Healthcare Support Worker - Ipswich | East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS organization in Ipswich is seeking passionate candidates for the role of Senior/Healthcare Support Workers. With opportunities for career progression and apprenticeships, candidates are encouraged to attend an Assessment Day on October 29, 2025. Ideal candidates should have a commitment to shift work and meet specific pre-employment requirements. The trust offers a generous pension scheme and various NHS discounts.

Benefits

Generous pension scheme

27 days annual leave

Access to NHS discounts

Qualifications

• Commit to shifts including nights; must be 18 or older at commencement.
• Meet pre-employment requirements, including references from the last three years.
• Ability to provide satisfactory DBS check & Occupational Health requirement.

Responsibilities

• Attend an Assessment Day in Ipswich on 29th October 2025.
• Recruitment to band 2 or band 3 based on previous experience and qualifications.
• Complete a level 3 apprenticeship if recruited to band 3.

Job description

Overview

Are you passionate about patient care and looking to start or develop your career in healthcare? We are recruiting Senior/Healthcare Support Workers (HCSWs) at Bands 2 & 3, offering opportunities for career progression into nursing, allied health professions, or specialist areas such as theatres.

Our recruitment approach focuses on supporting your professional growth through Apprenticeship programmes that develop the knowledge, skills, and behaviours needed to deliver high-quality patient care. We welcome applications from individuals with or without prior healthcare experience who are eager to build a career in the NHS.

Our assessment day is designed to establish your skills and experience, and to signpost you to the right pathway. If successful you will be offered one of the following pathways:

• Recruitment to band 3 for those with relevant previous experience and/or qualifications, and the opportunity to complete a level 3 apprenticeship
• Recruitment to band 2 to upskill you into clinical care, and the opportunity to complete either a level 3 apprenticeship, or join our level 2 HCSW Academy
• Recruitment to a band 2 in our HCSW Academy for those new to care or with little prior experience (Please see attached Apprentice Flyer)

Applicants and requirements

• Attend an Assessment Day at Ipswich - Wednesday 29th October 2025 location TBC
• HCSW Academy Starters will need to commit to a start date of Monday, 5th January 2026
• Have residency status that allows you to work. Please note that we are unable to offer sponsorship for these roles.
• Meet pre-employment requirements including the ability to provide references covering the last three years, satisfactory DBS check & Occupational Health requirement
• As you will be working shifts including nights you must be 18 or older at commencement

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients’ own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff. We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Benefits and development

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offers a variety of services.

Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients. We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what’s widely regarded as the world’s best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

This advert closes on Wednesday 15 Oct 2025