The closing date is 8th Oct 2025
Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the highly motivated discharge lounge team in a health care assistant position.
The Discharge Lounge supports all areas within the Trust with an emphasis on maintaining timely and safe patient flow out of the Hospital.
The successful candidate will have experience of hospital care and a knowledge of patient discharge processes.
The role requires the individual to have enthusiasm and a passion to drive the service forward and meet service demands. They should have effective communication skills and an ability to support all the staff within the team to deliver high quality safe patient care.
Working Pattern: 37.5 hours per week during the hours of Monday to Friday and rotational weekends fairly shared between the team.
For more information on the Job Description and Responsibilities please find attached.
Main duties, tasks & skills required
To provide effective and clinical support to Registered Nursing Staff within the Medical Services Group during the shift around a 24 hour period
Support the systems for a multi-disciplinary approach to patient-centred care delivery, which builds on the philosophy of greater involvement of patients and their relatives/carers by using the Trusts patient and public involvement strategy
Delivers patient care including health promotion daily to patients who present with undifferentiated conditions including life-threatening emergencies to adults and will present unscheduled and unannounced at any time throughout the 24-hour period
Please be advised - this vacancy may close early if we reach a sufficient amount of applications.
About us
At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, we're committed to supporting our employees with a range of benefits designed to enhance your professional and personal life. We offer:
* Flexible working options to help you balance work and life
* NHS pension scheme for long-term financial security
* Generous annual leave allowance to recharge and relax
* A strong focus on career development to help you grow and achieve your potential
Additionally, you'll gain access to our Blue Light Card, unlocking exclusive discounts on shopping, dining, and leisure activities, as well as NHS-specific perks to support you both inside and outside of work.
We are proud to foster a diverse, skilled, and inclusive workforce, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds.
Why Somerset? Somerset offers the perfect blend of idyllic countryside, outstanding areas of natural beauty, and breathtaking coastlines, with vibrant cities like Bristol, Bath, and Exeter just a short drive away - and only two hours to London.
The region is home to excellent educational facilities, and with affordable housing compared to other parts of the country, it's a great place to build both your career and your future.
Somerset truly has it all - the peaceful countryside and cosmopolitan city life, with something for everyone to enjoy.
Job description
For more details and further information about the role, please see the attached job description and person specification.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential
A Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) Level 3. This could be a Vocational NVQ, BTEC or equivalent international qualification in healthcare or able to demonstrate the equivalent level of experience
Experience
Essential
* Previous experience in a healthcare environment
* Cannulation and phlebotomy
* Experience of recording ECGs
* Experience of taking and monitoring blood glucose levels
* Works well in a busy environment
* Adaptable/ flexible
* Good time keeping
* Willingness to use technology to improve standards of care and support to our patients
* Flexible approach to work
* Demonstrate respect for confidentiality at all times
* Proven experience of successfully working in a team environment
Desirable
* Basic computer/keyboard skills
* Understands limitations of the role and need to refer to others
Additional Criteria
Essential
* Able to demonstrate an ability to develop rapport and show empathy and sensitivity
* Able to build good working relationships with colleagues
* Able to demonstrate they can adapt communication style to circumstances
* Able to prioritise and organise work and support junior staff
* Able to work under instruction and under own initiative within the boundaries of the role and as part of a team
* Ability to undertake manual handling training to assist the movement and handling of patients adhering to manual handling guidelines
* Assist and enable patients with all activities of daily living - maintaining personal hygiene, dressing and appearance
* Assist patients to eat and drink
* Assist and enable patients to use toilet facilities
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
For help with your application, contact:
Michele Brown
Pay scheme
Agenda for Change
Band
Band 3
Salary
£ to £ Yearly
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-Time
Reference number
184-OL-OR-2665
Job locations
Yeovil District Hospital
Higher Kingston
Yeovil
Somerset
BA21 4AT