Catering Assistant

As a Catering Assistant, you may:

• prepare food such as vegetables for the cook or chef

• wash up, by hand or using a dishwasher

• keep kitchen areas clean

• clear tables

• load meals onto trolleys to go to wards and other parts of the hospital

• serve meals to staff in a canteen or restaurant

• operate a till and handle cash

Catering assistants usually work in a team, with a team leader supervising them.

Catering assistants may have some contact with patients, depending on where they work such as a production unit and outlet stores within a hospital.

With experience, Catering Assistants can become team leaders, supervising the work of a team of assistants. With further experience and qualifications, they can progress to become catering managers.

Entry Requirements

There are no set entry requirements for Catering Assistants.

Employers expect a good standard of numeracy and literacy. They may ask for GCSEs in English and maths.

It would be an advantage to have some experience of catering or customer service, from paid employment or voluntary work.

NHS Estates Officers maintain and repair systems that our patients and staff rely on.

As an Estates Officer, you'll be maintaining and repairing a range of equipment including;

• medical gas pipelines

• heating systems

• lifts

• refrigeration systems

• hot and cold water supplies

• washers, steamers and disinfectors

• fire and other alarms

You'll also diagnose faults, repair equipment, do routine, planned maintenance, install new equipment.

You may work alongside other estates services staff such as plumbers and electricians as well as estates managers.

While estates technicians are working inside a building, staff and patients may be there, but technicians do not usually have direct contact with healthcare staff or patients.

Entry Requirements

Although there are no set entry requirements, Estate Officers have qualifications, usually at level 3 or higher. Employers expect them to be qualified and experienced in at least one technical area such as;

• electrical engineering

• mechanical engineering

• plumbing

• heating, ventilation and air conditioning

Chef / Cook

Chefs and Cooks are responsible for cooking food in NHS hospitals and other services making sure our patients and staff have highly nutritious, high-quality food.

You'll work with the Catering Manager to make sure that food and drink is nutritious and appetising. The food has to meet patients' medical and cultural needs including, for example, gluten free, low fat, soft food, halal and vegetarian.

As a Cook or Chef, your duties include:

planning meals and menus

preparing food

using kitchen equipment such as mixers

storing food correctly

making sure as little as possible is wasted

supervising Catering Assistants

Entry Requirements

To enter the NHS as a Cook or Chef, you need a catering qualification, usually at level 2 or 3.

Employers also expect catering experience.

Some Cooks or Chefs enter the NHS as Catering Assistants and take qualifications while they are working.

Estates Manager

Estates Managers make sure that our hospitals and other sites are the safest and best possible places to be for patients, staff and visitors.

As an Estates Manager, you're responsible for maintaining NHS properties. This may include:

• organising repairs and maintenance

• project managing building and renovations

Senior estates managers work strategically to plan:

• the design and building of new hospitals and clinics

• changes to contracts for services to the NHS

• recruiting and training staff

• managing absence and discipline

• controlling budgets

Entry Requirements

Although there are no set entry requirements, estate managers have a relevant qualification, often at degree level. This could be in, for example building surveying, property management or facilities management

To get onto a degree course, you need

• two or three A levels along with five GCSEs (grades A-C), including English language and maths

or alternative qualifications, including

• BTEC or HNC

• relevant NVQ

• access course

Some estates managers join the NHS as, for example, estates technicians and become managers with experience and further qualifications. You may have the opportunity to do an apprenticeship.

Estates Tradesperson

You will be part of a modernising estates maintenance team and will carry out repairs and the installation of mechanical works, fixed plant and building fixtures and fittings, as required.

Main duties of the job include;

• Work with controlled hazards such as heat, cold, foul waste, COSHH, fine dust, noxious fumes and biological hazards.

• Carry out work designated as Planned Preventative Maintenance, Backlog Maintenance, Emergency Repairs, Minor Repairs or Minor Improvements and must be undertaken, safely, to the highest standards possible, in a workmanlike fashion and conform to the best practice principles of the Health Technical Memoranda and/or Health Building Notes as detailed by line management. Works may be either internal or external and areas may be occupied by service users.

• To communicate technical issues to colleagues, other staff, line management and patients as required by the service and have the ability to provide and receive complex or sensitive information while understanding the requirement to protect personal data.

• Undertake all maintenance activities within hazardous areas (plant rooms, workshop, boiler-house etc.) and have the ability to dynamically assess risk, seeking assistance where required in order to work safely, avoid danger and prevent injury to themselves and others

Day in the Life of a Estates Officer

Entry Requirements

• NVQ Level 4 / City & Guilds / Modern Apprenticeship in a building, engineering or electrical related subject (as per the requirement of the role)

• Basic Maths and English qualifications

• Equivalent academic or vocational experience within a relevant discipline

• NVQ Level 4 / City & Guilds / Modern Apprenticeship in a building, engineering or electrical related subject (as per the requirement of the role)

Basic Maths and English qualifications

Equivalent academic or vocational experience within a relevant discipline

Estates Electrician

Our electricians keep the NHS running by making sure electrical systems and equipment are safe and working correctly.

The NHS relies on electric power and electrical equipment. They are essential to keep hospitals and other NHS buildings safe and working efficiently. Many NHS services use complex electrical equipment to treat patients, keep IT-based records and provide services such as heating, catering, laundry, etc.

As an electrician in the NHS, your work will include:

• planned maintenance

• repairing equipment that is broken or faulty

• testing equipment and systems

• improvements and installations

While electricians are working inside a building, staff and patients may be there, but electricians do not have direct contact with healthcare staff or patients.

Entry Requirements

To be fully qualified as an electrician, you need a level 3 qualification, usually an NVQ and/or a Diploma in Installing Electrotechnical Systems and Equipment.

Although electricians often join the NHS fully qualified and experienced, it may be possible to train as an electrician. Employers usually ask for at least three GCSEs (or equivalent), including maths, English and science.

There are sometimes apprenticeships in estates support/estates maintenance that can provide this type of experience.