Maintenance Assistant in London

To provide engineering support to the estates team within their areas of responsibility: buildings and grounds. The post holder will be required to complete maintenance documentation in detail for all works completed. Responsible for assisting in the provision of a quality, efficient, responsive, flexible & effective estates service to Whittington Health and properties that the Trust works from, working as part of the Estates Department Team. Apply Trust/departmental safety policies and procedures system to all aspects of the work.

Main duties of the job:

• To carry out unsupervised (once trained), planned preventative maintenance routines and reactive maintenance works as instructed management that does not justify the attention of a fully-qualified maintenance staff.
• Provide feedback to line management using various forms of communications.
• To learn minor works in other trades as required to assist maintenance staff.
• To carry out some minor painting and redecoration using roller and brush applications.
• To carry out minor installation work when required.
• To be aware of new technology and new working practises.
• Attend training courses as requested to develop core skills and further develop non-core skills.
• Maintain adequate records on all plant and equipment.
• To comply with Health and Safety Regulations and report any defects through the Trust helpdesk.
• To perform other routine work requiring basic skills (including labouring) as needed.
• Co‑operate and assist with multi‑trade maintenance staff of other trade bias and grades to complete tasks safely and as speedily as possible.
• To understand and adhere to the Trust Health and Safety Policy, Fire Safety Policy and Departmental Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s).
• To undertake any training required in order to maintain competency including mandatory training i.e. fire and manual handling.
• To carry out collection & disposal of refuse from external bins and maintain a clean external environment.
• Adhere to procedures for sickness reporting, annual leave and paid absence.

Working for our organisation:

Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• To empty various bins at frequent intervals around grounds and gardens on a daily/regular basis.
• To tackle blockages throughout Trust bathrooms.
• To cut back shrubbery and hedging as required.
• To weed paths, steps, roadways and miscellaneous areas as required.
• To wash down signs and external surfaces as required.
• Maintain personal standards of conduct, discipline, presentation and time keeping.
• Any other duties which may be required to facilitate the effective running of the Estates Department.
• Assist in maintenance of drains and soil systems with minimal supervision.
• To use all relevant tools as instructed by more senior and competent members of the estates team.
• To be able to work overtime at short notice and if required depending on the needs of the Trust.
• To maintain plant rooms, boiler rooms and workshop in good condition (sweeping, disposal of rubbish and removal of redundant equipment).
• Meter readings (after training) on all utilities.
• Minor electrical and mechanical duties e.g. change tap washer, toilet siphon replacement and changing fuses in portable appliance plugs etc.
• Replace lamps, fluorescent tubes and starters (not involving disconnection of electrical circuits) and replacing electrical fuses.
• Disposal of “spent” lamps in a safe, controlled environment (back at the Whittington hospital), complying with Health and Safety Legislation.
• To assist in snow clearance and gritting as and when required. This includes topping up slat bins Trust wide.
• To keep the hospital and Trust properties grounds and gardens swept clean and free of rubbish.

Person specification:

• Qualifications: NVQ2 or equivalent in a Building Services Skill or relevant equivalent experience.
• Skills: Working accurately with attention to detail.
• Knowledge: Knowledge of building, electrical and mechanical systems; Knowledge of working in a complex building in a large organisation; Knowledge of allied trades; General knowledge; Previous experience in maintenance, repair work in a similar environment; Working within a Health care environment.
• Other: Must be fit for post; Able to travel between sites; Undertake out of hours working when required; Flexible approach to hours of work and location; Ability to work at heights; Current driving licence; Live within 40-minutes on Whittington hospital; Good team worker; Smart and tidy appearance; Imaginative outlook in improving “customer” satisfaction; Self-starter able to work with the minimum of supervision.

Safeguarding Children and Adults:

To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This will require you to:

• Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
• Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.
• Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
• Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
• Participate in required training and supervision.
• Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct.

Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Other important information:

You must already have the right to work in the United Kingdom or fully meet the eligibility criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. We welcome applications from candidates who require visa sponsorship; however, we can only consider these where all UKVI requirements are met. Before applying, please ensure that both you and the role satisfy the relevant UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) points‑based system criteria, as applications that do not meet these requirements cannot be progressed. Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work flexible patterns. We are committed to equal opportunities.

In submitting an application form, you authorise Whittington Health NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process should you be appointed to the post.

If you are offered a role with one of the NLPSS partner trusts, as part of pre-employment checks your identity and right to work documentation will be verified remotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a “selfie” using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating.

Please note that during the recruitment process your Identity Documentation (i.e. passport, driving licence, visa, etc.) will be scanned using a device which recognises UV, Infrared and Machine Readable Zone security features of the documents provided. The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

We would welcome applications from individuals who are from underrepresented groups in the organisation.

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.

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.