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Main area: Catering
Grade: Band 2
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Part time - 22.5 hours per week (Various Contracted Hours)
Job ref: 426-693-25CC
Site: Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Town: Kings Lynn
Salary: £23,615 per annum pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: Today at 23:59
Job overview
We have an exciting opportunity for Catering Assistants and Kitchen Porters to join team QEH.
As part of the Catering Team, you will be assisting in all aspects of food preparation, delivery, service, wash-up cleaning duties, till work, and customer service relating to the provision of catering services to patients, staff, and visitors.
You will have previous experience managing your own time and resources and experience of working within a team. No formal qualifications are required for this position; however, you must have good reading and writing skills. These positions will require staff to work at various times throughout the day as the department is open from 6am through to 3am.
Main duties of the job
An opportunity has arisen to join the Catering Team within The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The Catering Department caters for 1,500 main meals daily, providing a service to patients, staff, and visitors. Patients enjoy a choice from individual menus, which are then served by trained staff in the Catering Department using the belt system, which enables the complete meal to be arranged on individual trays. Where appetites vary considerably, as on wards for the elderly and children’s units, meals are served on the ward according to their individual needs. Staff enjoy a similarly wide choice and select their meals in The Hub Dining Room.
You will be working within the Catering Dept. where you may work in the Main Kitchen. Your workload will include emptying and cleaning the food trolleys, cleaning the kitchen, taking in deliveries from the loading bay and transporting them to the main kitchen, transporting meal trolleys to and from the wards, and answering the telephone to take orders from the wards. You will also be required to work in the central dishwasher, pot wash area, and cleaning equipment of the main kitchen and to serve meals for patients in the main kitchen.
You will be required to work as part of a team to deliver a quality service as directed by policies and procedures which are monitored by Supervisory Staff. Catering Assistants and Kitchen Porters will work closely between the Kitchen, Dining Room, and Wards.
Working for our organisation
There’s never been a more exciting time to join Team QEH. We’re working on a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a new state-of-the-art hospital to open in 2030, and we are also carrying out one of the biggest pieces of digital transformation work we’ve ever undertaken.
Our new electronic patient record (EPR) will replace paper-based patient records from 2026 and will lead to better, safer, joined-up care at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and beyond.
At The QEH, we provide a comprehensive range of specialist, acute, obstetrics, and community-based services to around 331,000 people across west and north Norfolk, North Cambs, and South Lincs.
We are an ambitious organisation that upholds our values of kindness, wellness, and fairness. We strive for continuous quality improvement, recently demonstrated in our 2024 CQC maternity inspection rating our services as ‘Good’, and we are proud to be a place to learn and grow through recognised learning and apprenticeships.
We recognise and reward our 4,000 staff and volunteers, priding ourselves on a community atmosphere and positive team spirit. We have approx. 530 beds across 33 wards and have newly built education and training facilities, a range of modern award-winning centres alongside a talented team of people ready to give you a warm welcome. We love working here and think you will too.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further details about this vacancy, please see the attached job description and personal specification.
Person specification
Education
* No formal qualifications necessary; however, must have good reading and writing skills.
* Desire and ability to develop new skills.
* Basic Food Hygiene Certificate.
Experience
* Managing own time and resources.
* Experience of working as part of a team.
* Experience of working within a catering environment.
Skills/Ability/Knowledge
* Good interpersonal skills.
* Ability to work in a team.
* Good organisational skills.
* Ability to work to deadlines and remain focused when working alone.
Applications are welcome from anyone who meets the criteria specified in the person specification regardless of age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. Only those applicants who demonstrate in the application form how they meet the criteria in the person specification will be shortlisted for interview. We not only recruit employees based on their qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who possess and can demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our core values (attached).
Please be aware that if applying via NHS Jobs, your application will be imported into Trac. All subsequent information will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through NHS Jobs, and we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent via NHS Jobs. By applying for this post, you are agreeing to the transfer of information in the application form to Trac jobs, and if you are offered a job, your personal information will be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records (ESR) system. Please check your email account regularly for communication regarding this vacancy.
We offer our staff a wide range of benefits and support including:
* Flexible working opportunities.
* Free counselling service.
* Access to Wagestream - an app-based service that provides instant earned wage access.
* Support and advice for staff affected by either Peri-Menopause or Menopause.
Opportunity to join our Staff Networks which include: Armed Forces, REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Culture Heritage), Disability, and LGBTQ+ networks.
We are committed to being a menopause-friendly employer.
Please note due to high volume of applications for some posts, this post may close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
Admin & Clerical staff may be required to act as Loggists for a major incident.
Everyone within the Trust has or will shortly need to have a minimum level of skill for computer literacy for their day-to-day work as we become more digitally mature. Therefore all staff should be computer literate.
Team QEH are one of the most research-active organisations for our size in the UK, recruiting 2,188 in 20/21 and ranked 10/16 in the Eastern Region. We have a wide-ranging and diverse portfolio of clinical studies and also recognised as one of the fastest trusts in the country from set up to recruitment.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Application numbers
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.
Name: Stewart Nimmo
Job title: Catering Manager
Email address: stewart.nimmo@qehkl.nhs.uk
Telephone number: 01553 613540
Additional information: If you require more detail on shift patterns, please contact Stewart Nimmo, Catering Manager.
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