referrals and enquiries into the Home First service, ensuring they are handled safely, efficiently and directed to the most appropriate clinical team. This is a fast-paced and rewarding role requiring excellent communication, organisational and decision-making skills, with a strong focus on delivering high-quality, person-centred care and support within the community.

Main duties of the job

• Act as the first point of contact for Home First referrals and enquiries from patients, carers, healthcare professionals and partner organisations.
• Manage incoming calls and referrals, ensuring information is accurately recorded and processed in a timely manner.
• Support the safe and effective management of urgent referrals in collaboration with clinical leads.
• Use agreed pathways, protocols and decision-support tools to direct referrals to the most appropriate service or clinical team.
• Maintain accurate records and update patient information on clinical systems, including SystmOne.
• Communicate professionally and sensitively with patients, families, carers and healthcare professionals.
• Work closely with multidisciplinary teams, acute hospitals, GPs, social care services and community partners to coordinate care.
• Escalate complex queries, concerns or risks to the appropriate clinical or operational lead.
• Provide administrative support to the wider Home First team as required.
• Contribute to maintaining service capacity, patient flow and effective team communication.
• Uphold confidentiality and information governance standards in line with Trust policies.
• Participate in a rota to provide service coverage across operational hours (7am-10pm, 7 days a week).

About us

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Employer details

Employer name

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Edward Jenner Court

Pioneer Avenue

Gloucester

GL3 4AW

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.ghc.nhs.uk/who-we-are/jobs/

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