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Job description

Are you compassionate, caring and communicative? Would you like to be the best you can be or grow your career in a world-class teaching hospital? We believe our Healthcare Assistant (HCA) roles offer this opportunity.

University Hospital Southampton (UHS) is one of the largest acute teaching trusts in England and provides a wide range of healthcare services to some 1.9 million people living in Southampton and South Hampshire. Our Healthcare Assistants help our nurses and doctors at UHS, by offering the highest standards of personal care and support to our patients.

As a Health Care Assistant you’ll work under the guidance of a Registered Nurse or healthcare professional on one of our busy adult wards or outpatient areas. We will allocate you to the area within the hospital which we feel best meets your skills and our needs following our interview process.

Here at UHS, we recognise that Health Care Assistants from different employment backgrounds can bring a breadth of knowledge and new ideas - previous care experience is desirable but NOT essential. If you are looking to start your journey within healthcare, then we would love to hear from you.

You’ll start your career with us by following a 2-week full-time and in-depth induction that will enable you to complete your Care Certificate, find your feet within the hospital, and quickly embed yourself as part of our team.

Our fantastic staff can teach you the required skills if you share our values, are ready to learn and:

• Have excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Are happy to carry out a variety of tasks (detailed below) - including personal hygiene care
• Be able to work a variety of shifts - these include mornings (shifts could start from 7am), short days & long days (shifts are generally 8 – 12 hours long), evenings (till around 8pm) and nights (from around 7pm).

We consider both Part-Time and Full-Time applications, but you MUST be flexible and able to cover a variety of shifts as UHS operates a 24 hours a day service, 365 days of the year.

A Healthcare Assistant at UHS is not just a job, it’s a career opportunity that can start your exciting journey within healthcare. Our HCA’s receive top industry training and development, with a tailored career programme and amazing links to support nursing or higher healthcare apprenticeships. We lead the way in benefits too – our HCAs receive:

• A minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata)
• A two-week intensive induction to set you up for success in your new role
• Guaranteed contracted hours
• Access to extra shifts and overtime pay for those who want it
• A mentoring team that is dedicated to our HCAs, who will help you with emotional, personal, and professional support
• A central hospital location with great transport links and reduced fares for UHS staff
• Incremental pay progression with structured reviews and continued professional development
• A generous pension scheme and life insurance
• Access to national and local NHS discounts including popular high street and online retailers
• Onsite subsidised restaurants, cafes and high-street shops
• Financial awards through our refer a friend scheme

Your main day-to-day duties will include:

• Washing and dressing patients and aiding in their personal care
• Assisting patients to access and use toilet facilities
• Serving meals and helping to feed patients
• Helping patients to safely move around
• Assisting with bed making, cleaning tasks, errands, or general duties
• Collecting pathological specimens e.g., Urine, faeces, sputum
• Making patients and their families feel comfortable
• Monitoring and reporting patients’ conditions by taking temperatures, pulse, respirations and weight measurements

Please read the attached person specification and job description as this will support you in your application, and then apply via the link. If your application is successful, we will contact you to arrange a telephone call to discuss next steps.

Our remote HCA interviews currently occur on Wednesdays over MS Teams.

If you’re the kind of person who believes in putting patients first, is always looking to improve and are a team player, then we’d love to hear from you!