Dining Room Assistant/Cook

NHS; Wakefield; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 22,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider is seeking a Dining Room Assistant/Cook to join their Catering Team. The role involves preparing and serving nutritious meals, adhering to food hygiene standards, and participating in various events. Ideal candidates should possess catering experience and relevant qualifications. This position offers a chance to work within a supportive environment, helping improve the dining experience for patients and visitors.

Benefits

Staff uniform provided

Vaccination encouragement

Qualifications

• Demonstrable catering experience is required.
• Flexible attitude for working arrangements is essential.
• Ability to communicate well with colleagues and patients.

Responsibilities

• Prepare safe and nutritious meals for service users, staff, and visitors.
• Maintain cleanliness and hygiene in the dining area adhering to NHS standards.
• Participate in preparation for functions and special events.

Skills

Teamwork

Organisational skills

Communication

HACCP System knowledge

Education

706/1 & 2 or equivalent NVQ

Level 3 Food Hygiene Certificate

Job description

Go back South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust

Dining Room Assistant/Cook

The closing date is 02 December 2025

We are looking to recruit hardworking, enthusiastic individuals to join our Catering Team based in the Dining Room at Fieldhead Hospital. 30hours per week Monday-Friday.

The successful post holders will be required to provide a safe, nutritious, and exciting meal service to service users, staff and visitors. You will also participate in the preparation of functions and special events, notwo events are the same which will provide you with a challenge and diversity in the job role.

Responsibilities will include the preparation and cooking of mouth-watering dishes using fresh ingredients to the required standards, you must possess a true passion for food.

Catering, food safety, cleanliness and hygiene in healthcare environments is paramount, therefore we are looking to appoint staff who are ambitious, motivated and take pride in the work they do. You will be responsible for cleaning duties in the dining room, this is to ensure a safe, efficient workplace and environment for all. You will adhere to the NHS cleaning standards.

The post holder will be required to work as part of a team in a fast-paced environment and you will be able to use your initiative to prioritise and organise daily duties. You will maintain a professional approach and comply with all relevant policies and procedures.

Staff uniform will be provided.

All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect patients.

Main duties of the job

You will be part of a team that provides safe and nutritious meal service to service users, staff and visitors.

At the time of advertising, this role does not meet the minimum requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. For this reason, we are unable to sponsor anyone for a skilled worker visa for this role.

We are happy to accept applications from candidates who can prove their right to work in the UK or via alternative visa routes. Such applications will be considered alongside all other applications.

About us

We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.

Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do this by providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families and carers.

We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we valued diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.

Being a foundation Trust means we're accountable to our members, who can have a say in how we're run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust.

Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all colleagues and volunteers to share this commitment.

We do reserve to right to close vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.

Job responsibilities

JOB SUMMARY

To provide a safe and nutritious meal service to patients, staff and visitors, participate in the preparation of functions and special events.

JOB DIMENSIONS

KEY RESULT AREAS:

• To prepare meals for patients, staff and visitors to the required standard whilst adhering to Food Hygiene General Regulations 1995.
• To work as part of a team and assist in developing the catering services to reach its full potential.
• At the discretion of the Catering Supervisor to undertake duties in other areas of the department to ensure the smooth running of the service.
• As and when required to work on other Trust sites to ensure the smooth running of the Trust wide catering services.
• To develop personal skills to assist in the achievement of departmental objectives
• To lend guidance where applicable.
• Identify and act on problems.

To handle cash and clear away post meal times, whilst observing food hygiene regulations and health and safety.

• Ensure the dining room maintains required hygiene standards, working with cleaning schedules and procedures.
• Provide an efficient service for meetings, working lunches and various functions.

Trust Values:

The Trust is committed to ensuring the highest standards of care and treatment and expects that all staff treat people e.g, service users, their carers, relatives, friends, colleagues, visitors etc, with dignity and respect at all time. The post holder must all time act in accordance with the Trusts Values:

Honest, open, transparent

Respectful

Person first and in the centre

Improve and be outstanding

Relevant today, ready for tomorrow

Families and carers matter

Safeguarding:

Report any concerns regarding the safety or wellbeing of children, adults service users, members of their families etc, in accordance with Trust Policy.

Prevent and respond appropriately to abuse and understand own role in this by undertaking Safeguarding training.

Trust policies and commitments to be read in line with the relevant Trust Policy:

All staff employed by the Trust must comply with the Trusts policies and procedures, undertake appropriate training required for their role and commit to:

ensure they are aware of the Whistleblowing Policy and how they raise concerns;

maintain confidentiality, in line with the Trusts Confidentiality Policy and Code of Conduct;

understand their personal responsibilities with regards to data quality for any information which they create, use or process in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Trust Data Protection Policy;

comply with the provisions of The Trusts Health and Safety Policy and Protocol. Ensuring their own safety and that of colleagues, service users and visitors. Know the action to be taken in the event of a fire and must undertake fire training annually;

receive supervision in line with the Trusts Supervision Policy and an annual Appraisal in line with the Trusts Appraisal Policy, during which mandatory, role specific and personal development needs should be identified and agreed;

understand their responsibilities under the Trusts Equal Opportunities in Employment Policy and ensure that they adhere to the provisions of the policy;

recognise, respect and support the equality diversity of staff, colleagues, service users, carers and the public. Contribute to a working environment which promotes and responds positively to difference and diversity;

ensure they carry out their duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18 years, as issued under Section 11 of The Children Act 2004, by being familiar with and adhering to Trust safeguarding policies and participating in relevant training;

comply with their professional responsibilities to develop their practice and deliver care through a Clinical Governance framework (i.e. CPD, Audit, Supervision);

demonstrate, through practice and practical understanding, the importance of the continual development of individual, team and service wide quality improvement;

abide by relevant codes of professional practice, with the organisation taking action when codes of conduct are breached;

work flexibly to meet the needs of the service/organisation, whilst working within a culture of progressive employment practices and commitment to the Investors in People (IiP) Standards.

adhere to the Trusts smoke free policies, which prohibits smoking anywhere on Trust grounds;

being socially responsible by complying with measures that support the Trust in reducing or offsetting our environmental impact;

Identify and report risks, hazards, incidents, accidents and near misses promptly;

In addition to the Trusts own responsibilities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance, for your safety, ALL staff (and contractors) are responsible for ensuring their work adheres to this Code in the delivery of safe patient care.

This job description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The post holder will be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the band as directed. The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the post holder when necessary and in line with the service developments.

For full details of the role please see the supporting documents attached.

We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms. We strongly discourage this and will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.

Person Specification

Personal Attributes

• Flexible attitude to working arrangements.
• Friendly outgoing personality.
• Available to work in different locations.

Qualifications

• 706/1 & 2 or equivalent NVQ grade (or commitment to work towards).
• Level 3 Food Hygiene Certificate or working towards.

Special Knowledge/Skills

• Ability to work as a team member and use own initiative.
• Good organisational skills and the ability to prioritise own workload.
• Ability to communicate well with colleagues, Trust staff and patients.
• Working knowledge of HACCP System.

Experience

• Demonstrable catering experience.
• Relevant experience of team working.
• Experience of dealing with customers.
• Experience in till operation.

Physical Attributes

• Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).

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

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust