Ward Catering Assistant

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 12,000 - 15,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in Nottingham is seeking a Ward Catering Assistant to support patient meals across wards, ensuring timely, appetising and nutritious options are available. The role requires a can-do attitude, customer care and the ability to work as part of a busy kitchen team.

The successful candidate will cover shifts as needed, hold Food Safety Level 2 if possible, and contribute to high-quality patient care while maintaining hygiene, safety and

Qualifications

• Experience in a busy kitchen or similar environment.
• Ability to cover annual leave and absences as required.
• Good customer care and patient-focused service orientation.

Responsibilities

• Maintain all operational procedures.
• Enforce compliance with Waste Management Policy and hygiene standards.
• Comply with Hygiene and Food Safety Legislation and HACCP.
• Deliver professional patient-focused meal service with hygiene and safety in mind.
• Support stock control and monitor food wastage where applicable.
• Observe and participate in the Trust Quality Strategy and staff training.

Skills

Customer care skills

Ability to work under pressure

Provision of patient-focused service

Communication

Cash handling/cash registers

Team player

Education

Food Safety Level 2

Basic Numeracy

Basic Computer Skills

HACCP Training

ECDL or equivalent

Job description

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Ward Catering Assistant

The closing date is 16 November 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Ward Catering Assistant to join our Team

Hours Available are - 1 x 30 hours permanent

The ideal candidate will have a "Can do attitude" flexible and will be a team player who has experience working in a busy kitchen environment.

The ideal candidate should have good customer care skills and experience of working in a kitchen/coffee shop/restaurant.

Food Safety level 2 certificate would be an advantage.

Candidates will be required to cover annual leave and absences if required to maintain a high standard of service.

Main duties of the job

As a Ward Catering Assistant, you will assist our ward teams improve patients experience whilst they are in hospital, supporting the front-line delivery of inpatient meal service to maintain standards for nutrition and hydration, reducing food waste and maximising efficiency.

You will be expected to provide a professional patient focused meal service ensuring hygiene and patient safety standards are maintained.

In addition, the Trust are committed to provide a excellent, essential patient care, supporting patients to receive optimal levels of nutritional and hydration during their episode of care by providing the right food for the right patient at the right time at each meal service.

About us

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our Services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Job responsibilities

• Maintain all operational procedures
• Enforce compliance with Waste Management Policy to meet the changing requirements as segregation requirements increase
• To comply with Hygiene and Food Safety Legislation
• Ensure compliance with Facilities Management standards
• Ensure compliance with HACCP
• Ensure effective delivery of services to service users and customers
• Maintain and improve all aspects of the service
• Participate in staff involvement groups for all aspects of the Trust Quality Strategy 2012/15
• Observe legal requirements
• Responsible for the safe use of all equipment
• Ensure compliance and operational observance of safe working practices as detailed in all aspects of risk management
• Ensure all appropriate hygiene monitoring is carried out and recorded for every process
• Ensure compliance with national standards of cleanliness

TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSIBILITIES

• To attend training courses as required and participate in annual refresher sessions in accordance with own Personal Development Review

LINE MANAGEMENT/SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide guidance and a knowledge base for new and existing staff

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• To ensure economical use of all Trust resources
• Maintain and monitor stock levels to meet the demands of the service
• Distribute and maintain economic and effective use of chemicals and products
• Monitor and record food wastage

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Food Safety Level 2
• Basic Numeracy
• Basic Computer Skills
• HACCP Training
• ECDL or equivalent

Knowledge

• NHS Experience

Skills

• Customer Care Skills
• Ability to work under pressure
• Provision of a patient/customer focussed service
• Principles of Risk Management
• Communication
• Ability to instruct other less qualified staff or students
• Cash handling abilities/use of cash registers

Other

• Physically demanding role
• Pushing and pulling trolleys/cages
• Varied deadlines and adhoc pressures
• Dealing with staff/customer issues
• Exposure to temperature variations
• Professional and hygiene awareness/appearance
• Varied shifts

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust