Job overview
Full and Part Time posts available
We are seeking motivated individuals to join our dynamic team of Midwifery and Medical Staff in Whiston Hospital Maternity Department.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for dedicated Health Care Assistants to join our hard-working multi-disciplinary team within maternity service, in its deliverance of high quality care to our patients and their families.
The post holder will assist in providing 5 star patient care and support to antenatal/postnatal women and their babies, phlebotomy, feeding support and advice, and maintenance of essential equipment.
Working as a health care assistant enables you to gain exposure to a wide range of skills and offers extensive scope for professional development under the supervision of midwives. The Trust provides an extensive range of in-house training and support in on-going professional development, with potential access to further opportunities.
The post holder must be flexible, as you will be expected to work flexible shifts, days & nights.
An Enhanced DBS with barred lists for both Adults and Children is required for this post.
Main duties of the job
* To support the qualified Midwifery Staff in the maintenance of high standards of care to patients
* To work as part of the Midwifery Team undertaking household support tasks and direct care tasks as delegated by the Midwife in Charge.
* To ensure that privacy and dignity of patients is paramount and is not compromised.
* To present an appearance which gives a positive image of the Trust and a manner which is appropriate and which inspires confidence.
* To report any untoward incidents/occurrences.
* Preparing patients for consultation, i.e. urinalysis, weight, temperature, pulse, saturation, blood pressure readings, height, and chaperoning patients when required.
* Receiving patients into the clinic and provide patients with information and advice as required
Working for our organisation
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our services:
* Acute Care – Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
* Primary Care – Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
* Community Services – Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
* Specialist Regional Services – We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements
* Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
* Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
* National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please ensure you have read through the attached Job Description and Person Specification before submitting your application.
Proposed Interview date: 4th November 2025
Please note, this post may close earlier than advertised if a sufficient number of applications are received.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Completion of Trust Care Certificate within 4 months of appointment
* Basic literacy and numeracy skills
* NVQ Level 2 in Health Care, or equivalent experience, or willing to work towards
* Care Certificate, or willing to work towards
Knowledge & Experience
* Knowledge of personal care and related procedures
* Experience of working in a team
* Experience of working in a patient care/health related role
Skills
* Ability to communicate effectively in both verbal and written formats
* Good interpersonal skills
* Able to work within a team
* Able to accept direction and guidance
* Aware of own limitations
* Able to prioritise own workload and manage time effectively
* Flexible, adaptable and responsive to change
* Reliable and professional
* Ability to cope in stressful and challenging situations
* Inclusive and non-judgmental
* Punctual, motivated and committed
* Effective role model demonstrating Trust values
* Basic IT skills
Other
* Frequent, moderate effort for several short periods during the shift such as manual handling patients to supporting patients personal care
* Occasional requirement for concentration, with few competing demands for attention
* Aware that developing resilience to distressing situations is necessary without losing the ability to care compassionately
* Aware of the process for accessing staff health and wellbeing support
* Occasional exposure to distressing situations which may care of chronic health conditions, patient end of life care/ care after death
* Able to carry out direct personal care as required on ward or department
* Frequent exposure to blood or body fluids
* Occasional exposure to patients with challenging behaviours
Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.
Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.
The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact Recruitment@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk
We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.
The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.
eVisa Update
For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK. Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.
Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:
* Understand how to generate an eVisa share code
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the DBS to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.
If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.
Flexible Working
We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:
* All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
* There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
* Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.
At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to discuss flexible working options at interview stage.
Working for Team MWL
Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.
The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.
You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.
The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.
Additional Information
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here.
An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.
Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.
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.
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