Healthcare & Therapy Assistant - REACT | East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A community health service provider in Ipswich seeks a motivated Healthcare & Therapy Assistant to support patients experiencing a short-term crisis at home. Responsibilities include providing personal care, working closely with a multi-agency team, and supporting patients to regain independence. Candidates must have proven care experience and a valid UK driving license. This role offers varied shifts and the chance to make a difference in patient care.

Benefits

Generous pension scheme

NHS discounts

27 days annual leave

Qualifications

• Proven care experience essential for this post.
• Must hold a valid UK driving licence.
• Ability to travel to patients' homes.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a proactive approach to service delivery.
• Support clinicians by completing delegated tasks.
• Provide one-to-one support with patients in their home environment.

Skills

Care experience

UK driving licence

Education

Care Certificate or equivalent

Job description

Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join our award winning Reactive Emergency Assessment Community Team (REACT) as a Healthcare & Therapy Assistant (HTA).

REACT is based within the community and assesses and supports patients experiencing a short-term ‘crisis’ to remain in their own home, avoiding an emergency admission to hospital where possible. The integrated, multi-agency team covers a varied caseload, and you will join a team of Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Doctors, healthcare & therapy assistants, social workers and staff from Suffolk Family Carers, Citizens Advice and British Red Cross.

The REACT Service provides 24-hour support, with shifts that will include early, late, nights, weekend and bank holiday working. With a reablement approach our Healthcare & Therapy Assistants support people to regain their level of Independence with activities of daily living.

You must hold a valid UK driving licence and be able to travel to patients’ homes using either your own car or one of the team’s pool cars. Both teams work across Ipswich and East Suffolk, with a central base in Ipswich with proposed plans for further bases in Woodbridge and Stowmarket.

Please note that proven care experience and/or a Care Certificate (or equivalent) is essential for this post.

Find out more about working for us in REACT as a Healthcare and Therapy Assistant. https://esneft.pagetiger.com/dwmzbmf/1

Responsibilities

• To develop and maintain a flexible, proactive and positive approach to the role, whilst being innovative and open to change in working practices.
• To take responsibility and ownership of high-quality service delivery, to foster a culture of integrity, be an ambassador for REACT raising the profile for the service and support ESNEFTs trust values.
• Manage an effective interface with colleagues from health, social care and voluntary care services to ensure an integrated approach to a patient centred care.
• Support clinicians by completing delegated tasks, to meet the individual needs of patients and service users. Gaining skills through training, to support areas of, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Dietetics, Mental Health, Medicines and Social Care.
• Work in collaboration with patients and their carers, healthcare professionals and agencies, to ensure a joined up and integrated approach to patient care.
• Support end of life and long term life limiting conditions, aimed at reducing unnecessary admissions to hospital or long-term care.
• The role will include providing one to one support with patients in their home environment supporting all aspects of personal care and daily activities, using a reablement approach.

Please watch our YouTube video about the service: REACT - YouTube

About ESNEFT and Our People

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.

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 offer 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

Application details

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

This advert closes on Tuesday 11 Nov 2025