healthcare assistant

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in Lancashire is looking for a Healthcare Assistant to support patients with daily tasks, assist in treatments, and maintain high standards of care. This role requires excellent communication skills and the ability to work flexibly within a team. The candidate should be committed to ongoing professional development. The Trust encourages applications from diverse candidates and provides opportunities for personal growth and skill development within a supportive environment.

Benefits

Flexible working patterns

Continuous learning and development

Qualifications

• You need to communicate well with a variety of healthcare professionals.
• You should be committed to ongoing professional development.
• You will work closely with the multi-disciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Help patients with daily tasks like maintaining good nutrition and hygiene.
• Assist medical and nursing teams with treatments.
• Provide high-quality, timely care to all patients.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Ability to work flexibly

Enthusiasm for patient care

Teamwork

Job description

We have three main hospitals providing acute services to around 330,000 local residents. The organisation also provides specialist tertiary care for cardiac and haematology services, delivers community health services to over 445,000 residents including those in North Lancashire and hosts the National Artificial Eye Service across England. Plus, we provide urgent and emergency care services to an estimated 18 million people who visit the seaside resort each year. We employ over 7000 people from 68 different countries.

We welcome and encourage application from anyone with protected characteristics, as well as supporting reservists and Veterans who are looking for a rewarding and challenging career within the NHS.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals encourages flexible working in all our roles to support staff in maintaining healthy home-life balance. Working patterns such as part time working, self-rostering, compressed hours, annualised hours, term time, reverse term time and flexitime working can be explored.

We provide top-quality care for patients undergoing cardiac and thoracic surgery, including those stepping down from CITU, CCU, A&E, as well as elective. This is a shift-based role with ongoing internal rotation, and you'll be expected to work weekends, bank holidays, and occasional late finishes.

Successful candidates will receive support from both our nursing and medical teams, along with all the essential training needed for the role.

You'll need to communicate well with a variety of healthcare professionals and bring enthusiasm and passion for delivering top-quality care. As a healthcare assistant, you'll help patients with daily tasks like maintaining good nutrition, supporting personal hygiene, and accompanying them to procedures, while also assisting the medical and nursing teams with treatments. Alongside providing essential nursing care, you'll be expected to learn clinical skills such as taking observations and performing venepuncture (drawing blood samples). Full training for these skills will be provided by the Trust.

Providing high-quality, timely care to all patients while working closely with MDT colleagues. Duties include theatre preparation, transporting patients for investigations, offering personal care, assisting with nutrition and hydration, ensuring a safe environment, and monitoring high-risk patients.

You need to have excellent communication skills, as our patients are often complex and require you to be patient and understanding.

You will be required to liaise with the multi-disciplinary team to ensure patient needs are identified and communicated effectively so that safe decisions are made around patient care.

You will be expected to maintain high standards of nursing care under the supervision of a Registered Nurse and be personally responsible for your actions following the Trust's Policies and Procedures. You will be required to support the safe admission, transfer and discharges of patients and be pro‑active in the timely support provided to patients at all times.

You will be expected to maintain accurate written and/or electronic records ensuring all legal requirements are met.

You'll be encouraged and supported to develop new skills, take an active role in driving improvements, and champion a care area that interests you. You should also be committed to ongoing professional development and able to show evidence of your progress.

You will need to be prepared to work flexibly to the needs of the service.

About the Trust

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is situated on the west coast of Lancashire, with services covering the local authority areas of Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. The Trust is part of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) supporting a population of around 1.6 million people.

Working for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will provide you with lots of opportunities to develop your skills and further your career. The Trust provides services to the 440,000 residents of Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre and North Lancashire.

We are proud of the care we strive to provide, and we want to continue to build on this by the addition of passionate, kind and caring people to our teams. Using the latest pathways, evidence-based care and the community therapy support networks available to us to give every patient the best opportunity to remain independent, safe and supported. We are looking for people who strongly align with our Trust values and share common goals.

Commitment to Our Staff

• Developing new roles and ways of working to ensure a flexible and innovative approach to staff.
• Real equality of opportunity.
• Continuous learning and development for staff.
• Achieving a work life balance.

The Trust is accredited as a Disability Confident employer. That means we recognise our obligations to ensure people with disabilities are afforded equal opportunity to enter employment and progress if and where possible.

Disclosures and Background Checks

If the role you have applied for requires a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check we will administer this as part of your pre‑employment checks. Please note, you will be required to repay the cost on appointment. This will be collected via a salary deduction. You can choose whether to pay this over 1‑3 months from your salary or as a one‑off payment on commencement in post. The level of check required depends on the role that you have been offered. Currently the charges are - Basic DBS check £25.50, Standard DBS check £25.50 and Enhanced DBS check £53.50.

You are encouraged where possible, to register for the DBS update service. This is an annual registration fee of £16. By registering for the update service you will not have the additional cost of repeated disclosures.

Should you withdraw your application, you may be required to reimburse the cost of the DBS check.

DBS checks remain free of charge for volunteer positions.

By submitting an application for this vacancy you are confirming your agreement to the above in the event you are successfully appointed. The DBS Code of Practice can be accessed here.

Please ensure that you read the Person Specification attached below as your application will be judged against this. Please note that every effort will be made to keep the vacancy live until published closing date, though there may be instances where such interest is generated, that for administrative reasons the post may close earlier.

In line with national NHS guidelines this Trust operates a strict non‑smoking policy. Members of staff are not permitted to smoke on Trust premises or grounds at any time nor take breaks during working hours for the purposes of smoking.

The Trust does not offer interview expenses to shortlisted candidates unless indicated in the advert.