Healthcare Assistant

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust; Chelmsford; On-site; GBP 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in Chelmsford is seeking a Healthcare Assistant to provide high-quality care to patients under the supervision of a Registered Nurse. Responsibilities include assisting with personal hygiene, documenting patient care, and providing end-of-life support. Successful candidates will have experience in a healthcare setting, ideally with knowledge of dementia care. This position offers a competitive salary of £24,465 per annum and opportunities for professional development within a large healthcare team.

Qualifications

• Experience in a healthcare setting is essential.
• Knowledge of caring for patients with Dementia is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Support patients with personal hygiene and daily activities.
• Accurately document patient care and interventions.
• Provide compassionate end-of-life care and monitor vital signs.

Skills

Effective communication

Compassion and care

Basic patient care

Documentation skills

Job description

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Healthcare Assistant

The closing date is 21 December 2025

The Health Care Assistant will function as part of the multi-disciplinary team within the ward or department to provide a seamless service & high-quality care to patients under the support and direct supervision of a Registered Nurse.

The HCA is expected to undertake care to meet the needs of the patients under the supervision of the Registered Nurse, working within the Trust's policies, procedures and Trust Values and of the ward or department in a safe and person-centred environment for the treatment of patients whilst working collaboratively as part of the multidisciplinary team.

It is expected that the Health Care Assistant will continue to develop their own capabilities and knowledge of nursing tasks in line with the Trust's career pathway to maintain standards of care.

Main duties of the job

• Communicate effectively with patients, relatives and colleagues.
• Maintain accurate documentation surrounding patient care and interventions.
• Demonstrate care and compassion at all times to patients and their relatives or carers.
• Assist patients with personal and oral hygiene needs.
• Assist patients with eating and drinking and accurately record intake.
• Enable patients to access appropriate toileting facilities, collect and dispose of body waste.
• Record patient vital signs and observations and escalate appropriately.
• Provide pressure area care and regular repositioning.
• Recognise patients who are in pain using a pain scoring scale and elevate to a registered nurse where appropriate.
• Provide compassionate and dignified end of life care.
• Undertake simple wound dressings as delegated by the Registered Nurse.
• Orientate patients to the ward.
• Remove peripheral cannulas from patients following instruction from the registered nurse.
• Participate in the enhanced observation of patients.
• Utilise a range of de-escalation techniques in challenging situations.
• Respond appropriately to emergency situations.
• Respond to any safeguarding concerns and elevate appropriately.
• Act in a professional manner at all times demonstrating dignity and respect

About us

With a workforce of approximately 15,000 staff, we can now do more and go further in delivering health services to our local communities.

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.

Patients will experience improved care as well as fewer delays and cancellations. We are able to provide more once-in-a-lifetime specialist care region-wide. With our new trust size will come more opportunities for development, research, networking and innovation.

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.

Job responsibilities

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 population's 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.

For full details about this varied and rewarding role, please see attached job description and main responsibilities.

We look forward to your application!

Person Specification

Experience

• Evidence of experience in a health care setting.
• Experience in an acute hospital setting.

Experience

• Knowledge and experience of caring for patients living with Dementia.

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

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

£24,465 a year per annum (Pro Rata for Part Time)