Catering Assistant - Royal Bournemouth Hospital (30hrs)

Main area: Catering

Grade: Band 2

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 30 hours per week (Including evenings, weekends and bank holidays.)

Job ref: 153-CO05622

Employer: University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

Site: Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Stour Building, Catering Department

Town: Bournemouth

Salary: £24,465 Per Annum. Enhanced payments for weekend working.

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 05/03/2026 08:00

Interview date: 16/03/2026

As University Hospitals Dorset, we are a three-site acute trust with ‘university hospital’ status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m. We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious £500m transformation programme is well on the way to delivering state-of-the-art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.

In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with over seven miles of sandy beaches, you’ll find inspirational opportunities to achieve your perfect work/life balance. With the New Forest and the Purbecks on our doorstep, we’re also less than three hours from London by road or train. The thriving towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch give way to idyllic villages and unspoilt landscapes just minutes from our hospitals.

We believe that having a diverse workforce, and allowing people to be themselves, is essential in ensuring we offer an inclusive, welcoming and productive place to work. We especially welcome applications from minority groups in the community who may be underrepresented in our workforce.

At UHD, our active staff network groups are the Women’s Network, Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group (BAME), Pride Network, European (EU), Pro Ability Staff Network, and the Armed Forces Support Group. As a Trust, we are proudly signed up to the Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant guaranteed interview schemes.

We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support the preparation of their application. While this is not discouraged, we kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of your own experience and suitability. Personal integrity is an important part of the recruitment process.

Job overview: University Hospitals Dorset is seeking a friendly, hardworking, reliable person to support the Catering team to provide great customer service in our busy restaurants and coffee bars. Duties include serving food and drink items, operating a till, refilling of stock and general cleaning duties.

Base Location: Royal Bournemouth Hospital

Please note we are unable to offer sponsorship for this position.

Main duties of the job: As a member of the catering team, you'll be responsible for providing an efficient, high-quality service to staff, patients and visitors, operating in compliance with corporate and local policies and procedures.

Working for our organisation: UHD are investing, developing and transforming Trust services in line with the New Hospital Programme. As part of this, some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or permanently. Recruiting Managers will be happy to answer any service-specific questions at interview. If a role or service relocates as part of a planned move, excess mileage will not be reimbursed. Travel from home to the new work base will be classed as a normal commute. Any other changes will be managed under Trust or national terms and conditions.

UHD has active networks including Women’s, DEN, Pride, EU, Pro Ability, and Armed Forces. We support Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant interview schemes. AI tools may be used, but applications must honestly reflect your own skills and experience. Integrity is key to our recruitment process.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities: For more information regarding the position being advertised, a detailed job description and job specification is available as attachments.

Person specification:

• Experience in a busy Catering / Retail environment
• Experience in working in a customer-facing role
• Experience of operating a till

Qualification:

• Good standard of Education (GCSE’s Grade D or above)
• Basic Food Hygiene Certificate
• Health and Food Safety Qualifications

Other:

• Good standard of Numeracy and Literacy
• Good general understanding of the Catering / Retail industry
• Able to work as part of a team and mix with other members of staff
• Openness to change and ability to respond quickly to tasks
• Able to work on own initiative and follow clear instructions

Please note: Staff recruited are expected to be available to work flexibly across all our Trust locations to meet service demands. This advert may be closed early if sufficient applications are received.

COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself and our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst this vaccination is not a condition of employment, we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated.

Internal Candidates: staff employed prior to merger who voluntarily change jobs will be appointed to UHD terms and conditions.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.