Main area Offender Healthcare Grade Band 3 Contract Permanent Hours Full time – 37.5 hours per week (07.30-17.30 Monday through to Sunday via shift pattern.) Job ref 277-8120712-SWALE-A
Site HMP Swaleside Town Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey Salary £27,760 – £29,476 PER ANNUM RECRUITMENT & RETENTION INCENTIVE INCLUDED Salary period Yearly Closing 12/08/2026 23:59
Job overview
PREVIOUS APPLICANTS NEED NOT APPLY
Are you ready to unlock your potential within a challenging, creative and fast paced work environment? Do you want to work with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past?
This is an excellent opportunity for a healthcare assistant to join our team of diverse, talented healthcare professionals to deliver care that is not only efficient but deeply centred on the patient.
Our healthcare team have a real impact on promoting health and well-being to those in prison and we pride ourselves on using skills and strategies that instil hope for patient’s future resettlement back into the community. We directly deliver Mental Health, Physical Health, Pharmacy and Clinical Substance Misuse in an integrated healthcare delivery model to provide effective and responsive care to improve wellbeing and support better outcomes in the future.
Applicants are required to have hospital/primary care experience and be competent at taking blood pressure, ECGs and other observations. Knowledge of wound care is also a requirement for this post.
Important Sponsorship Information for this post: We are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post
Main duties of the job
As a Healthcare Assistant you will assist in the delivery of high quality nursing care to patients in prison with the support of a registered nurse.
You will be providing physical care to patients according to a written care plan. This will include taking blood pressures, ECG’s, other observations and wound care.
You will be actively engaging with patients in the provision of holistic, needs-led care which will consider the physical, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual needs of the individual.
You will be promoting health and well-being through the delivery of health promotion activities and programmes, responding to patients needs and assisting patients to attain optimal physical health.
Working for our organisation
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We Listen
- We Care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- Responding to the needs of patients in an honest, non-judgemental, and open manner, which respects the rights of individuals and groups
- Actively engaging with patients in the provision of holistic, needs-led care which considers the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of individuals and groups
- Delivery of health promotion activities and programmes (including patient self-help programmes) in support of a registered healthcare professional
- Assisting patients to attain optimal physical health and assisting with physical procedures in alongside a registered healthcare professional
- Contributing appropriately to risk assessment and individualised care planning.
Clinical
- To work as directed by a registered nurse, providing physical care to patients according to a written care plan. Typical duties include:
– Carrying out ECG’s
– Basic wound care
– NEWS2
– Assess patients using NEWS2
– Blood glucose monitoring
– Taking patients weight and other measurements
- Assisting in emergency call outs and instigating emergency procedures when appropriate
- Being second checker on medication rounds
- Ordering and maintaining stock
- Ensuring treatment rooms are clean, tidy and well stocked
- Appropriate escalation to registered healthcare professionals
- Using appropriate templates in SystmOne to document contemporaneously and accurately
- Maintaining patient confidentiality and security
- Adhering to all organisational and prison policies, procedures, and guidelines
- Ensuring good working relationships with patients, carers, relatives, other professionals and prison and healthcare staff
- Developing an understanding of and demonstrating use of clinical supervision to reflect upon and modify practice
Custodial Responsibilities
- Assume personal responsibility for the security of issued keys.
- Understand and comply with prison orders, procedures, and instructions in your area of work.
- Comply with all security requirements.
- Respond to any situation or circumstance that might indicate a threat to security of the establishment or to the safety of an individual, completing Incident, Security, Injury, or other reports as appropriate.
- Report breaches of order and discipline including reporting and recording untoward incidents according to local protocol.
- Contribute to effective risk assessment and management procedures.
Communication
- Routinely communicate effectively with patients and working to overcome barriers to understanding (ie patients with physical or mental health conditions or learning disabilities)
- Develop and maintain inter-disciplinary and inter-agency working with all relevant agencies and organisations as directed.
- Develop and maintain close working partnerships with HMPS, Prison Governors and Heads of Prison Services, Forensic Services, Probation Services, Crown Prosecution Service, Police, and all other non-statutory agencies that are integral to prisoner/patient care and offender management.
- Undertake other duties agreed in conjunction with registered staff, Integrated Primary Healthcare Services.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ :
All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.
You will need to provide:
Proof of right to work documentation
Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID
Proof of address documentation
Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.
Address History:
5 years address history will be needed.
Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.
Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.
In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be sought from:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants
If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website ( http://www.fco.gov.uk/en ).
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
- NVQ level 3 or equivalent experience
Experience
- Previous experience as a Healthcare Assistant in a clinical setting (hospital, secure, or GP practice)
- Experience and knowledge of providing care i.e., providing patient care, carrying out tests/observations
- Experience of facilitating /planning /supporting groups in a healthcare setting i.e., health improvement/smoking cessation/ activities
- Experience of being able to work within policy frameworks in a regulated patient care setting
Skills
- Able to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing
- Ability to assess risk and care plan effectively, whilst understanding the needs and rights of people
- To take responsibility for clinical equipment/resources with which you are allocated as well as patient property and valuables
We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities. Remember, if you meet the minimum criteria for this role and you have a disability, you can be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme – Please ensure you select this on your application form. We would encourage you to be open about your needs so we can work with you to design a comfortable and accessible interview experience. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request.
If you require any adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know by adding the relevant details when scheduling your preferred interview date and time. Please feel free to contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs.
We encourage applicants to contact the hiring manager before their interview, if they have any questions about the role or the process. This is a great way to get clarity and prepare effectively for the interview.
If you have declared you are part of the armed forces community, you may be asked to provide evidence during the recruitment process. If you misrepresent this information, your offer may be withdrawn. For Armed Forces specific support, see our webpage: https://oxleas.nhs.uk/armed-forces-community/
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it’s essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information. AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.
We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Application numbers
This vacancy may close early if it receives a high volume of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.
Name Clare Denny Job title Recruitment & Retention Resourcing Offier Email address claredenny@nhs.net Telephone number 07504877653
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