Health Care Assistant - Chalkwell Ward | Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Southend University Hospital NHS Trust; Basildon; Hybrid; GBP 18,000 - 24,000; Full time

Job summary

A local healthcare provider in Basildon is looking for Healthcare Support Workers to join their team. You will provide essential support to patients, helping with daily tasks alongside nursing staff. This role offers training for those without experience, ensuring you develop the necessary skills for a fulfilling career in healthcare. Opportunities for career growth into nursing roles are also available. Flexible working arrangements and competitive benefits are included in this rewarding position.

Benefits

NHS salary structure and pension

27 days holiday plus bank holidays

Health and wellbeing support

Childcare vouchers

Discounts on public transport

Wide range of LGBTI+ initiatives

Qualifications

• No previous experience required; training will be provided.
• Must have the ability to work independently and in a team.
• Excellent communication skills are essential.

Responsibilities

• Washing and dressing patients.
• Serving meals and feeding patients.
• Helping patients to move around.
• Monitoring patient condition.

Skills

Caring and kind

Cheerful and friendly

Keen to support patients

Able to follow direct instructions

Happy to work in a team

Good listening skills

Well organised

Job description

We are looking for individuals with or without experience to work in healthcare, to join the NHS family helping people from your local community. Healthcare Support Worker opportunities are available in Frailty and Care of the Elderly ward.

No experience? No problem. We will teach you everything you need to know. To us, it is more important that you are a caring and kind person with a genuine desire to help and support patients and their families. If this sounds like you, then you already have the skills that make a great Health Care Support Worker.

Right from the time you join us, you will have access to learning, development and training opportunities. As you progress in your NHS career you will acquire the knowledge, skills and confidence you need to provide safe and compassionate patient care.

Mid and South Essex is a great place to work, offering a working environment with an inclusive culture that looks after and values our people and creates a sense of belonging. We encourage applications from people who embrace our values and who will enable us to expand our diverse workforce.

The Healthcare Support Worker role can also lead to a range of career opportunities. With the right support, those who want to can undertake the necessary training to become our future nurses, nursing associates and midwives.

As a Health Care Support Worker, you will be a hugely valuable support to our Nursing and Midwifery teams providing care to our patients. Every day will be different and you will work alongside the rest of the team carrying out a wide range of tasks and assisting with care to support the needs of the patients and their families.

Responsibilities

• Washing and dressing patients
• Serving meals and feeding patients
• Helping patients to move around
• Making beds
• Talking to patients and their families
• Monitoring patient condition

Skills and personal attributes needed

• Caring and kind
• Cheerful and friendly
• Keen to support patients with their personal needs including washing and toileting
• Able to follow direct instructions
• Happy to work in a team but also able to use own initiative
• Have good listening and communication skills
• Be well organised

Full time and part time positions are available, and we are open to discuss flexible working arrangements. This opportunity is available for candidates who have the right to work in the UK.

Our ambition is to deliver excellent local and specialist services, to improve the health and well being of our patients, and provide a vibrant place for staff to develop, innovate and build careers.

We aim to make the most of our skills and experiences so we can become the best we can be. As one organisation we will recruit the finest and retain more specialist staff due to more employment opportunities across our Trust.

The Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS) brings together key health, care, community, and voluntary sector organisations from across our area. Our aim is to work together in partnership to join up health and care services, improving our populations health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities. One such example of this collaborative work is the launch of our HCA Academy, an ICS initiative between Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) to support the incoming Health Care assistant (HCA) workforce. The academy models a ‘one workforce’ cross system approach to the onboarding, induction, education, and experience of Healthcare Assistants.

Successful candidates to this role will be able to access the additional support provided by the HCA Academy following their induction with MSEFT. This includes development opportunities, pastoral support, staff rewards and access to HCA exclusive resources such as HCA App.

Are you looking for an exciting care role using your unique qualities, then we want to hear from you.

What we Offer

• Range of opportunities for flexible working
• Strong team ethos
• NHS salary structure and pension
• 27 days holiday plus days off for bank holidays worked
• Enhanced pay when you work unsocial hours
• Maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• Childcare vouchers
• Wide range of LGBTI+ initiatives
• Health service discounts and online benefits
• Health and wellbeing support
• Discounts on public transport
• Disability Confident Reasonable adjustment

For full details about this varied and rewarding role, please see attached job description. We look forward to your application. Please be aware that we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a suitable number of applications.

This advert closes on Friday 12 Dec 2025