Northumbria Blood Bikes is a registered charity which transports blood and urgent medical supplies throughout the North East of England, from Berwick in the North to Darlington in the South and between the Eastern coast and the Cumbria border. The charity is run entirely by volunteers and relies on these volunteers to undertake all tasks. We are operational outside of normal office hours: from 19:00 in the evening until 07:00 in the morning during the week, and at weekends we cover from 19:00 on Friday until 07:00 on Monday (or the next working day after that on Bank Holidays).    

We are looking for volunteer Shift Controllers to help the charity to deliver a full and professional service.

As a Shift Controller, you are the point of contact for any NHS organisation that requires our service. You are the public face of the charity and as such, your approach needs to be friendly, attentive and efficient.  The work entails taking out of hours calls from hospitals, and other NHS bodies, when they need our service.  Some calls may be urgent, or even an emergency, so the caller’s details and requirements need to be recorded accurately, efficiently and effectively and passed to an operational unit (we usually operate motorcycles but may use a car or van in extreme weather).  The Shift Controller decides, in a timely manner, which is the most appropriate unit to pass the call to, having regard for location, workload and capacity of each unit, and despatches that unit.  Once “in flight” the Shift Controller supports the operational unit at all times, recording the progress of each job, and handles requests for information from the customer or other parties.

Shift Controllers work from home, or a base of their choice, and whilst it is not essential to be based in the North East, an excellent geographical knowledge of the area is essential, both to understand the unique requirements of the Group, but also to make the best use of our resources which change location every day.

Duties

1. Take calls from customers during duty hours
2. Ensure that the information is captured correctly first time and accurately recorded using our software, which will be provided.
3. Pass calls to an operational unit in a timely fashion
4. Record that this information has been passed and to whom, again using our software
5. Keep in regular contact with the rider / driver to ensure their safety
6. Take part in regular training sessions
7. Be prepared to have calls listened to and reviewed for training purposes

Requirements

1. Pleasant and businesslike telephone manner
2. Good level of IT literacy
3. Have home (or other base) access to broadband internet (not pay as you go) and a telephone (mobile phones are fine but we prefer a landline if the mobile reception is poor at your base location).
4. Access to a Web Browser on a desktop or laptop computer.
5. Able to cover two or more 6-hour shifts a month (weekday evening, overnight or weekend days)
6. Able to cover on average 6 shifts over a 3 month period.

You can find out more from our FAQ or, to join, fill in our membership form