FM Assistant (Cleaning)

Eput; Harlow; Remote; GBP 21,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

EPUT in Harlow is seeking a Band 2 Facilities Assistant to join the Estates & Facilities Management Team on a permanent basis. The post is 37.5 hours per week with varying hours/rotas, to be discussed at interview, based at the Derwent Centre in Town Harlow.

Salary is £25,272 per annum pro rata. You will help deliver in‑house FM services across a specified area, covering cleaning, catering, portering, bed making and laundering, with responsibilities defined by the ward and service needs.

Job description

We can provide emotional and wellbeing support for anyone affected by the Lampard Inquiry. Find support

Main area Facilities Grade Band 2 Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Part time

37.5 hours per week (Various hours and rotas available to be discussed at interview) Job ref 364-B-515

Site EDU Derwent Centre Town Harlow Salary £25,272 per annum pro rota Salary period Yearly Closing 22/10/2026 23:59

Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.

Our Trust cares for more than 100,000 patients at any one time across our community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex and parts of Bedfordshire and Suffolk.

We want you to be part of our journey of transformation, where our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do and to achieve our vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care.

You’ll be part of a Trust where you will be supported to be your authentic self and be the best you can be, where we will help you to grow, develop and thrive.

The Trust is recognised by the University of Essex and is a top provider of apprenticeships for people looking to be an assistant practitioner, senior health care support worker (CAP). Our trailblazing CAP apprenticeship won a national HSJ Award.

We are also recognised as a Veteran Aware Trust and holder of gold accreditation from the Ministry of Defence Employment Recognition Scheme. Our services are highlighted as an exemplar of good practice, producing the best care for more than 3.500 armed forces veterans in the past seven years.

We have been shortlisted and won national awards. We are an inclusive organisation and Level 3 Disability Confident Leader Trust.

We are constantly innovating and looking for new ways to deliver care, such as using technology to enhance patient care and working with partners to launch new services such as the Basildon Mental Health Urgent Care Department, virtual hospitals and falls response cars.

Join us and you’ll do the best work of your life – and make a difference to other people’s lives. What we do together, matters.

Job overview

Band 2 - £12.92 per hour (£25,272 per annum pro rata)

Monday to Friday - 8am - 4pm - Hours and Rotas can be discussed at interview

To participate in the provision of the in-house FM services to a specified area within the Trust, which may include in-patient areas and retail outlets: The FM services comprises of the cleaning, catering, portering, bed making and laundering services, however some of these services are unit specific. Therefore sections of this job description may not be relevant to all staff and will be identified where appropriate but are not exhaustive.

You must be aware of the important part you play in maintaining the environment to an excellent standard.

You must also be aware that your work will involve working alongside patients and occasionally interacting with them as you carry out your duties outlined below.

Main duties of the job

You will be working as part of the Facilities Team and are expected to have a flexible approach to your duties.

You will be working as a valued member of the Estates & Facilities Management Team.

Please note you must have right to work in the UK to apply for this position.

Due to current Home Office Guidelines, we are unable to sponsor this job role.

The Estates & Facilities Department is responsible for delivering high quality and cost effective services across Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust.

We are looking to appoint a number of enthusiastic and highly motivated

Annual leave entitlement is 27 days plus bank holidays rising to 33 days after 10 years service (pro-rata to hours worked).

Working for our organisation

EPUT are looking for motivated staff who shares our Trust values of Open, Compassionate and Empowering. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;

• Season Ticket Loans
• NHS discounts for staff
• Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
• Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
• The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work

Important Notice: Recently the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) which amended on 22 July 2021 and come into force on 11 November 2021 that anyone directly employed to work in a Care Home or who are required as part of their role to be deployed to a CQC registered care home are required to have had both their COVID vaccinations, unless they are exempt. This is therefore a requirement of this role and will form part of our pre-employment checks

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Domestic Service including Rapid Response (CAT)
To ensure that the ward(s) / areas you are assigned to are cleaned in accordance with the

Work Schedule for those ward(s) / areas.
To work with your supervisor and other interested parties when the work schedule for the area you are assigned to is reviewed. This is to ensure that the Work Schedule for that area is manageable and appropriate.
To ensure that you inform your supervisor if there are any problems for example, with floor coverings, surfaces etc which will have a detrimental effect on your ability to clean those areas properly.
To ensure that whilst you carry out your duties you only use the correct colour coded mops, cloths, buckets etc that have assigned to those areas and that these items are properly cleaned and stored or disposed of at the ends of your shift. You are doing this to prevent cross infection in the area you are working in.
To ensure that all the cleaning materials and disposables you use (ie floor cleaner, handtowels) are used economically. It will be your responsibility to report to your supervisor if you find the quality of the products you are using deteriorates in any way, or if substitute products are delivered to your ward. You must ensure that only chemicals provided by the Trust area used and that these are used appropriately and in the way you were trained to use them.
To use any machinery /equipment (ie vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, regeneration ovens) in such a way that you will not either endanger yourself or any other person in the area in which you are working. This will include: reporting any faults or broken equipment to your supervisor as soon as possible keeping equipment clean and/or cleaning items after you have used them changing vacuum cleaner bags on a regular basis only using equipment for the task it is intended for remembering to use safety signs and circuit breakers when appropriate.
To be responsible for ensuring that all the equipment and cleaning materials you use are stored securely and safely in the area in which you are working. You must report to your supervisor if you find that the security of these items is threatened in any way, or if you find your storeroom unlocked when you commence your shift.
To ensure that general or domestic waste, recyclables and clinical waste are disposed of in the correct manner and to bring to your supervisor’s attention any incidences where waste is not being segregated, stored or disposed of correctly. Food Services
To assist (where applicable) with the regeneration process of cook chill meals by taking and recording the temperature of the cook chill food prior to placing it into the regeneration oven and commencing the cook cycle. To prepare soup, gravy and custard for the patient meal service. (Note – you will be responsible for the whole regeneration process, which will include ensuring temperatures are recorded at the end of the regeneration cycle and for plating food in order that it can be served to patients by clinical staff at Thurrock, Rochford and all sites in the North of the Trust.)
To ensure the oven gloves and cloths are used and launtered on a regular basis.
To be responsible (if applicable) for serving and clearing away the meals served to patients on the ward / area you are working in.
To be responsible for the cleaning of crockery and cutlery that is used for the serving of patient’s meals.

Laundry Service

(This section is relevant to specific areas i.e. Mountnessing Court and Fountains Court, Landermere Centre, Henneage Ward and Kingswood Centre).
To ensure that all items of patients clothing, duvet covers, duvets and curtains requiring laundering are washed, dried and finished in the correct and most appropriate way for those items.
To ensure that any garment, once it has been washed and dried that has not reached the required standard is either re-processed or ironed so that it is returned to its owner in an acceptable condition. To ensure patients personal items are labeled.
To ensure dirty and soiled items are kept separate from clean items to minimize the risk of cross infection.
To ensure that all items, once they have been through the complete laundering process are placed in the agreed area.
To ensure you keep the Laundry clean and tidy. This will include completing the cleaning checklist to evidence that all tasks have been completed to a satisfactory standard.
To ensure that you and your colleagues work together to keep the machinery (i.e. washing
machines and tumble driers) in the laundry clean and that faulty machinery is reported to the Supervisor so that it may be dealt with as soon as possible.

Portering
To carry out various routine tasks that include the delivery of pharmacy boxes and medical records (where appropriate) clean linen, bread, milk, general stores and goods received, meal trolleys and the collection of dirty linen, waste etc. Where appropriate to obtain a signature from an appropriate member of staff for these items. These duties include the Compassionate Empowering Open watering of plants in public areas and assisting with keeping public areas tidy over weekends and Bank Holidays.
To sort, deliver and collect mail (where applicable) as instructed.
Frank post for collection by royal mail (West Essex)
To carry out ad-hoc tasks as and when required for example transporting patients (accompanied by nursing staff – Basildon MHU only), medical gasses, specimen and bloods, furniture removal, setting up meeting rooms.
Ensure medical gas supplies are maintained and monitored for in patient wards at St Margaret’s and Saffron Walden Community Hospitals.
To decant and deliver liquid nitrogen to the relevant department OPD (West Essex), reporting defects and cryogenic liquid levels for replenishment.
To safely operate the electro-hydraulic waste compactor (with appropriate training).
Attend Community site buildings using Trust vehicle for ad-hoc work including collections and deliveries
To assist with the unloading and loading of vehicles are required.
To ensure the site, including the car park is kept clear of litter and rubbish and external waste bins are emptied and kept clean.
To assist when required with vehicular access to site i.e. fire brigade in an emergency andmvisitors requiring assistance.
To attend fire calls as per the Trusts procedure and where required provide assistance to the fire brigade to ender the site and guide them to the designated fire panel and key box.
To undertake gritting and snow clearance around the site in times of severe weather.
To keep waste compound and storage areas and all equipment used for the service clean
and tidy.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• understanding of cleanliness and good hygeine practices

Skills/experience

Please be aware that, due to current allocation constraints, Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are being prioritised for registered roles at this time.
Important note: please ensure that as part of your application, you include professional references with business contact information covering your last three years of employment history. We are unable to accept personal or character references.

As a newly appointed employee, you are responsible for incurring the cost of your initial DBS check relevant to your post; the amount will be deducted from your first salary with the Trust.

Our Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We particularly welcome applications from people with experience of using mental health services. We also hold the Disability two tick symbol and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with learning disabilities, we encourage people with a disability to apply. If you require this application form in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape etc, please contact the Recruitment Department on 01375 364513 or email [e-mail] and we can arrange for this to be dispatched to you.

The Trust has the right to expire vacancies prior to the closing date if they so wish. The Trust makes every attempt to contact all applicants and we strongly advise that you check the email account which is registered with NHS Jobs regularly, we would advise however due to the high number of applications we receive that if you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expect all staff to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to robust safer recruitment processes.

Important Notice: Recently the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations) which amended on 22 July 2021 and come into force on 11 November 2021 that anyone directly employed to work in a Care Home or who are required as part of their role to be deployed to a CQC registered care home are required to have had both their COVID vaccinations, unless they are exempt. This is therefore a requirement of this role and will form part of our pre-employment checks.

Please note -staff who are formally at risk within the organisation will be given priority in securing alternative employment. Should it come to light that a post being advertised by the Trust is considered ‘suitable alternative employment’ to an individual who is at risk, the recruiting manager will be advised and the post will be withdrawn from NHS Jobs.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

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.