Night Porter

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust; Preston; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking a portering operative to provide front-line support across wards and departments. You will transfer patients, carry out general portering duties, assist with ad hoc driving, and support security and safety procedures on a large hospital site.

You will communicate with portering supervisors and clinical and non-clinical staff, maintain records, and work as part of a dedicated team in a busy 24/7 service, contributing to a high standard of patient

Qualifications

• Basic level of education in literacy and numeracy.
• Full UK Driving Licence and experience of working with the public.

Responsibilities

• Provide front-line portering support across wards and departments.
• Carry out general portering duties and patient transfers.
• Assist with ad hoc driving requests and security duties as required.
• Communicate with portering supervisor and colleagues by phone and radio.
• Identify and act upon risks within the working environment.
• Support Emergency Department colleagues in contamination incidents and fire/major incidents.

Skills

Full UK Driving Licence

Public interaction

Independence on large site

Education

Basic literacy and numeracy

Job description

To provide a comprehensive front-line support service to all wards and departments within the Trust. You will be responsible for supporting patient transfers, carrying out all general portering duties, occasional ad hoc driving requests and assisting with security issues as required.

• Communicate verbally with the portering supervisor and colleagues by phone and radio and through written procedures, ensuring an effective exchange of information regarding Portering tasks and service needs.
• Communicate with a range of clinical and non-clinical staff, patients, and visitors to understand patient needs and other requirements regarding portering duties.
• Undertake portering duties in accordance with legislation, policies, and procedures.
• Undertake security duties as required.
• Identify and act upon any potential risks or hazards within the working environment.
• Assist Emergency Department colleagues in the event of a contamination incident, including erecting the decontamination tent.
• Maintain and develop own competence for the Portering role.
• Assist during a fire or a major incident.
• Drive vehicles on Trust business.
• Pro-actively support the continued improvement of the portering service.
• Demonstrate a consistently high standard of professionalism, be flexible in approach and use own initiative to plan workload and resolve problems.
• Basic level of education in literacy and numeracy.
• Full UK Driving Licence, Previous experience of working with the public.
• Ability to work independently across a large site.

Desirable criteria

• A basic understanding of the role of a porter in a healthcare setting.
• Proficient in using a PC, software, and systems.
• Electronic Communication Device Skills.
• Experience of Manual Handling Techniques.
• Health & Safety Awareness.

One LSC is a new collaborative partnership shared service formed by the five NHS Trusts serving the Lancashire and South Cumbria population of 1.8 million people. We are a shared service run by the NHS, for the NHS and are hosted by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust on behalf of the partner Trusts of the Lancashire and South Cumbria system.

One LSC stands for 'One Lancashire and South Cumbria' and reflects the Lancashire and South Cumbria System ambition to have one team serving Lancashire and South Cumbria in a joined‑up way. It is jointly run by the five Trusts as a collaborative partnership. The Trusts that make up One LSC are: Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust. One LSC brings together the Digital, Data and Technology, Estates and Facilities, Finance, People Services and Procurement and Logistics services from each of the provider Trusts to create one central community of professionals. Under one leadership team, they will provide services for and on behalf of all Trusts. The aim is to bring services more closely together so that we can deliver the best service possible to each of our partner organisations. At the core of One LSC delivery is eliminating duplication, removing unwarranted variation, realisation of the benefits of sharing common systems and processes and ensuring we deliver value for money for our partners, our system and, ultimately, for the communities we serve.

Please note that this post is Part of One LSC – a corporate collaboration hosted by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and providing Estates and Facilities Services to Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. As a porter, you play such an invaluable role supporting the day to day running of our hospital. You will help directly with supporting patients moving to different parts of the hospital, often when they are at their most vulnerable. Your reassuring and friendly demeanour can really make a difference to the patient experience. It's not simply transporting patients between different wards and departments, it also includes a variety of other duties such as sample collection, the transportation of linen, removal of domestic and clinical waste, postal services, security duties and driving duties. It's a busy and active role and extremely satisfying and fulfilling. We are a 24/7, 365 days a year service, completing up to 15,000 tasks a month. You will join a dedicated and professional Portering team that work hard together to deliver an efficient service that we are extremely proud of.

We have 10,000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients. Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to 1.5 million people across Lancashire & Cumbria. Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns. You'll have access to varied development opportunities, learn new skills, meet fab people & do things you'd never have done. You'll learn about working in a hospital, interacting with people from all different roles to build skills & enhance your career path. You'll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care and enhancing their experience which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of.

Equal opportunities

The Trust is an equal opportunities employer, committed to improving the working lives of our staff and operates a 'Zero Tolerance' policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment. In addition, our aim is to help protect children and vulnerable adults by providing a first‑class service to the recruitment of people into positions of trust. We aim to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone irrespective of ethnic origin, gender, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability or social background. We especially welcome applications from members of our black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, as we have identified that ELHT has an under‑representation of BAME employees. Appointments will be made on merit.

Application details

• Please note that the salary advertised is for full time hours. If this post is less than 37.5 hours per week, the salary will be pro‑rata. For posts on Agenda for Change pay‑scales, new entrants to the NHS will normally commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.
• This vacancy may close before the closing date if the recruiting manager deems sufficient applications have been received. Therefore it is advised to complete your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
• Please note that shortlisting is completed anonymously with candidates being assessed against the essential criteria for the post. Therefore only applicants, who can clearly demonstrate how they meet our person specification criteria in their application, will be short‑listed.

Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS) If the role you are applying for is identified as either controlled or regulated activity as defined in in the Safeguarding vulnerable Groups Act (2006) any offer of employment is provisional upon a satisfactory DBS check being obtained. The healthcare sector is exempted from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. In line with other NHS organisations in the North West Region, the Trust is now passing the charge for undertaking a DBS check on to candidates in the event they are successfully appointed into the post for which they have applied. Candidates can choose whether to pay this over 1‑3 months as a deduction from the monthly salary. However, if you are applying for a post as a BANK worker, the payment must be made in full at the time of employment checks. By applying for this vacancy you are agreeing to this undertaking in the event you are successfully appointed. The cost for an Enhanced DBS, is £45.90 and for a Basic & Standard, this is £24.90 this cost includes a £4.90 admin fee.

Please note: a young person must be in part‑time education or training until they're 18. If you are under 18 we are unable to employ you on a full time basis, unless it is in an apprenticeship role.

Disclosure and Barring Service checks If the role you've applied for requires a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check we will administer this on your behalf and the cost will be recovered from your salary, either as a one‑off payment, or over 3