Job summary Working Full Time: 37.5 Hours Per Week - Between 06.30 and 20.00 on a 7 week rota Enhancements apply as follows: Saturday: Time plus 35% Sunday/Bank Holiday - Times plus 69% Support the Deputy Head of Catering in achieving the highest standards of food preparation, cooking and service. The post holder will provide attractive and palatable meals to hospital patients, staff and visitors, and will adopt responsibility at all times for the quality and outcome of each dish prepared and each task undertaken. The chef will have a commitment to the highest standards of personal hygiene and dress, and take full responsibility for ensuring safe food hygiene and health & safety practices are observed at all times. Assist in the preparation, cooking and service of food for Ellesmere Port Hospital. Main duties of the job As a Chef, you will be involved in the preparation, cooking and serving of food to the highest of standards, regularly seeking feedback from patients and staff in order to continually improve the level of service. You will regularly review menus in line with dietary requirements and communicate effectively with patients, staff and visitors to ensure a balanced diet. Maintaining a clean, hazard free kitchen in order to minimise risks to patients and staff, ensuring compliance with statutory and company requirements on food hygiene, Allergens, storage and temperature control. You will also assist with the effective ordering, control and management of stock levels. You will promote high standards of catering by ensuring kitchen assistants are supervised appropriately and the kitchen operates in a smooth efficient manner, becoming an integral part of the team by building relationships with staff and visitors. About us The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations: The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population. The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000. The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances. Date posted 03 September 2024 Pay scheme Agenda for change Band Band 3 Salary £24,071 to £25,674 a year pa Contract Permanent Working pattern Full-time Reference number 210-2024-599-A Job locations Countess of Chester Hospital Liverpool Road Chester CH2 1UL Job description Job responsibilities See Job Description for further details. Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £23 (standard) or £43 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first three months of employment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £13 per year applies. New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above. Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Good luck with your application. Job description Job responsibilities See Job Description for further details. Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. The cost of the DBS application is £23 (standard) or £43 (enhanced), this cost will be deducted from your salary over the first three months of employment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £13 per year applies. New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above. Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Good luck with your application. Person Specification Qualification Essential City & Guilds 706/1&2 or NVQ Equivalent Good standard of English & Maths Level 3 Award in Food Safety - Intermediate Food Hygiene Certificate Basic health & Safety Certificate and Allergen Awareness Desirable Nebosh Level 4 Food Safety Management Knowledge and Experience Essential Experience in the preparation of therapeutic diets Working knowledge of HACCP principles and their specific application for catering Person Specification Qualification Essential City & Guilds 706/1&2 or NVQ Equivalent Good standard of English & Maths Level 3 Award in Food Safety - Intermediate Food Hygiene Certificate Basic health & Safety Certificate and Allergen Awareness Desirable Nebosh Level 4 Food Safety Management Knowledge and Experience Essential Experience in the preparation of therapeutic diets Working knowledge of HACCP principles and their specific application for catering Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab). UK Registration Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window). Additional information Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab). UK Registration Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window). Employer details Employer name Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Address Countess of Chester Hospital Liverpool Road Chester CH2 1UL Employer's website https://www.coch.nhs.uk/working-with-us.aspx (Opens in a new tab)