Job summary
Working Hours : As & When
The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications and skills:
Good standard of English & Maths
City & Guilds 706/1 and 706/2 or NVQ equivalent
L3/Intermediate Food Safety Award
Minimum of 2 years' experience in an industrial kitchen
Ability to be an effective team player and work on own initiative
Good communication and interpersonal skills
Main duties of the job
As 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, 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:
1. The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds
2. Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility
3. 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.
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
Qualifications
Essential
4. City & Guilds 706/1&2 or NVQ Equivalent
5. Good standard of English & Maths
6. Level 3 Award in Food Safety - Intermediate or Advanced Food Hygiene Certificate
7. Basic health & Safety Certificate
8. Chef experience in an industrial kitchen/traditional cooking.
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
9. Experience in the preparation of therapeutic diets
Desirable
10. Working knowledge of HACCP principles and their specific application for catering