Housekeeper - Bluebell

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust; Stevenage; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust is seeking a proactive Housekeeper for a Children's Ward. You will be part of an exceptional team of clinical and non-clinical staff, coordinating patient and parent facilities while ensuring a clean, safe, and welcoming environment.

You will support the ward with catering services, stock checks, and adherence to infection prevention standards, working closely with contractors and support services to maintain high-quality care.

Qualifications

• Good general education is essential.
• Experience in care settings, catering or housekeeping is desirable.
• Awareness of infection prevention and control is essential.
• Health and safety awareness is required.
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Responsibilities

• Ensure delivery of catering services and related ward duties.
• Assist with stock control and ward-based tasks as directed.
• Monitor quality standards and address deficiencies promptly.
• Maintain clean, safe and comfortable ward environment.

Skills

Good communication

Well organised

Customer care

Team player

Initiative

Education

NVQ level 2

Food hygiene qualification

Job description

Here at East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust

Our mission is:

Providing high-quality, compassionate care for our communities

Our vision to 2030 is:

To be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service

Our values

We want our staff to believe in, demonstrate and live our values in everything we do. Our values are:

Include

We value the diversity and experience of our community colleagues and partners, creating relationships and climates that provide an opportunity to share, collaborate and grow together.

Respect

We create a safe environment where we are curious of the lived experience of others, seek out best practice and are open to listening and hearing new ideas.

Improve

We are committed to consistently delivering excellent services and continuously looking to improve through a creative workforce that feels empowered to act in service of our shared purpose.

Job overview

We are recruiting for a Housekeeper for your Children's Ward who share our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.

We are looking for a friendly, motivated individual to join an exceptional team of midwifery and non-clinical staff.

You will work as an integral part of the ward team and be responsible for the co-ordination of all patients and their parent/carer facilities/services in the ward area and for ensuring a clean, safe, and comfortable environment.

At the heart of everything we do are our core values: Include, Respect, and Improve. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.

Main duties of the job

• The main elements of the role are ensuring the delivery of our catering service together with other specified tasks to meet individual patient and families needs, as well as stock control and other ward-based tasks as determined by the ward manager.
• We are looking for housekeepers who will embrace our exciting service developments, whilst providing the best care possible to our patients.
• You will be required to work closely with contractors and support services departments, assist in the monitoring of quality standards ensuring deficiencies are dealt with in a professional and timely manner.
• To assist in monitoring and maintaining cleaning standards on the ward.

Working for our organisation

At East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general & specialist services we provide & our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible & innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.

We run the following hospitals:

• The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
• New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
• Hertford County, Hertford
• Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood

We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation; our staff & patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.

We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. Employees are entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns & we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made & considered formally, & will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed information regarding this role.

Person specification

Qualifications/Training

Essential criteria

• Good standard of general education

Desirable criteria

• Educated to NVQ level 2
• Food hygiene qualification

Previous Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience gained in a relevant working environment, eg a care setting, catering or housekeeping environment.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Good communication skills
• Well organised
• Customer Care skills
• Ability to work well as part of a team
• Able to use initiative

Desirable criteria

• Computer skills

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Awareness of issues related to infection prevention and control
• Health and Safety awareness
• Food hygiene

Other Requirements

Essential criteria

• Understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion
• Role model our Trust values every day

When you apply...

Please note we do not offer visa sponsorship for roles unless clearly stated in our adverts. This means even if you have the right to work currently but will require a new sponsorship to work for our Trust your application will not be considered.

Vacancies may close earlier than the advertised closing date where a high volume of applications are received. We therefore encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to avoid missing out on the opportunity to join the Trust or develop your career with us.

While we recognise that AI can support in drafting an application, you are encouraged to clearly demonstrate your personal skills, experience and behaviours that align with the role, and this is usually best done in your own words. We reserve the right to review all applications for the use of AI tools and where this is inconsistent with our values and standards of behaviour your application may be rejected.

All correspondence relating to vacancies will be via the e-mail address you have provided on your application form. Some servers automatically send e-mails to your junk mail so please check as well as your inbox.

We are committed to fair, transparent and ethical recruitment. We will never ask applicants to pay fees at any stage of the recruitment process. All vacancies are advertised on our Trust Careers webpage and NHS Jobs, with applications managed through TRAC. We will only contact applicants through our official recruitment channels and Trust contact details.

Secondments/Fixed term

Where a vacancy is advertised as a temporary position, the duration will be specified in the advert. If the vacancy becomes permanent towards the end of the specified duration, the successful applicant may not be required to re-apply and can be slotted into the role on a permanent basis if appropriate.

If you are an internal applicant applying for a temporary working arrangement, please see the attached notes on secondments.

Committed to our Community

East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion for all job applicants, staff, patients and the wider community. We want to create a workforce which represents the communities we serve. We are on a journey to become a more inclusive organisation and we welcome applications from everyone regardless of their background. In particular we encourage applications from candidates with disabilities, and candidates from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who are currently under-represented in various parts of our workforce .

We understand the importance of balancing work and home life. We are committed to support flexible working for our staff wherever possible and all our employees are given the opportunity to discuss potential for flexible working.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and achieved our status in 2019.

We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact us by emailing [e-mail]

We are also proud to support our UK armed forces by supporting Reservists, Cadet Instructors, Veterans and military spouses/partners into employment and offering supportive policies that value their contribution to the community and to our Trust.

We are committed to being a carer-friendly environment, addressing the complex needs of families with caring responsibilities. In partnership with Carers in Hertfordshire, all our working carers have access to support from recruitment. We are also a member of Carers UK, providing resources to make balancing work and caring easier. Our approach is inclusive, recognizing diverse challenges and creating a supportive environment where carers feel valued.

King's Trust Support

If you're aged between 16 and 30 years-old, you can get FREE employability support from The King's Trust. The King's Trust will help build your CV and cover letter, offer advice and top tips for future interviews and support you with research about working in the NHS. Please contact