There are 36 vacancies in total offering positions for Housekeepers working 18-24 hours a week at £13,233- £16,333 pa and some full time positions for Head Housekeepers working 37.5 hours per week at £15,190-£18,157pa. There are 24 vacancies at Carlton Court Older Person’s Services in Carlton Colville, near Lowestoft and 12 at the Julian Hospital on Bowthorpe Road, Norwich.

Successful applicants will join 2,500 clinical and support staff working at one of the top-performing Trusts in the country, which scored a double ‘Excellent’ rating in Quality of Services and Financial Management following the Care Quality Commission’s 2009 assessment. The mental health trust is undergoing an exciting period of change following the recent appointment of a new Chief Executive, the opening of an award-winning new Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and the development of a new Dementia Intensive Care Unit.

A new Trust housekeeping service was launched at the newly opened PICU, Justin Gardner House, at Hellesdon Hospital, in May 2009, to promote a welcoming atmosphere on the Trust’s wards and give nursing staff more time to concentrate on direct care of patients, while giving estates and facilities services a rewarding link with the wards and enabling support staff to engage with patients. Following its early success it is now being rolled out across other Trust sites.

Carlton Court Older Person’s Services is comprised of the dementia assessment units, day centres and old age care. They are looking for housekeepers to join a friendly team, working closely together to deliver the best care to service users and get involved in organising events like the Christmas party, Carol service and summer garden party. Housekeepers will be a valuable addition in helping to increase one to one time spent with service users and improve their stay and care. Carlton Court is in a quiet village location on the edge of Lowestoft and close to local schools and facilities. The Julian Hospital provides day treatment for older people and houses the functional and organic mental heath wards. It is also the site for the developing Dementia Intensive Care Unit, and is situated in a quiet location near to Norwich city centre with excellent bus routes.

Housekeepers work as part of the ward teams and are responsible for maintaining a good patient environment, monitoring catering standards, and working to ensure a high quality, patient-focussed service. The core role of the housekeeper covers non-clinical ‘customer care’ and involves monitoring cleanliness of the ward, talking to patients, getting their meal requirements, ordering from the kitchen, serving and sometimes cooking meals as well as other duties such as ensuring that leaflet racks and other information is kept up to date, looking after visitors and ensuring that there are adequate supplies of clean linen.

The Trust is seeking enthusiastic and committed staff with some experience of working within a housekeeping/catering environment. Benefits include enhancements for weekend working, generous paid annual leave entitlements and automatic inclusion in the NHS pension scheme. A job share scheme also operates and applicants are invited to enquire further.

For further information on the posts, and to apply online go to www.nwmhft.nhs.uk and click the ‘Vacancies’ tab or contact Tony Moore, Catering/Housekeeping Manager at Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Foundation Trust on 01603 421461.

Candidates can also apply directly on the NHS Jobs website www.jobs.nhs.uk. All applications will be subject to a CRB check. The deadline for applications is 22 January 2010.