Volunteer to Career Ward Support Larch C Cumberland Infirmary

Volunteer to Career Ward Support , Larch C, Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle.

Larch C is a 33 bedded acute care of the elderly ward. The elderly patients have a range of needs, from acutely unwell patients to managing long term conditions, complex discharge planning to end of life care.

What is the Volunteer to Career (VtC) programme?

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust have partnered up with Cumberland Council to deliver the Volunteer to Career Programme. This initiative aims to address staffing shortages in the NHS by actively encouraging volunteers to pursue a career in Healthcare.

The Volunteer to Career programme enables you to complete essential mandatory training, complete 60 hours on the ward and an opportunity to complete the Care Certificate. On successful completion of this programme you will be interviewed to join our Bank register as a Casual Healthcare Assistant.

The programme is funded from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and this therefore only open to applicants who reside in the Cumberland Council boundary.

Who is eligible to apply for the VtC programme?

The VtC programme is open to anyone who is interested in a career within Health and Social Care and be 18 or over.

What tasks can this role include?

Assisting the Nutrition Coordinator to deliver the right meal to each patient. Making sure patients have everything they need once their meal is served. Offering companionship to patients who request this during their mealtime

Helping patients with physical feeding and drinking when appropriate

Help improve patient experience by providing a friendly welcome, emotional support and reassurance to patients and their families.

Support the HCA's and Nurses with support on the ward i.e. replenishing drinks, sitting with patients

Running errands for patients to purchase newspapers/magazines/snacks as required

Assist with preparing patients for meals, and assisting with feeding patients

Assist with serving meals

Cutting up food, and opening packaging

Collecting and tidying up following meal service

Talking to patients, reading with or to patients, doing crosswords, playing dominoes etc

Location: Larch C, Cumberland Infirmary

At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding healthcare services to the population of North Cumbria. The Trust is committed to creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout our county.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of 'safe, high quality care every time':

Being a clinically led organisation

Quality and safety at the heart of our Trust

A positive patient experience every time

A great place to work

Managing our money well

As an organisation we are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

Across the North East and North Cumbria we are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. All staff are expected to support sustainability.

Please see attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and the essential and desirable criteria required to be met by applicants.

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment. Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed.

If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme or Armed Forces Covenant and you meet all the essential criteria for a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants moving to the region for certain posts. Please see our Policy for eligible vacancies.

The Trust will provide a preceptorship period for all newly registered healthcare professionals.

Healthcare Professionals returning to practice, moving into new roles or changing clinical environments, may access an agreed preceptorship period.

Please ensure that you document evidence of meeting all the essential criteria in the supporting information.

If sufficient response is received this post could be closed earlier than the specified closing date, please apply as soon as possible to ensure that your application is considered.

Important Information

Candidates who have been successfully shortlisted for interview will be asked via an email notification to log on to their Trac account to select an interview time. This will usually be within 2 weeks of the closing date.

For candidates applying using a Hotmail account or have strict firewall settings please ensure the following:

Junk Mail is checked regularly

Disclosure and Barring Service:

On 28 November 2020, the new Disclosure and Barring Service filtering rules will come into effect.

The changes mean that:

youth cautions, reprimands and final warnings will no longer be subject to automatic disclosure

the multiple conviction rule has been removed, meaning that if an individual has more than one conviction, regardless of offence type or time passed, each conviction will be considered against the remaining rules individually, rather than being automatically disclosed.

If you are unsure about whether you need to disclose certain criminal record information, free confidential advice may be sought from one of the charity bodies listed below. These bodies can advise you on what you are legally required to declare and may also be able to advise you on how you can disclose criminal record information to a prospective employer and your legal rights when doing so.

Nacro – Tel: , or email:

Unlock – Tel: , email or complete the online form on the Unlock website

The Trust is committed to safeguarding adults and children therefore if the post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended) the successful candidate(s) will be subject to a criminal records check with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The cost of the DBS must be met by the successful candidate(s) through salary deduction. DBS charges are as follows if applicable to the post:

Standard Check: £18 + Administration cost of £3.85 = £21.85. Deducted at £6.85 from 1st month salary and £5 deducted from salary over following 3 months.

Enhanced Check: £38 + administration cost of £3.90 = £41.90. Deducted at £11.90 from 1st month salary and £10 deducted from salary over following 3 months.

As part of the one of the largest employers in the UK NCIC future employees will have also access to the following benefits.

A lease car may be available for this position; further details will be provided upon appointment if applicable.

27 day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years

Flexible working Scheme

Excellent opportunities for development

Competitive NHS Pension scheme

Access to NHS discounts with retailers and leisure companies

EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) a free, confidential counselling and information service to assist with personal or work-related problems

These schemes are subject to availability