Read more

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust; Tonbridge; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days annual leave + bank holidays

NHS Pension scheme

Blue Light card discounts

Job summary

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is recruiting for a Catering Assistant at Tonbridge Cottage Hospital to provide hands-on catering and cleaning support. The role runs 37.5 hours per week on a 2-week rota, with shifts from 7am to 7pm and enhanced rate on weekends/bank holidays.

The post offers NHS benefits, a focus on patient nutrition, and training to cover cleaning and HACCP duties as part of a supportive team within the trust.

Qualifications

• Experience within the Commercial Catering industry is welcomed.
• Right to work in the United Kingdom is required.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and cook nutritious meals for patients and staff, with a robust cleaning down process throughout the shift.
• Clean inpatient and clinical areas when service needs require.
• Follow HACCP and dietary requirements and complete related paperwork.

Skills

Catering experience

Job description

Catering Assistant | Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Company: Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts, the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Medway Community Healthcare or working on the Staff Bank within these organisations. Nursing and AHP vacancies are also open to Student Nurses and Newly Qualified Nurses/AHPs.

We are recruiting for a Catering Assistant at Tonbridge Cottage Hospital with a requirement to clean inpatient and clinical areas when service needs require. This post is for 37.5 hours per week, working a 2 week rota pattern, alternate weekends with shifts between 7am to 7pm.

Experience within the Commercial Catering industry is welcomed.

Your hourly rate in this role will be £12.92. Weekends and Bank Holidays attract enhanced rates of pay.

Working for KCHFT has many benefits for all of our staff which include:

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays. Your annual leave entitlement increases with length of service.
• Automatic enrolment into the NHS Pension scheme (opt out available)
• Access to NHS discounts and access to Blue Light card discounts

This is primarily a hands-on catering position where you will learn all the back-ground skills and knowledge to enable you to complete the role, e.g. food preparation and cooking, allergens and other dietary requirements, completion of HACCP paperwork, equipment training and waste management. Preparing and cooking nutritious meals for patients and staff, along with a robust cleaning down process throughout the shift.

Full training will be provided for the cleaning aspect of this role.

Please note, this vacancy does not meet the criteria for skilled worker sponsorship and therefore, we are unable to accept applications from candidates that cannot provide documentary evidence of right to work in the United Kingdom.

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is due to integrate with Medway Community Healthcare on 1 October 2026. Following integration and to align our community services to the new Neighbourhood Model of care delivery, there will be a period of consultation which may result in changes affecting some services, teams or roles. Depending on the area you are applying to work in, this could include potential changes to your role, work base, reporting arrangements, or terms and conditions of employment. Any changes would be subject to consultation and managed sensitively and in line with relevant employment processes. Please do contact the recruiting manager if you have any concerns about this so they can answer any questions you might have.

Rated "Outstanding" by CQC, we deliver high-quality care that improves the health of our communities. We are looking for people who share our values: Compassionate, Aspirational, Responsive and Excellent.

We are proud to be an inclusive, welcoming organisation and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We use protected characteristic information for monitoring only and it is not seen by recruiting managers, except where applicants choose to be considered under our disability guaranteed interview scheme.

We know life outside work matters. As a flexible working-friendly organisation, we welcome conversations about arrangements that help you thrive while supporting excellent care for our patients.

Explore KCHFT career pathways

As a community Trust, many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. Where driving is a requirement of the role, you will be asked to confirm that you hold a full UK driving licence or a full driving licence issued by an EU country (not exchanged from a non-EU country) to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment. If you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via [e-mail], quoting the vacancy reference number, so we can support you further.

The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.

At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve.

Find out more about the community differencehere.

Good luck! We can’t wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.

This advert closes on Sunday 13 Sep 2026

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust