Healthcare Assistant

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust in Gloucestershire is seeking a Health Care Assistant for a 6-month fixed-term role at Wotton Lawn. You will support qualified nurses, contribute to care plans, and help run the ward to ensure safe, person-centred care.

Experience is helpful but not essential; a structured development plan including the Care Certificate is on offer, with supervision and the potential to progress to Level 3 Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeship.

Qualifications

• Previous healthcare experience is desirable but not essential.
• Ability to work within a multidisciplinary team to deliver care.
• Willingness to learn and develop through a structured plan.

Responsibilities

• Assist qualified nurses in providing care as per individual care plans.
• Support ward operations and liaise with other departments to ensure smooth running.
• Develop rapport with patients to balance activity, socialisation and rest.
• Use communication skills to de-escalate challenging situations and support carers.
• Assist patients with accessing monies following Trust procedures.

Skills

Interpersonal communication

Team collaboration

Care support

Education

Care Certificate (if available)

Job description

This role is offered on a fixed term basis for 6 months. .

Do you want a job where you can make a real difference? If so, then we have a job for you!

We are looking for someone who is dynamic, enthusiastic and person centred to join our team at Wotton Lawn. You will need to be resilient and prepared to think about the positives rather than focusing on challenges.

In return we offer the chance to work with some highly complex people in an extremely rewarding job where no day is the same as the last. You will be joining a team of highly skilled and committed individuals and will become part of the Multi-disciplinary team.

• To assist qualified nurses in the provision of care as detailed in the individual care plans, undertake tasks that facilitate the smooth running of the ward as directed by qualified nurses, and liaise with other departments.
• To develop rapport with patient group to enable patients to balance periods of activity, socialisation and rest.
• To provide assistance and support in maintaining patient's social network to include family relationships and cultural needs.
• Use interpersonal and communication skills to de-escalate and reduce aggressive behaviour if encountered from users and carers.
• To provide ward and community based social and recreational activities for ward patients including individual and group activities.
• Awareness of own limitations, seek support if and when need arises.
• Liaise effectively with nursing colleagues, MDT and other allied health professionals.
• Ensure that core aspects of care are maintained and developed.
• Regularly establish good links and communicate with carers.
• To assist patients to access their monies following Trust financial procedures

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

As a Health Care Assistant you will be responsible for participating and assisting in the delivery of care and services to patients and service users as part of a Mental Health and Social Care Health Service. Health Care Assistant, employed by the Trust are required to follow the guidance set out in Code of Conduct for Health Care Assistants/ Health Care Support Workers to provide safe and compassionate care of a high standard, and to challenge others who are not.

Previous experience is desirable but not essential. If you are new to care and hold no experience in healthcare, then we offer a fantastic development opportunity with a structured development plan (including achieving the Care Certificate). You will progress from a pay band 2 to pay band 3 on achievement of the Care Certification.

You will receive direct supervision and partake in reflective practice and training on a regular basis and to support you meeting the Care Certificate standards. All successful applicants will also have the opportunity to discuss the prospect of undertaking a Level 3 Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeship alongside their substantive post. This apprenticeship would include the Level 3 Diploma in Clinical Healthcare.

Gloucestershire Health and Care is committed to embedding and providing personalised care through all of its services as part of our high-quality care strategy. The purpose of personalised care is to empower people to lead the lives they want to live. Personalised care starts with a conversation with people about what matters to them. It builds on what people can do, as well as addressing their health needs. Including new ways of working and delivering care, emphasising that we need to make effective use of the full range of our people's skills and experience to deliver the best possible patient care. So we want to know What Matters to You and that you will share our values and join us on this very important journey.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.