Chef

FHFT Education Academy; Slough; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a dedicated and creative Chef to join our busy hospital kitchen and staff restaurant at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough. You will prepare and cook dishes from fresh ingredients, follow Trust recipes, meet portion control standards, and support function and event catering while maintaining high kitchen hygiene and food safety.

The role requires experience in quality catering, strong organisational skills and the ability to work under pressure.

Qualifications

• Experience working as a chef in a high-quality catering setting.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced environment.
• A commitment to excellent food quality, safety and presentation.
• Confidence in using your judgement to resolve day-to-day operational issues.
• A positive, courteous and professional approach.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and cook dishes from fresh ingredients, following Trust recipes and menu plans for patients and staff.
• Ensure every dish is cooked correctly, well-presented, and produced in line with forecasted requirements and portion control standards.
• Support function and event catering as needed.
• Work closely with the Head Chef to accommodate special dietary requirements.
• Maintain excellent communication with patients, visitors, colleagues, suppliers, and wider Trust teams.
• Contribute to menu planning and development.
• Carry out audits and surveys relevant to the role.
• Uphold exemplary kitchen hygiene, food safety and cleaning standards in line with current legislation.
• Record food temperatures and follow all departmental procedures.
• Manage stock effectively, ensuring correct rotation, storage, and security of goods.
• Promote efficient use of Trust resources and ensure financial procedures are followed.

Skills

Food safety

Kitchen hygiene

English

Time management

Education

City & Guilds 706/1 and 2 or NVQ

Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene

Intermediate Certificate in Food Hygiene

Knowledge of HACCP

Job description

Main area Chef Grade Band 3 Contract Permanent: Monday to Sunday (5 days out of 7 days) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (5 days out of 7) Job ref 151-LC514-A

Site Wexham Park Hospital Town Slough, Berkshire Salary £27,106 - £28,850 per annum incl HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 06/10/2026 23:59

Job overview

Frimley Health Foundation Trust is seeking a dedicated and creative Chef to join our busy hospital kitchen and staff restaurant at Wexham Park Hospital.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who takes pride in producing high-quality, traditional, homemade meals using fresh and, wherever possible, locally sourced ingredients. Working within a large production kitchen, you will play a key role in delivering nutritious and appealing meals that make a real difference to patient care and staff wellbeing.

We are seeking a motivated chef with proven experience in a quality-driven catering environment. You will bring enthusiasm, attention to detail, and a genuine passion for food. The ability to perform well under pressure and manage a varied workload is essential, as is a commitment to consistently delivering high standards.

Previous recent applicants need not apply.

Please note that this role is not eligible for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the post.

Main duties of the job

In this varied and rewarding role, you will:

Prepare and cook dishes from fresh ingredients, following Trust recipes and menu plans for patients and staff.

Ensure every dish is cooked correctly, well-presented, and produced in line with forecasted requirements and portion control standards.

Support function and event catering as needed.

Work closely with the Head Chef to accommodate special dietary requirements.

Maintain excellent communication with patients, visitors, colleagues, suppliers, and wider Trust teams.

Contribute to menu planning and development.

Carry out audits and surveys relevant to the role.

Uphold exemplary kitchen hygiene, food safety and cleaning standards in line with current legislation.

Record food temperatures and follow all departmental procedures.

Manage stock effectively, ensuring correct rotation, storage, and security of goods.

Promote efficient use of Trust resources and ensure financial procedures are followed.

Working for our organisation

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available.

Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too.

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see Job Description and Person Specification for further information

What You’ll Bring

Experience working as a chef in a high-quality catering setting.

Strong organisational skills and the ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced environment.

A commitment to excellent food quality, safety and presentation.

Confidence in using your judgement to resolve day-to-day operational issues.

A positive, courteous and professional approach.

Person specification

Qualifications

• City & Guilds 706/1 and 2 or NVQ equivalent
• Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene
• Intermediate Certificate in Food Hygiene
• Knowledge of HACCP

Experience

• Career structure that shows a logical progression to a chef position in a similar size and/or NHS catering operation
• Experience of working in a service led and customer focused environment
• Experience with both the commercial food service sector and/or an NHS catering operation

Skills

• Good knowledge of food safety / kitchen hygiene
• Good command of written and spoken English
• Ability to work efficiently and to time
• Organised and methodical
• Good numeracy

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) is proud of its strong reputation, record of achievement and ambition for the future. We serve a population of over 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and South Buckinghamshire, and remain committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Our new organisational strategy – FHFT 2030 – sets out our ambition to be the best place to receive care and the best place to work in the NHS. Underpinned by our Trust values – Committed to Excellence, Working Together, Facing the Future, and being a modern, compassionate, Healthcare Organisation – we are creating a culture where our people can thrive and patients always come first.

We continue to invest heavily in our services and facilities. This includes the development of a new hospital at Frimley Park, major expansion of diagnostics and inpatient capacity, and the continued transformation of services across our sites. We have already delivered a brand-new £100m state-of-the-art Heatherwood Hospital, a £49m Emergency Assessment Centre at Wexham Park, and a £10m upgrade to maternity services.

We are also committed to sustainability and the NHS Net Zero ambition. Our new hospital and estate developments are being designed to be environmentally responsible, energy efficient, and future-proofed, featuring on-site renewables energy and intelligent energy systems. Th rough our green plan, we are embedding sustainable practices across all areas of care and operations, ensuring we reduce our environmental impact while improving population health and wellbeing. Our staff are key to helps us deliver on our ambition and to ensure sustainability is a core component of care delivery and our operations.

Alongside estates’ investments, we are embedding a strong focus on digital innovation and quality improvement. Our electronic patient record (Epic), launched in 2024, is already enabling safer, more connected, and more effective care for patients, while giving staff the tools they need to do their best work. Our electronic patient record also supports safe and effective digitised care pathways, savings time and carbon, whilst delivering excellent quality of care.

Everything we do is guided by our values, shaping how we care for patients, support colleagues, and build a sustainable future for healthcare together.

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.