Catering Assistant

Transformation Unit; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 23,000 - 28,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days annual leave + Bank holidays

Discounts in local and national shops

Starting salary £12.92 per hour

Job summary

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust is hiring a Catering Assistant to support the hospital catering team across our sites. The role focuses on patient nutrition, meal delivery, and high hygiene standards.

The post is part-time (35 hours/week, 5 days in 7) with a starting rate of £12.92 per hour and a pro rata annual salary of £25,272 plus unsocial hours pay. The trust offers annual leave and discounts, with a flexible work-life approach.

Qualifications

• Basic prose and numeric skills required for everyday duties.
• Ability to use tablets for patient orders and surveys.
• Attention to hygiene and safety standards.

Responsibilities

• Assist in sandwich/salad prep and catering packing.
• Maintain stock levels and place orders as needed.
• Support team in delivering catering services across the site.

Skills

Tablet ordering

Cleaning equipment

Stock ordering

Education

Basic Education – Reading and writing plus basic numeric skills

Job description

Main area Catering Grade Band 2 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 35 hours per week (5 days in 7 - 06:30-14:00) Job ref 387-EF0526-MF-D

Employer Bristol NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Bristol Royal Infirmary Town Bristol Salary £25,272 pa pro rata + unsocial Salary period Yearly Closing 08/11/2026 23:59

Catering Assistant

Band 2

North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) have merged as of 1 st July 2026 to become Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. This will create an exciting future that brings together the best of both organisations. As a single, strong and sustainable organisation, we will not only be able to deliver better outcomes for our patients and fairer care for our population, but it will also provide greater opportunities for our people.

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust recognise the value of a healthy work-life balance. When applying, speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate flexible working, so your work life fits around your home life.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within the Trust.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) describes algorithms that can be used to produce new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos. It is developing all the time and is now being used as a support mechanism for all kinds of content-based creations. Please note the use of AI is monitored and if applicants have used it then they are required to declare this.

Job overview

Do you want to combine your passion for food with a career that makes a difference?

We are looking for enthusiastic and reliable Catering Assistants to join our busy Catering Team. This is an exciting opportunity to support the delivery of high-quality food services to patients, staff and visitors across our hospital sites.

As a Catering Assistant, you will play an important role in supporting patient nutrition and wellbeing by helping to ensure meals are prepared, ordered and delivered safely, efficiently and to the highest standards of hygiene

Main duties of the job

On a day to day basis, duties will include:-

• Assist in the delivery of sandwich/salad prep & picking and packing in the Catering Department.
• Ensuring that stock levels are maintained and placing orders where required.
• Support your colleagues in other areas of catering service delivery.
• Work as part of the team in the delivery of Catering Services across the site

In exchange, we will offer:-

• Starting salary of £12.92 per hour!
• Additional payments for working unsocial hours
• 27 days annual leave + Bank holidays
• Access to a multitude of discounts in local and national outlets.

Working for our organisation

University Hospitals Bristol &Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) is one of the largest acute Trusts in the country, with aworkforce of over 13,000 staff and 100+different clinical services across 10 sites, serving apopulation of over500,000 peopleacross Bristol and Weston.UHBW has been rated by the CQC as ‘Good’ overall and our staff are proud to deliver excellent careto patients. As a forward-thinking multi-award winning Trust,committed to improving patient care, our world-leading research and innovations are having a positive local and global impact.

Join us and you can enjoycity living, be in the countryside or bythe seaside,with easy access to all the South Westoffers. UHBW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

As an equal opportunities employer,actively working towards a diverse workforce,we aim to createaworkforce that represents the diversity of our communityand are committed to designing our services around the needs of patients and their loved ones. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For a more detailed job description and main responsibilities, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.

Skills

• Able to use a tablet for ordering patient food and taking surveys
• Able to use cleaning equipment, some of which may be of an industrial quality
• Able to electronically order required cleaning stocks To ensure they are ready to be used as needed

Qualifications

• Basic Education – Reading and writing plus basic numeric skills

We hope that you will decide to join us and become part of this exciting journey, helping us to shape our future together.

As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

The Trust is committed to investing in and caring for all our staff. We will support you in maintaining and improving your health and wellbeing, as well as your career development through management and training support - developing exceptional people for exceptional careers.

BFT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 all applicants must be able to speak fluent English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed at Interview.

If you require sponsorship for a visa to work in the UK, to avoid disappointment, please check to ensure you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.

The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

By applying for this post, you are agreeing to Bristol NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

IMPORTANT:

Please note that if you apply for a position with this Trust, you may be contacted via Trac or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your Trac account and email accounts. We may also contact you by texting the mobile number, if provided, on the application form.

Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.

As a guide interviews should usually take place within 3 weeks of the closing date.

When providing employment reference details, please provide correct work-related email addresses so references can be sought promptly when we are looking to progress your application. Your referee must all be known to you in a line manager or professional lead capacity.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.