Healthcare Support Worker

University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust; Pennington; Hybrid; GBP 21,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS discounts

35 days holiday (pro rata)

Generous pension scheme

Job summary

University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust invites applications for a Healthcare Support Worker in the Ophthalmology service. The role is hybrid, based at the Lymington Outpatient Eye Unit with occasional work at the main Eye Unit in Southampton.

The team operates Monday to Friday with a 4-day week in practice, offering good work-life balance and development opportunities. The role requires acute hospital experience as a HCSW, with development pathways to Band 3 and a pay uplift on progression.

Qualifications

• Completed care certificate or ability to complete within 6 months of appointment.
• Capable of attaining NVQ level 3 in care with acute units corresponding to specialty or equivalent experience
• Ability to move and handle patients and equipment
• Completed secondary education
• Evidence of empathy, patience and dependability
• Ability to deal with a range of difficult situations
• Be able to take instruction / directions and work within the confines of the role
• Ability to cope with fluctuating demands and pressures of the role.
• Requirement to be aware of and adhere to the care certificate standards; https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/care-certificate
• Capable of completing core HCSW competencies and additional specific competencies related to area of work within 12 months of appointment
• Previous Experience in: 1. Acute hospital setting. 2. Volunteer sector 3. Teaching Assistant 4. Nursing home carer

Responsibilities

• Assess patients acuity and understanding the patient pathway and planning care as required.
• Install eye drops and support with some specialised adult clinics.
• Maintain clinical records related to procedures.
• Undertake specialised eye measurements and imaging including OCT for clinical purposes.
• Undertake visual field assessments and use appropriate equipment

Skills

Empathy

Patience

Dependability

Manual handling

Education

Care certificate

NVQ Level 3 in care

Secondary education

Job description

University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust

Healthcare Support Worker

The closing date is 23 November 2026

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Job Title: Healthcare Support Worker

Contract Type: Permanent

Due to changes to the UK immigration rules and the closure of the Immigration Salary List UHS will not be able to provide visa sponsorshipfor this Healthcare Support Worker vacancy.

Please be advised that this vacancy may close earlier than stated if we receive a large number of applications.

If you are joining as a band 2 this position is part of a development programme that supports you to grow into a band 3 role, with a pay increase upon successful completion.

If you are already working in a Band 3 HCSW role in the NHS, we will assess your experience and responsibilities against the competencies required for this position. Where these competencies are met, we will match your current pay and banding.

This role requires acute hospital experience as a Healthcare Support Worker. It is most likely the successful candidate will already be working as a Band 3 HCSW.

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has become available to join our diverse Ophthalmology team as a Healthcare Support Worker. This is a hybrid role for Lymington Outpatients Eye Department (includes both nursing and imaging roles).

Our service runs Monday to Friday; our workers enjoy a good work life balance with a 4-day week across the 5 days. This position is based at Lymington Outpatient Eye Unit; there will be occasional offsite working at the main Eye Unit based at Southampton Hospital.

All applicants would need to be flexible, empathetic and passionate. The ability to work well within a team and independently is required.

About us

As one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in England, we offer learning and development opportunities to help you achieve the career you aspire to. UHS is rated 'Good' by the CQC and in the latest national NHS Staff Survey, we were in the top 10 acute trusts for staff engagement and for staff recommending the hospital as a place to work or receive care.

We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalising your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.

• We support flexible working and will consider requests taking into account the needs of the service.
• UHS employees are able to access a range of NHS discounts
• are entitled to a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata)
• we offer a generous pension scheme

Job responsibilities

Duties / Responsibilities

The role includes but is not limited to, assessing patients acuity, understanding the Patients pathway, assessing patients holistic needs and planning care as required, installation of eye drops, supporting and assisting with some specialised adult clinics, maintain clinical records in relation to all procedures carried out.

You will also undertake specialised measurements of the internal and external eye using a variety of equipment, visual field assessments using the appropriate choice of equipment. Undertake specialised imaging of the eye, including Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) for clinical purposes.

We would welcome informal visits

Qualifications, knowledge and experience

• Completed care certificate or ability to complete within 6 months of appointment.
• Capable of attaining NVQ level 3 in care with acute units corresponding to specialty or equivalent experience
• Ability to move and handle patients and equipment
• Completed secondary education
• Evidence of empathy, patience and dependability
• Ability to deal with a range of difficult situations
• Be able to take instruction / directions and work within the confines of the role
• Ability to cope with fluctuating demands and pressures of the role.
• Requirement to be aware of and adhere to the care certificate standards; https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/care-certificate
• Capable of completing core HCSW competencies and additional specific competencies related to area of work within 12 months of appointment
• Previous Experience in: 1. Acute hospital setting. 2. Volunteer sector 3. Teaching Assistant 4. Nursing home carer

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

University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust