Postal Service Operative

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust; West of England; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a reliable Post Room Assistant to provide an efficient postal service across wards and departments at Southmead Hospital. You will collect, sort and deliver internal and external mail, ensuring accurate distribution and timely posting.

The role requires good communication, strong organisational skills, and the ability to work independently within a small team, maintaining confidentiality at all times. Training and support are provided.

Qualifications

• Must hold a clean, full UK driving license.
• Good standard of English language and Maths.
• Willing to undertake full training for the role.

Responsibilities

• Provide a high quality, proactive postal service for wards and departments.
• Ensure all post is collected, delivered, sorted and posted efficiently and accurately.
• Distribute incoming mail across the Southmead Hospital site.
• Prepare and frank outgoing mail as required.
• Maintain equipment in a clean and safe manner.
• Attend relevant training such as fire safety and manual handling.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication

Teamwork

Organisation

Confidentiality

Mail handling

Franking machine

Delivery/pickup mail

Manual handling

Customer focus

Education

Full UK driving license

English and Maths

Willing to undertake training

Tools

Franking machine

PC Literate (Word, Excel)

Job description

Education And Qualifications

Essential criteria

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities

Essential criteria

Experience

Essential criteria

North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) have merged as of 1st July 2026 to become Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. This creates an exciting future that brings together the best of both organisations. As a single, strong and sustainable organisation, we will not only be able to deliver better outcomes for our patients and fairer care for our population, but it will also provide greater opportunities for our people. Bristol NHS Foundation Trust recognise the value of a healthy work-life balance. When applying, speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate flexible working, so your work life fits around your home life. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within the Trust. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) describes algorithms that can be used to produce new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos. It is developing all the time and is now being used as a support mechanism for all kinds of content-based creations. Please note the use of AI is monitored and if applicants have used it then they are required to declare this.

Job Overview

• To provide a high quality, proactive and professional postal service for all wards and departments.
• To ensure all post (internal and external) is collected, delivered, sorted and posted efficiently and accurately.
• Distribute incoming mail (letters, parcels, flyers, etc) across the Southmead Hospital site (Brunel building and Retained Estates).
• Prepare and frank outgoing mail accordingly to the class/postage required.
• Maintain all equipment in a clean and safe manner.
• Assist in any area, or work activity as required for meeting schedules and/or providing cover.
• Attend relevant statutory and non-statutory training, e.g. fire safety, manual handling.
• Carry out any duties appropriate to the post as directed by the Service Manager.

• Good interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively on a daily basis, at all levels I.e.: staff at all levels within the Trust, patients, staff, and contractors.
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a small team.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Reliable, honest, flexible, with a “can do” attitude.
• Customer focused approach.
• Ability to multitask and prioritise own workload.
• Good communication skills using the telephone, emails, and face to face.
• Ensure confidentiality of staff, patients, and visitors at all times.
• Able to sort and deliver mail accurately, and within allocated timeframes.
• Safe manoeuvring and handling of roll cages and trollies, both when empty and full of mail.
• Operate franking machine according to supplier manual.
• Frank post under relevant account for internal recharge.

Working for our organisation

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations, operating from three main sites at Southmead, Bristol city centre and Weston. With an annual turnover of £2.3 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone’s throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer.

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust values all people as individuals. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Physical Effort

• This position requires standing for long periods when working in the Post Room.
• The role involves standing on your feet for periods of time and includes walking around the entire hospital building, when collecting and delivering mail.
• Physical effort involves the ability to safely push/pull roll cages and trollies.

Mental Effort

• Ability to analyse information to progress queries to the relevant person/department.
• Ability to understand and meet targets and deadlines, able to learn and assimilate new information.
• Ensure every effort is made to reduce postal costs for the Trust.
• Ensure that all service users, budget codes and cost amounts are accurately recorded.
• Using appropriate levels of stock for the task, reducing waste.

Emotional effort

• Working in busy customer service environment.
• Working in hospital setting where you may encounter patients in distressing or emotionally demanding circumstances.

Working conditions

• Working in busy customer service environment.
• Working in hospital setting where you may encounter patients in distressing or emotionally demanding circumstances.
• Postal collections and deliveries made by vehicle are completed in all weather conditions.

Person specification

Education And Qualifications

• Must hold a clean, full UK driving license
• Willing to undertake full training for the role
• Good standard of English language and Maths

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities

• Good Communication Skills, written and spoken
• PC Literate (Word, Excel)
• Physical effort to fulfil manual handling duties
• Good timekeeping and organisational skills

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of postal service and procedures/policies
• Knowledge of postal equipment and processes

Experience

Essential criteria

• Able to work in a busy, stressful environment
• Able to prioritise conflicting workloads

Desirable criteria

• Experience working in postal service or mail room
• Previous experience of working in healthcare setting

Personal qualities

Essential criteria

• Good customer service skills
• Strong team ethic
• Pro‑active approach to work
• Self‑motivated and reliable
• Able to cope witnessing patients who may be in distress
• Able to ensure confidentiality at all times
• Attention to detail

We hope that you will decide to join us and become part of this exciting journey, helping us to shape our future together.

• As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.
• The Trust is committed to investing in and caring for all our staff. We will support you in maintaining and improving your health and wellbeing, as well as your career development through management and training support - developing exceptional people for exceptional careers.
• BFT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
• To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 all applicants must be able to speak fluent English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed at Interview.
• If you require sponsorship for a visa to work in the UK, to avoid disappointment, please check to ensure you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.
• The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
• By applying for this post, you are agreeing to Bristol NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
• Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via @recruit.trac.jobs or nhs.net e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.

Important

Please note that if you apply for a position with this Trust, you may be contacted via Trac or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your Trac account and email accounts. We may also contact you by texting the mobile number, if provided, on the application form.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date.

Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.

As a guide interviews should usually take place within 3 weeks of the closing date.

When providing employment reference details, please provide correct work-related email addresses so references can be sought promptly when we are looking to progress your application. Your referee must all be known to you in a line manager or professional lead capacity.