We are delighted you are interested in joining us as one of our amazing Healthcare Support Workers. There is lots of information on these pages to help you understand more about the roles we have, how to apply and what our world is like here at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals.
Healthcare Support Workers as a term covers a number of roles
- Healthcare Assistant
The role for Healthcare Assistant
As a Healthcare Assistant, you will have a vital role in delivering hands-on care to patients including:
- Assist patients with the provision of washing, dressing, personal care, beverages and/or meals.
- Assist qualified nursing and medical staff where requested.
- Communicate with all members of the team to maintain a good service provision.
- Ensure that all patients are able to meet their hygiene needs, providing a level of assistance appropriate to the individual.
- Prepare and support the patient appropriately during any activity that is to be undertaken.
- Alert the registered nurse where you notice any changes in the patient’s health and well-being or any possible risks.
- Undertake observations/tasks such as patient temperature, weighing, fluid checks as directed
- Ensure effective use of material resources/supplies within the ward/unit in consultation with senior staff.
- Assist with the general cleaning and re-stocking of resources where appropriate as well as cleaning and preparing patients beds.
- Contribute to own personal development and take an active part in learning opportunities.
Meet Zaib
Meet Jarrad
Meet Maggie - Healthcare Assistant
- Theatre Support Worker
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- Provide good quality personalised care throughout their peri-operative journey in accordance with agreed local and national standards.
- Assist in the positioning of patients in theatre before surgery and in the recovery area, ensuring that pressure areas are protected adequately and that patient comfort maintained.
- Handle and store patient specimens safely, complying with Trust policy.
- Assist to maintain patient safety, conforming to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines.
- Proactively engages in the Trust safety agenda.
- Contribute to maintaining safe, clean and productive care environment, compliant with standards for hygiene and cleanliness.
- Communicate and document information in a timely and appropriate manner.
All about being a Theatre Support Worker
- Maternity Support Worker
Detailed job description and main duties
- Provide good quality personalised care in accordance with agreed local and national standards.
- Present a positive image of self, team and the organisation.
- Take samples from patients for testing or dispatching eg: Urine, sputum, faeces, MRSA swabs.
- Assist patients to meet nutritional needs in line with their individual care plan.
- Assist to maintain patient safety, conforming to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures, and guidelines.
- Assist in maintaining standards of care to improve the patient experience and outcome of care.
- Promote equality in care and practice by recognising,
respecting and meeting the needs and choices of individuals. - Contribute to maintaining safe, clean, and productive care environment, compliant with standards for hygiene and
cleanliness. - Communicate all relevant information to the Registered Midwives in a professional and timely way.
- Maintain and develop own competence.
- Actively try to resolve issues and complaints at local level and
then report the outcome to line manager.
....but all have the same thing at their core, which is to deliver the best service possible to our patients. We rely on motivated, caring, empathetic people joining us to ensure we offer the best care because our patients, their families and team members need and deserve the very best.
Healthcare Support Workers operate across all parts of Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, Royal Preston Hospital and Community Healthcare Hub at Finney House, assisting in the delivery of patient care under the supervision of qualified healthcare professionals such as registered nurses.
Being a Healthcare Support Worker is such a really valued role where you can really make a difference through the work you do. You will continue to learn and develop in the role and may decide to progress as being a Healthcare Support Worker can also serve as a gateway to various other NHS positions i.e. Registered Nurse.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept those who need sponsorship to work in this role due to government guidelines.
- Entry requirements for healthcare support workers
To become a Healthcare Support Worker, you need to have demonstrable numeracy and literacy skills in line with Level 1/Grade D/Grade 3 or above (to be assessed post interview on appointment). This is because there is a need for you to insert information in patient notes and perform numerical calculations in the role, so we want to ensure you are able to undertake those tasks.
You will also need effective communication skills, the ability to work as part of a team and a willingness to learn and develop yourself further.
You don’t need to have a clinical background or clinical skills – all training is provided on the job as we prefer to teach you all about the way we do things around here.
- Training and development for healthcare support workers
Healthcare Support Workers join us as a Band 2 member of staff – the salary for which is £23,615 per annum, pro rata.
You will undertake our three-week Care Certificate Induction training when you start which is a practical classroom-based course which gives you all the basic knowledge and skills you will need to be able to perform well in the role and thrive.
- Career pathways for healthcare support workers
We are a teaching hospital so want to encourage everyone to keep learning. We are dedicated to supporting the continuous development and career progression of all our staff. After completing the induction and care certificate, you will receive further training relevant to your role. You will also have access to supervision and support from your line manager and will be able to address your personal development goals through an annual appraisal.
If you need to complete Maths and English to GSCE level, you can be supported to access a Level 2 Maths and English Functional skills qualification by our Apprenticeship Team.
Opportunities to complete the Level 3 Healthcare Apprenticeship qualification are available to you once in a permanent post, and this can lead to other apprenticeships - also funded by the Trust. With experience and further training, you could become a Senior Healthcare Assistant.
Nursing Associate, Level 4 mentorship are just some of the apprentice opportunities we offer which all lead to our degree-level apprenticeships.
If you are interested in pursuing an Apprenticeship at the trust, or would like more information, contact the team by email on: apprenticeshipinfo@lthtr.nhs.uk.
The image below shows the pathway we have should you wish
The Career Pathways for Healthcare Assistants are as follows:
Band 2 HCA -> Band 3 Senior HCA -> Band 4 Nursing Associate -> Band 5 Nurse
Additional Information
Recruitment Flipbook
This is our brand-new recruitment resource which has been designed to showcase all our entry level roles as we believe we have something for everyone.
This Flipbook will be updated regularly and showcase our latest vacancies.
Not sure which role is right for you? Take the 10-question quiz on page 06 and find out which career could work for you!
Visit the flipbook here: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/lthtr-nhs-recruitment-flipbook
Pre-employment support programme
We are here to help you with our Healthcare Support Worker pre-employment programs as we offer a number of ways you can access support such as if you want to return to work after being long term unemployed. We even offer guaranteed interviews on successful completion of our courses!
Please contact us at workexperience@lthtr.nhs.uk to find out when the next one is running.
Help with completing your application
We know it can seem daunting completing our application form, but it's so important we make safe recruitment decisions, so we do ask for lots of detail about your past employment, experience and skills to help us with that. To support you there are a number of things available:
You can also check out all of our current vacancies.
Have you got any questions? Please ring recruitment on 01772 521801 or email us at recruit@lthtr.nhs.uk and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Please remember to check our social media channels on @LancsHospJobs for regular updates.
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