Healthcare Assistant

Job description

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is the only acute hospital provider in the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS), which is a system of health and care partners working together for our local population.

Within Mid and South Essex there are 149 GP practices, operating from over 200 sites, forming 27 Primary Care Networks and one Ambulance Trust. There are also three main community and mental health service providers who work together through a community collaborative.

We collaborate with other valuable partners, including three Healthwatch organisations, nine voluntary and community sector organisations and three top tier local authorities, with seven district, borough and city councils, as well as our local universities.

Job overview

Do you want to make a difference to people's lives?

We are looking for individuals with or without experience to join the NHS family helping people from your local community. Healthcare Assistant opportunities are available in the outpatients department of St Andrews Centre for Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery.

No experience? No problem. We will teach you everything you need to know. To us, it is more important that you are a caring and kind person with a genuine desire to help and support patients and their families. If this sounds like you, then you already have the skills that make a great Healthcare Assistant.

From the get go, you will have access to learning, development and training opportunities. As you progress in your career you will acquire the knowledge, skills & confidence you need to provide safe and compassionate patient care.

MSE is a great place to work, with an inclusive culture that looks after and values our people and creates a sense of belonging. We encourage applications from people who embrace our values and who will enable us to expand our diverse workforce.

The Healthcare Assistant role can also lead to a range of career opportunities. With the right support, those who want to can undertake the necessary training to become our future nurses, nursing associates and midwives.

Please be aware that we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a suitable number of applications.

No VISA sponsorship available for this role

Main duties of the job

As a Healthcare Assistant, you will be a hugely valuable support to our Nursing and Midwifery teams providing care to our patients. Every day will be different and you will work alongside the rest of the team carrying out a wide range of tasks and assisting with care to support the needs of the patients and their families.

Examples of what you may do as part of your role:

• Helping a team of nurses and doctors to run clinics.
• Keeping accurate appointment records and documentation.
• Helping out in minor operations theatre
• Carrying out basic wound care
• Talking to patients and their families
• Monitoring patient waiting areas
• Skills and personal attributes needed
• Caring and kind
• Cheerful and friendly
• Keen to support patients with their personal needs including toileting
• Able to follow direct instructions
• Happy to work in a team but also able to use own initiative
• Have good listening and communication skills
• Be well organised

Full time and part time positions are available, and we are open to discuss flexible working arrangements. This opportunity is available for candidates who have the right to work in the UK. Applications from underrepresented groups including LGBT+, Ethnic Minority or disabled people are particularly welcome.

Working for our organisation

Our ambition is to deliver excellent local and specialist services, to improve the health and well being of our patients, and provide a vibrant place for staff to develop, innovate and build careers.

We aim to make the most of our skills and experiences so we can become the best we can be. As one organisation we will recruit the finest and retain more specialist staff due to more employment opportunities across our Trust

The Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS) brings together key health, care, community, and voluntary sector organisations from across our area. Our aim is to work together in partnership to join up health and care services, improving our populations health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities. One such example of this collaborative work is the launch of our HCA Academy, an ICS initiative between Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) to support the incoming Health Care assistant (HCA) workforce. The academy models a 'one workforce' cross system approach to the onboarding, induction, education, and experience of Healthcare Assistants.

Successful candidates to this role will be able to access the additional support provided by the HCA Academy following their induction with MSEFT. This includes development opportunities, pastoral support, staff rewards and access to HCA exclusive resources such as HCA App.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Are you looking for an exciting role using your unique qualities, then we want to hear from you.

For full details about this varied and rewarding role, please see attached job description.

We look forward to your application.

Please be aware that we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a suitable number of applications.

Person specification

Skills

Essential criteria

• Good literacy demonstrated through minimal spelling and grammatical errors throughout application
• Must be keen to learn new skills and flexible in the workplace

Desirable criteria

• Healthcare Certificate
• Good IT skills

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working with the public

Desirable criteria

• Previous plastic surgery experience
• Working within a team and experience of working in an environment with changing demands and priorities
• Experience working in healthcare setting

Please be aware as per the new Immigration guidelines we cannot sponsor candidates with a salary (full time or pro Rata) under the current minimum threshold.

Please note, the selection processes at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right skills and values, please be advised that the use of AI in applications are monitored. We remain vigilant against candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn't accurately reflect their skills, and you will be required to declare on your application if AI has been used before submitting your application.

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