We are the First Point of Contact Centre
We are recruiting now!
If you are looking for a role that allows you to make a real difference, this is the perfect opportunity for you.
As one of our Call Handlers, Mental Health Practitioners or Senior Mental Health Practitioners, you’ll support people when they need it most, helping them to get the urgent care and advice they need to support their mental health.
Whether you are a registered clinician looking to continue your career within the NHS or joining the team as a call handler might be your first step into a career with us, then FPCC can provide a rewarding career.
What we do
Our team manages incoming calls, providing both immediate support as well as onward referral to any other appropriate services across the Trust.
If a healthcare professional makes a mental health referral to the Trust – whether it’s routine or a crisis – the call comes through our First Point of Contact Centre.
The team is based in a building mostly occupied by Gloucestershire Constabulary, in Quedgeley, and liaises with them closely due to the nature of a lot of the calls.
The partnership between NHS and police will remain essential as the team expands to provide a 24-hour 7-day a week support, as part of a national drive to add mental health support to the NHS 111 service.
And they share the same joy in not knowing what each day is going to bring, while knowing there’s an experienced and close-knit team around them.
About us
Julie Brooks-Olpin, FPCC Team Manager says “It’s exciting here, day to day. You never know what you’re going to get, so it builds your skills in mental health. We’ve got a friendly group of experienced and helpful people who support each other every day.”
The team is made up of call handlers, and band 5 and 6 Mental Health Practitioners who prioritise and share work based on the nature of the call.
“I think of our call handlers as support workers, as they handle about 60 per cent of the calls which come through, and a lot are resolved here and don’t go on anywhere else,” explains Julie.
“Our Mental Health Practitioners and Senior Mental Health Practitioners support the Call Handlers as well as taking the calls that need their expertise. The roles are unique in that our MHPs and SHMPs don’t have a caseload in the same way that other teams and roles do.”
Lou Squire, a Senior Mental Health Practitioner, said: “In some teams you work with a certain demographic, but here you can be talking with anybody and everybody!
“You might have a call from a 13-year-old in the morning, a 90-year-old at lunchtime and be helping a pregnant woman in the afternoon, so it keeps your skills sharp! When you’re here you deal with whatever you’re handed.”
The First Point of Contact centre manages the Mental Health Crisis number and NHS Mental Health 111.
If you’re interested in joining the team we’d love to hear from you. Please contact Julie.Brooks-Olpin (Julie.Brooks-Olpin@ghc.nhs.uk) for more information or visit www.ghc.nhs.uk/currentvacancies to apply for a role.
Apply now
You can apply for a role by completing the short application form below.
Complete an application form
More about the roles
Call Handler - Band 3
Main duties of the job
The FPCC receives telephone calls, letters and e-mails from GP’s, HCP’s, service users, their representatives and referrers seeking mental health advice, mental health support and to access the local secondary mental health and learning disability services. Alongside this, we also manage mental health crisis calls and referrals in to the Trust. With just a single telephone number the FPCC delivers a much simplified way for service users and referrers to access the Trust.
We are looking for individuals with call handling experience, mental health care experience, customer care skills and a desire to make a difference.
Full time, £22,816 to £24,336 a year per annum
Mental Health Practitioner - Band 5
Main duties of the job
We are a busy team, managing the referrals that come in to the Trust from a number of primary care, and secondary care services, serving the county of Gloucestershire.
We provide a central resource for referrers and Trust staff to ensure the effective receipt and subsequent processing of referrals into Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust’s services. We further provide effective signposting to services external to the Trust.
We accept routine, urgent and crisis referrals, each having a specific pathway to follow. We provide an effective first point of contact, a link with primary and secondary services, partner agencies and organisations outside of the trust.
You will have – Registered Practitioner status (nursing, allied health etc). The qualification, training and experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description and Person Specification.
Full time, £28,407 to £34,581 a year
Senior Mental Health Practitioner - Band 6
Main duties of the job
The FPCC hours of business are currently 07:00hrs – 22:00hrs, 7 days a week. However, as a developing service we will be required to provide 24/7 hrs of business, which will encompass night shifts – this is to encompass the NHS MH 111 service.
We are looking for experienced, highly motivated, and enthusiastic individuals, who can help shape and develop this service to meet its full potential.
We can offer you an opportunity to develop your skills and experience, and to contribute to the development of a high quality mental health service.
We are a busy team, managing the mental health referrals that come in to the Trust from a number of primary care, and secondary care services, and self referrals – serving the county of Gloucestershire. We can answer upwards of 1500 calls a month.
We provide a central resource for referrers and Trust staff to ensure the effective receipt and subsequent processing of referrals into the Trust’s services. We further provide effective signposting to services external to the Trust.
We accept routine, urgent and crisis referrals, each having a specific pathway. We provide an effective first point of contact, a link with primary and secondary services, partner agencies and organisations outside of the Trust.
Full time, £35,392 to £42,618 a year
Download the job description and person specification to find out more.
