Get Started in the NHS- Healthcare Assistant

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust is pleased to run the “Get Started in the NHS” programme, in partnership with The Prince’s Trust. The programme consists of a two-day virtual workshop on MS Teams and is aimed at young people aged 18 to 29 who are interested in becoming a healthcare assistant at the Trust.

The workshops take place on Monday 20th February, and Tuesday 21st February.

The first day will be an introduction to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, and to the healthcare assistant role. There will be interactive activities and opportunities to chat to healthcare assistants working at the Trust.

On day two, participants will be guided through the application process and taken through mock interviews to help prepare their answers.

After the workshop, participants will have the chance to resubmit their application with guidance provided at the workshops, so that they can have a better chance of being selected for interview.

• Work as part of the multi-disciplinary team in giving an excellent standard of care to a variety of different client groups.
• To assist in the regular assessment of patient condition by observing vital signs and reporting findings back to qualified staff.
• To support the promotion of health and prevent ill-health in staff, patients and their relatives

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust is a community focused provider of local and acute care, providing high quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley. With a turnover of around £700 million, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham and a range of community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.

As an organisation, we’ve made significant improvements for patients and staff in the last two and-a-half years. This is reflected in our most recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection (from February 2020), which found improvements across the organisation and gave us an improved rating of “Good” in the Well-Led and Effective domains, in addition to the rating of “Good” that we had already achieved in the Caring domain. Our staff culture change programme has been key to the Trust’s improvement journey, as we’ve stabilised our workforce by reducing vacancy rates and improving staff retention. We’ve also significantly increased the representation of minority ethnic leaders across our clinical and corporate teams.

• Promote and maintain a safe and pleasant environment for patients, visitors, and colleagues.
• Check the readiness for use of emergency/special equipment and ensure all equipment in use, is in good working order.
• The post holder must keep up to date with all mandatory training requirements for the post.
• The post holder will carry out personal care to patients on the ward, which includes washing and dressing patients.
• Have knowledge and understanding of all relevant Trust policies, including the Major Incident Plan.
• Have knowledge of and adhere to relevant parts of national legislation, including Health and Safety at Work Act,
• COSHH Regulations, and Moving and Handling Regulations.

Transport people and/or items safely and to time consistent with legislation, policies and procedures.

• To report any faulty equipment in the trust to shift co-ordinators to ensure quick maintenance carried out.