Healthcare assistants

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust; Dartford; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 22,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Dartford is seeking motivated individuals for the role of Healthcare Assistants at Band 3 level. The position offers full training for those without prior healthcare experience, making it perfect for compassionate individuals with a positive attitude towards mental health and social inclusion. Duties include providing personalized care under supervision, supporting emotional regulation, and working within a multi-disciplinary team to ensure high-quality patient care. This role promotes engagement, collaboration, and respectful care centered on the needs of the service users.

Qualifications

• Previous experience in healthcare not necessary as training will be provided.
• Must possess a positive attitude to mental health, recovery, and social inclusion.
• Ability to support emotional regulation and work in a multi-disciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on personalized care under supervision.
• Support emotional regulation and create a safe environment.
• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Skills

Positive attitude to mental health

Compassionate

Communication skills

Empathy

Job description

Overview

We are seeking to employ several motivated individuals to the role of Healthcare Assistants at Band 3 level for our Forensic Inpatient Directorate (Bracton Centre and Memorial Hospital). Previous experience in healthcare is not necessary as full training will be provided, but applicants must possess a positive attitude to mental health, recovery, and social inclusion. We are a Trauma Informed Service, looking for dynamic and compassionate individuals. We are seeking to recruit people who are curious about the ways that adversity and traumas impact our patients' behaviours, functioning, clinical presentations and engagement. You will be supported to deliver high quality care to patients, in which your relational skills will help our patients to feel safe, listened to, valued, engaged and empowered. You will be supported to be trauma responsive, developing practices that avoid causing further harm, promote engagement and create a safe context for healing and recovery. You will have access to multiple sources of support, including supervision, training, staff support sessions and working alongside colleagues from multiple professional disciplines (e.g., psychologists, occupational therapists, nurses, social workers, medics and administrators).

Sponsorship

Important Sponsorship Information for this post: We are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post. The job is designed to introduce staff who have little or no experience of caring work, but who demonstrate the values of the organisation and are passionate about patient care.

Responsibilities

Healthcare assistants provide hands on personalised care to service users, always under supervision, and with the support of more senior staff. You will use your skills to create safety, support emotional regulation, reframe frustrating behaviours and reflect on your own practice.

The job is designed to help the post holder gain clinical experience, under close and supportive supervision, and to ensure our service users and carers receive care from people with the right values.

You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, where good communication supports the management of clinical and risk issues on the ward.

You will be part of a service that is focussed on re-emphasising how focus on relationships and communication keep people physically and psychologically safe within the forensic setting, such as providing patient choice, when possible, collaboration and transparency.

• Working under the direct supervision and guidance of a Registered Nurse/ Senior Health Care Support Worker/ Assistant Practitioner/Nurse Associate to support the delivery of quality nursing care, contributing to the physical, psychological, social, recreational, and spiritual care in a recovery focused and trauma‑informed way, through therapeutic engagement and activities, and taking steps to address any issues that arise.
• Undertaking activities to ensure that the fundamentals of care are met – such as physical and psychological safety, emotional and social support, nutrition, hydration, hygiene and comfort.
• Offering patient‑centred care, offering choices and opportunities to empower patients whenever possible.
• Providing hands‑on care to service users including undertaking 1‑1 engagement with service users in an honest, open and non‑judgmental way.
• Recognising and valuing service users as individuals, acknowledging the importance of always maintaining the service user’s respect and dignity and ensuring that the care provided respects equality and diversity.
• Escalating any concerns to a Registered Nurse.
• Monitoring and recording service user clinical observations as directed by a Senior Clinician/Registered Nurse/ B4, such as physical observations and vital signs and escalating as appropriate any signs or symptoms of deterioration or that do not fulfil the personal parameters to the relevant professional.
• Accessing staff support to manage the emotional demands of the work and to sustain curiosity and empathy for patients and colleagues.
• Encouraging and supporting service users to engage with healthy lifestyles, participate in community meetings and other activities of their interest.
• Escorting service users, as required, in line with Trust policies, under guidance and supervision of Senior Healthcare Support Workers, Nursing.
• Advocating for service users’ needs and rights within Trust policy.

The Forensic Directorate supports a yearly rotation of staff to other wards to enable them to acquire new skills, avoid burnouts and gain the full benefit and experience working in the forensic directorate. The post holder may hence be rotated to other ward as part of further development and to meet service needs.

Inclusion

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities. Remember, if you meet the minimum criteria for this role and you have a disability, you can be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme – please ensure you select this on your application form. We would encourage you to be open about your needs so we can work with you to design a comfortable and accessible interview experience. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request. If you require any adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know by adding the relevant details when scheduling your preferred interview date and time. Please feel free to contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs. We encourage applicants to contact the hiring manager before their interview, if they have any questions about the role or the process.

If you have declared you are part of the armed forces community, you may be asked to provide evidence during the recruitment process. If you misrepresent this information, your offer may be withdrawn. For Armed Forces specific support, see our webpage: https://oxleas.nhs.uk/armed-forces-community/

Artificial Intelligence Policy

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it is essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information. AI‑generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process. We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct. Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process.

About Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

Working for our organisation Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes. We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people. Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We’re Kind
• We’re Fair
• We Listen
• We Care