Health Care Assistant - Surgical Ward 14A

St. Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Sefton; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 24,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust is seeking a Healthcare Assistant Band 2 to support Orthopaedic and Surgical patients before and after surgery. You will provide day-to-day care, ensure patient safety, and document care.

Join a multidisciplinary team on ward, assist with hygiene, nutrition and hydration, and support patients and carers. Experience with elderly patients, including those with dementia, is valued and compassionate care is essential.

Qualifications

• Basic literacy and numeracy skills.
• Completion of Trust Care Certificate within 4 months of appointment.
• NVQ level 2 Health and Social Care or equivalent.
• Care Certificate (level 1) as desirable.
• Knowledge of personal care procedures.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day care to patients.
• Ensure patient safety at all times.
• Document care and actions taken.
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team delivering care.
• Maintain ward standards of care.
• Assist with hygiene, nutrition and hydration.

Skills

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Teamwork

Adaptability

Time management

Flexibility in hours

Resilience

Professional conduct

Stress management

Punctuality

IT literacy

Trust values

Customer care

Education

NVQ level 2 Health and Social Care or equivalent

Care Certificate

Trust Care Certificate (within 4 months)

Job description

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Job overview

Healthcare Assistant Band 2

We're looking for a Health Care Assistant caring for Orthopaedic and Surgical patients both pre and post operatively.

Your main responsibilities will be:

• Providing day to day care to our patients.
• Ensuring their safety at all times.
• You will be responsible for delivering the care and documenting your actions.

Main duties of the job

You will work as part of the multidisciplinary team delivering care to the patients

Your duties will be maintaining standards on the ward.

Delivering a high quality of care by assisting with hygiene, nutrition and hydrations as well as providing physiological support to the patients and carers.

The ward cares for elderly and patients many who are living with dementia, this can be challenging at times but very rewarding.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our Services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Advertising date: 7th September 2026

Closing date: 21st September 2026

Shortlisting date: 22nd September 2026

Proposed Interview date: TBC

Please note, this post may close earlier than advertised if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Basic literacy and numeracy skills
• Completion of Trust Care Certificate within 4 months of appointment

Desirable criteria

• NVQ level 2 Health and Social Care or equivalent
• Care Certificate (equivalent to level 1)

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Knowledge of personal care and related procedures
• Experience of working in a team

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in a patient care/health related role

Other

Essential criteria

• Frequent, moderate effort for several short periods during the shift such as manual handling patients to supporting patients personal care
• Occasional requirement for concentration, with few competing demands for attention
• Aware that developing resilience to distressing situations is necessary without losing the ability to care compassionately.
• Aware of the process for accessing staff health and wellbeing support
• Occasional exposure to distressing situations which may care of chronic health conditions, patient end of life care/ care after death
• Able to carry out direct personal care as required on ward or department
• Frequent exposure to blood or body fluids
• Occasional exposure to patients with challenging behaviours

Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to communicate effectively in both verbal and written formats
• Good interpersonal skills
• Able to work within a team
• Able to accept direction and guidance
• Aware of own limitations
• Flexible in working hours
• Able to prioritise own workload and manage time effectively
• Flexible, adaptable and responsive to change
• Reliable and professional
• Ability to cope in stressful and challenging situations
• Inclusive and non-judgmental
• Punctual, motivated and committed
• Effective role model demonstrating Trust values
• Basic IT skills

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader

We commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.