Senior Healthcare Assistant - Emergency Department

Job overview

Healthcare Assistant Band 2 for King's College Hospital.

No experience? No problem. You don’t need any healthcare experience to join us at King’s as a Health Care Assistant (HCA). It is more important to us that you are a kind, respectful team player with a passion to want to help and support our patients, their families and colleagues. We will teach you everything you need to know.

As an HCA, you will be a hugely valuable in supporting our Nursing and Midwifery teams providing care to our patients. Every day will be different and you will work alongside the rest of the team carrying out a wide range of tasks and assisting with care to support the needs of the patients and their families.

Main duties of the job

Day to day, you’ll work under the supervision of our registered staff to help:

• To assist patients with activities of daily living whilst encouraging independence, as appropriate.
• Demonstrate encourage and assist patients in undertaking therapeutic activities within parameters of agreed care plans and under the guidance of registered practitioners.
• To assist with patient nutritional needs – eating, drinking, menu selection, meal delivery and special diets according to the individual patient’s needs.
• To assist in the maintenance of up to date, comprehensive and accurate records in accordance with current legal requirements both written and digital.
• To assist in the admission and discharge of patients.
• To escort patients and families to other departments within the hospital as required.
• To participate in maintaining standards of hygiene, cleanliness and infection control, reporting problems as appropriate.
• To ensure that equipment is clean at all times, stored safely when not in use and report faults as appropriate.

The role involves shift work (early shifts, late shifts, long days, nights and weekends) so the ability to work these shifts is essential. However, as an organisation we support flexible working and have both full and part time roles available.

Working for our organisation

The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. The trust-wide strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King’s to another level.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To assist patients with activities of daily living whilst encouraging independence, as appropriate.
• Demonstrate encourage and assist patients in undertaking therapeutic activities within parameters of agreed care plans and under guidance of registered practitioners.
• To assist with patient nutritional needs eating, drinking, menu selection, meal delivery and special diets according to the individual patients needs.
• To assist in the maintenance of up to date, comprehensive and accurate records in accordance with current legal requirements both written and digital.
• To assist in the admission and discharge of patients
• To escort patients and families to other departments within the hospital as required.
• To participate in maintaining standards of hygiene, cleanliness and infection control, reporting problems as appropriate.
• To ensure that equipment is clean at all times, stored safely when not in use and report faults as appropriate.
• To assist in setting up and preparing patient areas appropriately to the clinical area.
• To ensure that stock levels of linen, sterile supplies and stationery are maintained at all times in conjunction with the senior sister/ward receptionist.
• To assist in the maintenance and safekeeping of patients property in line with Trust policy.
• To assist ward staff with general collection/delivery of items necessary to ensure effective operational management of ward/department.
• To assist in performing the last offices as requested
• To ensure that all patients and relatives are welcomed and orientated to the ward environment.
• To assist with the care of distressed or bereaved relatives
• To demonstrate an awareness of the different cultural, ethnic and religious needs.

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

Desirable criteria

• Functional Skills Level 1 in Numeracy and Literacy or GCSEs Maths and English Grades A-E or 9-2.
• NVQ level 2 or equivalent or willing to work towards diploma level.
• Care Certificate.

Knowledge and Experience

Desirable criteria

• Previous experience in the healthcare industry.
• Previous customer service experience.

Skills and Competencies

Essential criteria

• Work well with other members of the team including communicating effectively, being kind and considerate, reliable and enthusiastic.
• To have the ability to communicate effectively and demonstrate excellent communication skills - verbal, listening and written
• To demonstrate a caring and compassionate attitude in your daily work.
• Demonstrate an understanding of issues around Patient confidentiality.

IMPORTANT

• Check your email account regularly as this is how we will communicate with you
• If you delete the job from any of your accounts, you may be prevented from accessing further communications
• To enquire about your application or inform us of any changes in your circumstances, please contact the named person on this advert
• Please provide email addresses for referees where possible
• Please review the documentation on our recruitment microsite, particularly the Trust’s criminal records checking policy
• All staff have a responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and for ensuring they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.
• Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. On occasion, we might close a vacancy early due to a high number of applications being received. You are advised to submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

AI tools like chatbots and virtual assistants can support you as you complete your application. For example, they can check for spelling or grammar errors, or help you to decide what to include. They shouldn’t however replace your own responses or be used to write the application for you.

Relying too much on AI can negatively impact your chances of success because automatically generated answers:

• might not be specific or relevant enough to address the criteria in the recruitment profile
• often seem generic and not personalised enough – an AI response won’t show your unique voice and perspective
• could misrepresent information about you, such as your qualifications, skills and experience

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reports and Other Corporate Publications

King's Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre Website

King's College Hospital is part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC), a pioneering collaboration between King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts.