Job summary
- Main area
- catering
- Grade
- Band 2
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 153-CO04493
- Employer
- University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Poole Hospital
- Town
- Poole
- Salary
- £24,169 pa
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 18/05/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Catering Assist - Cold Room
Band 2
As University Hospitals Dorset we are a three site acute trust with ‘university hospital’ status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m.
We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious £250m estates programme is well on the way to delivering state-of-the-art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.
In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with over seven miles of sandy beaches you’ll find inspirational opportunities to achieve your perfect work/life balance. With the New Forest and the Purbecks on our doorstep, we’re also less than three hours from London by road or train. The thriving towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch give way to idyllic villages and unspoilt landscapes just minutes from our hospitals.
We believe that having a diverse workforce, and allowing people to be themselves, is essential in ensuring we offer an inclusive, welcoming and productive place to work.
We especially welcome applications from minority groups in the community who may be underrepresented in our workforce.
At UHD our active staff network groups are the Women's Network, Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group (BAME), Pride Network, European (EU), Pro Ability Staff Network, and the Armed Forces Support Group.
As a Trust we are proudly signed up to the Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant guaranteed interview schemes.
Job overview
A vacancy has arisen for a motivated person to join the “Cold Prep Section” in the Catering department at University Hospitals Dorset.
This is a very demanding job and requires a good level of physical fitness, flexibility, and good organisational skills.
You should be able to work with minimal supervision on your own initiative in this busy location.
Duties include, making sandwiches, salads, baguettes, Panini’s and salad bar preparation. In addition, some general cleaning is required and a possibility of helping on the patient production line.
Due to working in the cold room, cold weather clothing will be provided including:
Boots , socks, thermal garments, snoods and sweatshirts as required.
Base Location: Poole Hospital
Interview Date: TBC
Main duties of the job
To understand the role in more detail please read the full job description and person specification documents which are attached to this advert.
Working for our organisation
What working for us will provide:
- Generous Starting Salary
- Enhanced Pay for unsocial hours worked (weekend).
- No split shifts
- Paid training
- Free uniform
- 27 days paid holiday (pro rata for part time) plus bank holidays
- Increased holiday allowance after 5 and 10 years’ service
- Enrolment in the NHS Pension Scheme
- Salary sacrifice scheme opportunities – including childcare vouchers, car lease and cycle scheme, home technology equipment
- Staff Rates on Items in the Catering Departments retail outlets.
- NHS discounts to save on your shopping, gym membership and more
Our values define who we are as #TeamUHD. They underpin everything we do now and in the future. They define how
we treat our patients, visitors, and each other, our valued teammates and colleagues. UHD are investing in services across the Trust, with many being transformed and developed following merger and the New Hospital Programme. This means that some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or long term. Recruiting Managers interviewing for this role will be happy to answer any specific questions that you have about this at interview.
Please note if the role or service is relocated as part of a planned move, employees will not be eligible for excess
mileage reimbursement. Travel from the postholder's home to the new work base will be considered a normal
commute. Any other changes not related to this relocation will be managed according to the relevant Trust or National
terms and conditions.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To understand the role in more detail please read the full job description and person specification documents which are attached to this advert.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Good standard of Education (GCSE’s Grade D or above)
- Basic Food Hygiene
Desirable criteria
- Aware of relevant trg upgrades E.G. Allergen info
Experience
Essential criteria
- Prior Work Experience within Catering Industry (2yrs)
- Prior Experience in food handling
Desirable criteria
- Previous Cold/Prep Room experience
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Good general understanding of food safety regulations
Personal Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to identify opportunities for improvements within your area of responsibility
- Openness to change and ability to respond to this to improve performance
- Be able to work in a cold environment
Desirable criteria
- Proven reliability
Other skills
Essential criteria
- Willingness to be flexible in your working hours and able to work on weekends.
- Able to work as part of a team and mix with other members of staff
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Chris Bacon
- Job title
- Kitchen Production Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0300 019 2666
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