Passenger Assistant

**1.** **About ECT in Cheshire**
- ECT in Cheshire has been providing safe, accessible and affordable community transport in the Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston areas of the county since 2007.
- ECT is also dedicated to supporting and enabling **independent living**, **reducing isolation **and encouraging **social interaction**, especially for **vulnerable people **(such as older or disabled people or those with mobility difficulties who struggle to leave their homes). We also provide group transport to local voluntary, community and social groups.
- ECT is part of ECT Charity, a nationally-recognised social enterprise that creates **social value **through its **charitable activities**.
- ECT is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome all applicants and are happy to make reasonable adjustments during the selection process (and if a position is offered, in employment) if required.
- ECT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and any vulnerable person using our services. In order to meet this responsibility, we follow safer recruitment practices which are outlined in further detail in our Safeguarding Adults at Risk and Protecting People Policy.

**2. **Summary of Role
- Our Passenger Assistants (**PAs**) work as a team with our drivers to provide a range of community transport services, in particular, door-to-door transport for vulnerable individuals.
- Our PAs act with the utmost level of **professionalism**, **care** and **compassion** to ensure that passengers have a **safe** and **enjoyable** journey.
- PAs are provided with full training. Further detail on PAs’ key tasks are provided below.

**3. **Key Tasks
- **Assist passengers** to and from the minibus.
- Ensure the passenger is **safely at their destination** in accordance with procedures on site (e.g. school protocols).
- Ensure all passengers are **safe and secure** in the vehicle and that safety requirements are complied with (e.g. seatbelts or wheelchair restraints).
- Ensure that passengers are **fully supervised** at all times (as appropriate) and are only allowed to disembark the vehicle when it is safe for them to do so.
- If the passenger is **not ready for collection**, ensure that the driver waits five minutes beyond the scheduled collection time and check with Operations Team at office before moving off.
- **Liaise with carers and families** as necessary, maintaining a professional manner at all times.
- **Monitor timetables** and keep the Operations Team informed if regular difficulties arise as well as recommending amendments where appropriate.
- Deal with any **emergency relating to passenger’s health **and respond to any passenger who may be difficult, confused, agitated or sick.
- **Report** any accidents, incidents or emergencies to the Operations Team without delay.
- Complete **paperwork** as required.
- Undertake all **other reasonable duties** as delegated to them by the Operations Team.

**4. **Requirements for Role

**4.1** All PAs **must**:

- be **over 21**;
- be committed to high levels of **customer care** and be **caring** and **sympathetic** (particularly to the needs of vulnerable and/or disabled older people);
- be able to **get on with people from all backgrounds** (e.g. people from all ethnic and religious groups, people of both sexes, people with disabilities) politely and sensitively;
- be **reliable**, **conscientious** and **punctual**;
- be **physically capable** of undertaking manual handling activities (e.g. assisting disabled people to walk to/from vehicle, carrying shopping, assisting wheelchair users);
- **work closely with the driver** as a team to provide passengers with a safe and quality service;
- be able to read, understand and follow **written instructions**;
- have excellent **verbal communication skills**; and
- be **smart** and **presentable.**

**4.2** We welcome applicants with no previous experience in similar roles as full training will be provided.

**5.** Details of Role and Employment Particulars

**5.1 Hours**
- PAs either cover regular routes (“**Regular PAs**”) or form part of a pool of casual PAs (“**Relief PAs**”).
- **Regular PAs **work split shifts (approx. 7.30am - 10.30am and 2.30pm - 5.30pm) Some flexibility will be required as the PA may be expected to start earlier or finish later for operational or traffic reasons. Between these times, Regular PAs may also be asked to cover additional transport for the local community.
- **Relief PAs** work on an ‘as and when required’ basis and provide a valuable service to the organisation. Engagement is as a casual worker and their services are used on an ad hoc and casual basis. This means that there are no guaranteed shifts, but there is the opportunity to cover sickness and holidays. This may include split-shifts, evenings and weekends as and when required by mutual agreement with us. There is no obligation on the PA to accept any shifts offered - it is a flexible arrangement on both sid