Receptionist
Job overview
The Main Reception Team at The Royal Marsden Hospital – Sutton is looking for a full-time Shift Receptionist to join our busy and friendly team.
This is a key front-facing role that supports the smooth and professional running of Main Reception services, providing assistance to patients, relatives, staff, and contractors in a dynamic hospital environment.
As an integral member of our multidisciplinary team, you will need excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills, along with strong organisational abilities. You will be expected to remain calm under pressure and manage emergency situations with tact and diplomacy.
Essential IT and keyboard skills are required. While previous hospital or reception experience is desirable, it is not essential, as full training will be provided.
This is a full-time role, working 37.5 hours per week across a rota covering the hours of 07:00 to 20:00, Monday to Friday."
Main duties of the job
The Shift Receptionist is a key front-line representative of the Facilities Directorate, delivering a professional, welcoming, and efficient reception service to patients, visitors, and staff. Based primarily at Sutton, the post holder will provide flexible cover across Trust sites as required, supporting both the Main Reception and Help Desk functions.
The post holder is expected to exercise sound judgment, initiative, and effective problem-solving skills in managing a wide range of administrative and operational tasks. While day-to-day priorities will be set by line management, the post holder is also expected to respond appropriately to ad-hoc requests from other members of the Facilities Directorate, where these align with the scope of the role.
The Shift Receptionist plays a key role in maintaining high standards of professionalism, confidentiality, and customer care, acting as a reliable point of contact for internal and external stakeholders across the Trust.
Working for our organisation
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre. Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer.We employ over 4,500 staff in a diverse range of careers including nursing, medical, science, radiography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, finance and administrative services. We have two hospitals – one in Chelsea, London, and one in Sutton, Surrey – as well as a Medical Daycare Unit in Kingston Hospital.
At The Royal Marsden, we deal with cancer every day, so we understand how valuable life is. When people entrust their lives to us, they have the right to demand the very best. That's why the pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of everything we do.
At the heart of the hospital is our dedicated team. We offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment, a wide range of staff benefits, learning and development opportunities and clear career pathways. There are opportunities to work flexibly across a range of areas and specialities and we welcome flexible working requests from point of hire to support employees work life balance.We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and can play a crucial role in our on-going achievements.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification:
These responsibilities will be carried out with reference to service priorities and in coordination with the shift supervisor, but the post holder is expected to exercise initiative and manage their workload independently.- First Point of Contact: To provide a friendly and professional front-of-house reception service. Greet and welcome all patients and visitors, acting as the first point of contact and ensuring that everyone is treated courteously and efficiently.
- Enquiry Handling: To address in-person and telephone enquiries promptly, using tact and empathy. Communicate clearly with patients, families, and staff – including those who may be anxious or who face language/cultural barriers – to reassure them and provide accurate information or direction.
- Telephone Management: To answer all telephone calls in a helpful manner, promptly redirecting calls that fall outside the reception’s remit to the appropriate department. Ensure urgent messages or requests are prioritised and conveyed to the relevant personnel without delay.
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential criteria- Good general education with English GCSE standard or equivalent
- Educated to diploma level, City & Guilds in Customer Service / Customer & Reception Services
Experience
Essential criteria- Reception or Customer Service experience which demonstrates the understanding of the key function for providing a support service
- Good administrative/organisation skills
Skills Abilities/knowledge
Essential criteria- Ability to communicate verbally in a clear and effective way to patients, visitors and staff
- Ability to take clear and concise messages
- Ability to respond to emergencies by following the appropriate Trust Procedures
- Proficient in the use of IT systems including Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel
- Evidence of working well in a team
- Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with all levels of staff, patients and relatives
- Confidence in making decisions when dealing with competing priorities
- Evidence of organisational skill and attention to detail
- Ability to work methodically in a busy environment and meet deadlines
- Ability to concentrate even with frequent interruptions
- Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information appropriately
- Able to demonstrate tact and diplomacy in a patient focus environment
The Royal Marsden values diversity and is committed to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority groups. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we are working to create a workplace that enables all staff to reach their full potential. We are committed to this because we know that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to an even greater positive impact for the people we serve.
Due to the high volumes of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close any adverts before the published closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications. We advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.
All applicants will be contacted by email to the address supplied on your application. Applicants are advised to check their email accounts regularly and to ensure that email filters are set to allow our emails.
Flu Vaccination – What We Expect of our Staff
At The Royal Marsden we have an immune compromised patient population who we must protect as much as we can against the flu virus. Each year, seasonal flu affects thousands of people in the UK. Occurring mainly in winter, it is an infectious respiratory disease capable of producing symptoms ranging from those similar to a common cold, through to very severe or even fatal disease.
The wellbeing of our staff and patients is of the upmost importance to us, and it is the expectation of The Royal Marsden that all patient-facing staff have an annual flu vaccination, provided free of charge by the Trust.