Ward Catering Assistant in Chorley

We want talented and enthusiastic people from all backgrounds to join #TeamMWL, with us you can learn, grow and develop yourself and your career, realising your true ambitions and aspirations. Whatever you’re looking for in your career, you’ll find it here at MWL.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Ward Catering Assistant to join our Team. The ideal candidate will have a "Can do attitude", be flexible and a team player who has experience working in a busy kitchen environment. Good customer care skills and experience of working in a kitchen/coffee shop/restaurant are essential. A 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:

• Assist our ward teams improve patients' experience whilst they are in hospital.
• Support the front-line delivery of inpatient meal service to maintain standards for nutrition and hydration.
• Reduce food waste and maximise efficiency.
• Provide a professional patient-focused meal service ensuring hygiene and patient safety standards are maintained.
• Support 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.

Working for our organisation:

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 include:

• 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.
• Specialist Regional Services: We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital.

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• Maintain all operational procedures.
• Enforce compliance with Waste Management Policy.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ensure all appropriate hygiene monitoring is carried out and recorded for every process.
• Ensure compliance with national standards of cleanliness.

Teaching & Training Responsibilities:

• Attend training courses as required and participate in annual refresher sessions.

Line Management/Supervisory Responsibilities:

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

Financial Responsibilities:

• 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.

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you is shared with the recruiting manager.

Flexible Working: We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL.

Working for Team MWL: Staff recognition is especially important to us; we recognise staff through Employee of the month.

You will be expected to undertake the Trust's commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.