Communications Officer

**Contact information**

**About the role**

An exciting opportunity has arisen within Single Point of Contact (SPOC) part of Adult Community Services, to join the team as a Communications Officer.

There has never been a more exciting time to be part of designing and delivering community-based services in the NHS.

The role will be to provide high level customer service as a first point of contact to answer telephone calls for the service over a 7 day a week service.

Shifts will be during the weekdays, evenings, weekends, and bank holiday periods so a flexible approach to work shifts is essential.

**Main duties**

To provide a vital link via telephone and electronic task 365 days of the year between all Adult Community Nursing service providers, members of the public and other services users, and to carry out administration duties in a manner that supports departmental targets and ensures compliance with standard operating procedures.

**Key requirements**
- Receive all incoming calls for Adult Community Nursing Services. This includes taking and making referrals, receiving, and passing messages on to professionals and non-professionals, responding to enquiries for the public and other agencies via telephone, electronic task or other communication system.
- Liaise with service users to ensure messages are passed to the appropriate teams for action.
- Manage difficult conversations utilising good listening skills whilst remaining diplomatic and acting as a positive ambassador ensuring the needs of the service user are met.
- Follow agreed protocols when dealing with potential and actual complaints in accordance with the policies of Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust.
- Maintain and develop good working relationships with all community teams, Allied Health Professionals, patients, and their relatives.
- To record and receive information via SystmOne and to assist in the organisation and maintenance of effective manual and electronic Patient Records/ Details.
- To book agency staff on behalf of District Nurse’s e.g. Marie Curie Nurses following agreed protocols.
- Use initiative to prioritise and manage own workload to ensure agreed standards and service performance targets are met.
- Contribute to the effective working of the team by working flexibly covering for sickness/annual leave to ensure the smooth running of the service.
- To contribute to 7-day cover of the service by participating in weekend working and bank holiday cover on a rota basis.
- Contribute to the training and development of new team members, supporting staff with learning computer systems, service policies and procedures.
- To develop own skills in conjunction with the demands of a developing role and identify learning objectives.
- Ensure that patient information is managed within the service in line with Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust policies of confidentiality. Ensuring the principles of Caldecott and the guidelines of the Data Protection Act are followed, always.
- Undertake any other routine duties (for example filing, photocopying, producing documents, reports etc) as required in the role.

**Be part of MY team**

We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients’ homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.

We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.

If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.

**_ Application guidance:_**

**Our benefits**
- Access to the NHS pension plan
- Generous holiday allowance of 27 days plus bank holidays, increasing with 5 and 10 years of service
- Exceptional employee health and wellbeing services
- Extensive benefits and support, including:

- Onsite nurseries and childcare salary sacrifice scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Home electronics scheme
- Car lease salary sacrifice scheme
- Working carers support and advice, carers network and carers passport
- Flexible working options and family and carer-friendly policies
- Established staff networks, including LGBTQ+ and Race Equality
- Career progression, training and support

**Skilled worker sponsorship**

You can find out more about skilled worker and health and care visas on our **careers site**.