Flexible Catering Assistant (QHB)

Transformation Unit; Burton upon Trent; Hybrid; GBP 24,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

The University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Flexible Catering Assistant for Florence Nightingale Community Hospital. The role focuses on delivering high-quality meals to patients, staff and visitors with flexible, zero-hours shifts and a strong emphasis on customer service.

You will work across wards, main catering areas and on-site retail outlets as part of a friendly Catering and Retail Services team.

Qualifications

• Good literacy and numeracy skills are essential.
• Knowledge of HACCP and food safety practices.
• Experience in the food industry and customer service.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality meals to patients, staff and visitors.
• Serve meals on wards, in main catering areas and in retail outlets.
• Support flexible staffing with zero-hours shifts.

Skills

Good literacy

Good numeracy

HACCP knowledge

Customer service

Job description

Employer University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Queens Hospital Burton Town Burton On Trent Salary £24,852.66 WTE pro rated Salary period Yearly Closing 05/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 19/11/2026

Level 1

As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together.

Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work.

With over 14,000 members of staff you can expect huge variety and new opportunities every day! Our staff go above and beyond and take pride in caring for our patients.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust is fully committed to promoting inclusion, equality, diversity and human rights in employment and delivery of its services. The Trust is committed to providing an environment where all employees, patients, carers and visitors experience equality of opportunity by means of understanding and appreciating the value of diversity.

As a Trust we promote an inclusive environment and welcome applications from a diverse pool of talent and backgrounds. All individuals are valued and given every opportunity to succeed based on merit.

The Trust actively encourages applications from members of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities. These groups are under-represented in our organisation, and it’s important to us that our workforce reflects the diversity of our communities as much as possible.

Armed Forces and Disability Confident guaranteed interview scheme

To further support the pledges in the Armed Forces Covenant and to make a positive contribution to support ex-armed forces personnel (veterans) make the transition to civilian life, the Trust has introduced a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for veterans who meets the essential criteria set out in the person specification, to help them overcome barriers to find civilian employment. The scheme will operate for all external recruitment.

The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer and committed to both employing and retaining people with disabilities. This commitment is to guarantee an interview for any candidate that has disclosed a disability under the Equality Act 2010 and who meets the essential criteria set out in the person specification. Reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 will be considered upon request.

if you are blind or visually impaired and require application material in an alternative format- such as Braille, large print, audio or accessible electronic formats oryou require support/adjustments with your application please contact the recruitment team on 01332 788466

The Trust is proud to be a signatory of the Care Leavers Covenant and is committed to supporting care-experienced people into employment.

Applicants who identify as a care leaver and who meet the essential criteria for the role, as detailed in the person specification, will be guaranteed an interview.

If you wish to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this within your application.

Join us and help make a real difference to our Trust.

Here’s more about the role and what we’re looking for;

Job overview

FLEXIBLE CATERING ASSISTANT

-Florence Nightingale Community Hospital

Working Times:As & When

Shift Pattern:Zero hours per week - As and When Required Working Arrangements
The Flexible Staffing Services aims to match suitably skilled workers with the flexible staffing requirements of University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust

Are you friendly, reliable, and passionate about delivering great customer service?

We’re looking for enthusiastic and motivated individuals to join our Catering and Retail Services team at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust. This is more than just a job — it’s an opportunity to play a vital role in both patient care and busy retail environments, including our restaurant and coffee shops.

Whether you’re serving meals on the wards or providing excellent service in our retail outlets, you’ll be at the heart of creating a positive experience for patients, staff, and visitors.

With flexible shifts, this role offers the chance to develop valuable hospitality and retail skills, gain experience in customer-focused environments, and be part of a friendly, supportive team that truly makes a difference.

Closing Date: 05 November 2026

Interview date: 19 November 2026

Main duties of the job

About the Role

As a Flexible Catering Assistant, you will help deliver high-quality food services to patients, staff, and visitors. Your work will directly support patient experience by ensuring meals are delivered and served to the highest standards.

You could be working:

• On hospital wards supporting patient meal services
• In main catering areas
• Within on-site retail outlets

Every day is varied, meaningful, and essential to the smooth running of the hospital.

Example shifts include:

• Morning: 07:30 – 10:30
• Afternoon: 11:30 - 14:30 / 10:30 - 17:00
• Evening: 16:30 – 19:30

Working for our organisation

As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together

Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work.

In return we will offer:

• Development opportunities, including both professional and leadership development
• On-going support through every step of the way from recruitment to when you join our team and beyond.
• A variety of other staff benefits including employee assistance programme, discounted gym membership, onsite fitness classes, car schemes

Key Facts about our Trust:

• We see on average 4810 OP appointments per day.
• We are the 4 th busiest Trauma & Orthopaedic outpatients department in England – an average of 2077 per week.
• An average of 1115 patients are seen in A&Es across our network every day – 3rd largest in the country.
• Our hospitals admit an average of 195 emergency patients daily.
• Last year we undertook almost 33,700 planned surgical operations in our 57 operating theatres.
• We are one of only 7 Trusts nationally with more than 50 operating theatres.
• We carry out more than 140 elective procedures each working day.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Please note: There is no guarantee of work being offered to you should you be successfully appointed. You are also under no obligation to accept work offered to you. Working Arrangements with further details will be issued to you for review and agreement prior to commencement.

UHDB is committed to fair and transparent recruitment. We welcome authentic applications that reflect your own skills, experience and motivations for the role. While we understand that candidates may use AI tools for grammar, formatting or accessibility purposes, applications that appear to be substantially AI‑generated may be subject to additional review. If this applies to your submission, we will let you know and may ask for clarification. Please ensure your application accurately represents your experience and is written in your own words.

Person specification

Knowledge

• Good Literacy and Numeracy Skills
• Good General Education

Skills

• Knowledge of Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP)
• Knowledge of the potential of cross contamination within a catering/healthcare setting

Experience

• Experience of working in the food industry
• Experience in cleaning and food handling procedures
• Knowledge of food allergens

Our Trust aims to provide the highest quality care to patients within Derbyshire and South East Staffordshire and we want the very best people to work with us.

Follow us on Twitter @UHDBTrust or find us on Facebook & LinkedIn - UHDBTrust

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

If we receive a high number of applications for this position we reserve the right to withdraw the post before the closing date, therefore it is advisable that you apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

At UHDB , we offer different ways to work flexibly to each and every one of our colleagues, many of whom already work flexibly at all sites of the Trust.

For our roles we are open to discussing the possibility of part-time/ reduced hours/ compressed hours/ flexible start and finish times/ fixed/flexible shifts/annualised hours/ term time hours/ hybrid working – working partly in the trust/partly at home.

Why don’t you talk to us at interview about the flexibility you would like to explore and what it means to you, and we will discuss what’s possible for the job and team, and the opportunities we might be able to create together.

We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise to work with you to look at all the available options.

Most of our posts are subject to a DBS check, however having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from obtaining a position. Please be aware that all new employees starting work with us will be charged for the cost of their DBS check, if it is required for their role.

All correspondence relating to your application will be sent to you via our trac.system account. Please ensure that you regularly check your emails; this includes junk/spam, as your security settings may not recognise the sender.

Anyone from outside of the UK (excluding from the Republic of Ireland) will need permission from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to work in the UK and may also need entry clearance before travelling here.

UKVI is responsible for managing migration. To obtain a visa or entry clearance, you will need to meet certain requirements and demonstrate you have the right the work in the UK via:

• the points-based immigration system
• the EU settlement scheme
• eVisa

During the course of its employment activities, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust collects, stores and processes personal information about prospective, current and former staff.

Our Privacy Notice includes applicants, employees (and former employees), workers (including agency, casual, honorary and contracted staff), volunteers, trainees and those carrying out work experience – please refer to our Privacy Notice available on our Trust website: https://www.uhdb.nhs.uk/information-governance

UHDB is committed to fair and transparent recruitment. We welcome authentic applications that reflect your own skills, experience and motivations for the role. While we understand that candidates may use AI tools for grammar, formatting or accessibility purposes, applications that appear to be substantially AI‑generated may be subject to additional review. If this applies to your submission, we will let you know and may ask for clarification. Please ensure your application accurately represents your experience and is written in your own words.

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.