Telephonists and Switchboard Operators are a key part of many healthcare settings and make sure that service users and their families can be connected to professionals or departments to speak about their care.
Telephonists and Switchboard Operators work with equipment to process and direct calls and are usually the first point of contact for service users accessing a healthcare setting by telephone.
Working life
Working as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator in an NHS or Social Care setting means that you will support patients and other members of the healthcare team by directing phone calls to them. Telephonists and Switchboard Operators work in areas such as:
- Acute hospitals
- GP surgeries
- Health centres
- For NHS England
- At the head office of an NHS Trust
In larger settings, Telephonists and Switchboard Operators will usually spend the majority of their time dealing with phone calls but in smaller settings, Telephonists and Switchboard Operators may be allocated other administrative tasks too.
Your role may mean that you are patient facing and have interactions with service users but there are also Telephonist and Switchboard Operator roles based away from patients and service users where you may deal just with internal staff.
Requirements
Becoming a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator has no set entry requirements but NHS and Social Care employers will expect good literacy, numeracy and IT skills as these are an important part of working as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator. Depending on the role, some employers may ask for GCSEs or equivalent qualifications. When applying for a role as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator, there may be other skills or qualifications required but this will depend on the role and the team in which the role sits.
Employers may require you to have some relevant work experience or knowledge of having worked in a similar role previously. If you are considering a role as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator, it is a good idea if you can demonstrate where you have previously worked or volunteered in an administration or customer service role.
Working as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator will provide further opportunities to develop your career through apprenticeships and internal training and there are sometimes other ways to access employment as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator such as traineeships or internships depending on the setting you work for.
Personal characteristics
To work successfully as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator, you need to consider your own personal characteristics. You would need to have the following attributes or similar:
- Be friendly and approachable
- Have patience and empathy
- Be accurate and methodical and have good attention to detail
- Be able to work as part of a team but also be able to use your own initiative
- Be willing to follow procedures and take instruction from senior team members
- Be able to work with all people from various backgrounds with different experiences
- Be confident taking phone calls and speaking to people you don’t know
- Have experience of using IT systems or communication equipment
Skills required
To work successfully as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator, you need to consider the skills that you have. You would need to demonstrate the following:
- Be well organised and able to plan your time
- Be able to communicate with a variety of people using different methods
- Be able to successfully demonstrate a good level of IT knowledge
- Have positive customer service skills
Training and development opportunities
When you begin to work as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator, you will receive training you require to be able to undertake the role successfully. You will receive an induction which will introduce you to the department you will be working in, will support you to access the IT systems and will ensure you are away of the policies and procedures you will be required to following in the undertaking of your role. You will also have to complete any statutory and mandatory training that your employer requires such as fire training, data security training and customer service.
Depending on the healthcare setting you work for, you may be able to take additional vocational qualifications to support you to develop your knowledge and skills. These could include:
- Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists (AMSPAR)
- British Society of Medical Secretaries and Administrators (BSMSA)
Once achieved, you could become a full member of either AMSPAR or BSMSA who offer further development opportunities, email updates and networking opportunities so that you are able to continue to learn from others who work in the same role as you.
Career development opportunities
Once you have experience of working as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator, there are many other roles you could progress into. You could lead a team, become a supervisor or develop your career into management. You could also transfer into other specialist healthcare roles such as becoming a medical secretary, working in human resources or as part of the finance team. There are also other opportunities to diversify into clinical coding or informatics, joining the digital team or working within an education or training team.
Pay and benefits
Telephonist or Switchboard Operator’s usually work around 37.5 hours per week. Depending on the role and the setting you work in, you may be required to work shifts, nights, evenings or weekends.
Telephonist or Switchboard Operator’s in the NHS are paid using the Agenda for Change (AfC) system and will typically start their career on AfC band 2 but with experience, further training and additional qualifications, can progress further up the pay scale.
Telephonist or Switchboard Operator’s working for Social Care settings will be paid according to the employer they work for and the renumeration for the role should always be shown on their job advert.
Other benefits of working as a Telephonist or Switchboard Operator include access to a pension scheme, health service discounts such as a Blue Light Card and 27 days of annual leave in addition to bank holidays.