Catering Assistant

NHS; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in the UK seeks a Catering Assistant to join their busy kitchen team. The role involves providing a customer-focused service, complying with food safety regulations, and improving catering services. Ideal candidates will have experience in a similar environment and possess good customer care skills. This is a physically demanding role requiring teamwork and effective communication.

Qualifications

• Experience in a busy kitchen environment.
• Ability to work in a team.
• Good customer care skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide a customer focused service.
• Organise and improve catering service.
• Ensure compliance with food safety management.

Skills

Customer Care Skills

Ability to work under pressure

Provision of a patient/customer focused service

Principles of Risk Management

Communication

Ability to instruct other less qualified staff or students

Cash handling abilities/use of cash registers

Education

Food Safety Level 2

Basic Numeracy

Basic Computer Skills

ECDL or equivalent

HACCP Training

Job description

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Catering Assistant

The closing date is 07 November 2025

The ideal candidate will have a "can do attitude" flexible and will be a team player who has experience working in a busy kitchen environment.

The ideal candidate should have good customer care skills and experience of working in a kitchen/coffee shop/restaurant.

Food Safety level 2 certificate a advantage

Main duties of the job

• To provide a customer focused service
• To organise, deliver, develop and improve the catering service throughout the Trust
• Ensure efficient management of all catering services
• Ensure compliance with all legislation relating to risk management and security
• Ensure compliance with all legislation relating to food safety management
• Basic preparation of food items, service to patient and other meals and functions
• Assist with cooking and regeneration of food as appropriate
• Cleaning of structures, equipment and meal service components as specialised in work instructions
• Store keeping including, checking deliveries, storage and stock rotation
• At times to operate without the direct guidance of a team leader
• Ensure a secure working environment for patients, visitors and staff
• Promote and maintain point of sale, e.g. counter and vending machines
• Undertake all aspects of the Cash handling process

About us

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our Services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

o Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018

o Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)

o National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Job responsibilities

Please ensure you have read through the attached Job Description and Person Specification before submitting your application.

Proposed Interview date: 20/11/2025

Please be aware this vacancy may close early if a sufficient number of applicants is reached.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Food Safety Level 2
• Basic Numeracy
• Basic Computer Skills
• ECDL or equivalent
• HACCP Training

Our Values

• We are Open
• We are Kind
• We are Inclusive

Knowledge and Experience

• NHS experience

Skills

• Customer Care Skills
• Ability to work under pressure
• Provision of a patient/customer focussed service
• Principles of Risk Management
• Communication
• Ability to instruct other less qualified staff or students
• Cash handling abilities/use of cash registers

Other

• Physically demanding role
• Pushing and pulling trolleys/cages
• Varied deadlines and adhoc pressures
• Dealing with staff/customer issues
• Exposure to temperature variations
• Professional and hygiene awareness/appearance
• Varied shifts

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust