Housekeeper
Job Description
Job summary
We are seeking an individual to join our inpatient mental health service in our newly developed Housekeeper role.
As a Housekeeper under the supervision of the Registered Nurse and Nursing team you will support in ensuring a clean and safe environment where the individual needs of our service users are met in a timely and effective manner utilising best practice.
Working as part of the team, you will assist in maintaining a clean and therapeutic environment, ensuring supplies and equipment are ordered in a timely manner, monitoring and ensuring equipment is fit for purpose, as well as welcoming and greeting visitors to the ward.
You will enjoy working as part of a highly skilled and motivated team within a dynamic and busy environment to deliver excellent care.
This post is subject to an enhancedDisclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check. Successful candidates will be required to pay for the cost of the DBS Disclosure which is £44.00, the cost of which will be deducted from first salary.
Registration with the DBS update service is mandatory for new starters in those roles that require an Enhanced DBS.
Main duties of the job
The main duties of the role involve:
Ordering supplies/equipment
Monitoring and maintaining equipment
Maintaining a clean and safe Environment
General housekeeping and admin duties
About us
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 11 million people.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Job responsibilities
Meeting Nutritional Needs
- To promote a pleasant environment for eating, i.e. remove any clutter from tables.
- Take responsibility for food stores, ensuring it is clean at al times, i.e. discard out of date food, stock rotation.
- To ensure temperature of ward fridge is monitored as per trust policy.
- To ensure food in fridge is labelled and stored correctly.
- To take responsibility for the staff fridge, i.e. discard out of date food.
Maintaining the Environment
- To establish a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere to patients, visitors and staff.
- To carry out monitoring of service and equipment
- To establish delivery related to cleaning, food, linen and the environment, with particular attention to the bathrooms and toilets (at agreed intervals).
- To ensure all requirements for maintenance/repairs to equipment are reported in a timely manner to Estates.
- To monitor response times for maintenance and report any issues to the Team Manager.
- To maintain the cleanliness of all nursing equipment and trolleys.
- To liaise with staff following the discharge of a patient with regards to the cleaning of the bed/bedroom in preparation for a new admission.
- Check curtains/blinds are in good working order and rectify any faults.
- To ensure that all alcohol gel dispensers are cleaned and replenished.
- Monitor that correct waste management is being adhered to, especially confidential waste.
- Keep notice boards and tidy and check that all posters/flyers are laminated and in date.
- Keep patient information boards and displays up to date and clean and tidy.
- Clinical
- Work collaboratively within the Care team to ensure that service users needs are met
- Recognise and respond appropriately to urgent and emergency situations
- Report any concern regarding service user care to the Qualified Practitioner
- Support an individuals equality, diversity and rights.
General
- To ensure personal privacy, dignity and confidentiality is maintained at all times.
- To assist with bed making, where appropriate, ensuring an adequate supply of linen is available at all times.
- Liaise with domestic supervisor when deep cleaning is needed.
- Ensure any items of broken or severely soiled furniture are reported to the Team Manage and collection and disposal arranged.
- To receive and welcome visitors.
- To respond to telephone calls in a courteous manner.
- To receive and pass information to others, maintaining confidentiality.
- To ensure cost effective use of resources.
- To respond to patient concerns through communication with nursing staff.
- To promote effective communication with patients, colleagues, other professionals and visitors to the trust.
- Maintain a professional image at all times.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Desirable
- NVQ 2 or equivalent level of experience within a care setting
Knowledge / Experience
Essential
- Ability to function effectively as a team member.
- Experience of working within and environment of service users with mental health problems
Skills
Essential
- Ability to communicate in a variety of settings with patients of varying levels of understanding
- Able to present factual information and refer questions to others where appropriateAble to present factual information and refer questions to others where appropriate
- Able to deal with sensitive issues with tact and diplomacy
- Ability to develop effective interpersonal relationships with colleagues in the health care settingAbility to develop effective interpersonal relationships with colleagues in the health care setting
- Basic understanding of mental illness
- Awareness of role of stock rotation/monitoring
Desirable
- IT skills
- First Aid
- CPR Training
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer details
Employer name
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address
The Brooker Centre
Hospital Way
Halton, Runcorn
WA7 2DA
