We have a really exciting opportunity for a Barber/Retail Assistant within the Secure Care Division within Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. The post holder will work within Rehabilitation and Recovery Services, primarily providing hair care/barber services to the patient population within Ashworth Hospital. The role will also entail supporting the function of the Patient’s’ Shop when required.
Duties will include the transfer of stock to the appropriate destination, stocking of shelves, serving patients and ensuring appropriate use of the till system.
The post will be based in Ashworth Hospital within the Rehabilitation and Recovery Service. Experience of working within a secure mental health environment is desirable and experience in the barbering industry is essential, however, this is an ideal position for a creative individual looking to further develop their skills in a clinical area.
The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, ensuring effective relationships with patients, delivering a consistent approach to patient care and providing therapeutic input, while maintaining operational security.
The successful candidate will work within the Rehabilitation and Recovery Services in the Secure Care Division and will be based at Ashworth High Secure Hospital. Staff may be asked to work across the Secure and SpLD Division including Ashworth, Rowan View Medium Secure Unit or Low Secure Units depending on service requirement.
See attached job description which details the main duties of this role.
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 11 million people.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
For further details, please read the person specification and job description. We would also like to invite potential candidates to make contact with team leaders and head of service for an informal discussion.
This is a flexible role in order to adapt to the changing needs of patients within defined units and evolving proactive service.
The post holder will have previous experience working within the industry and be competent/confident in their skill set.
We actively encourage interested candidates to make contact with us to have an informal conversation about the role - contact number and email details listed below.
This advert closes on Monday 9 Feb 2026