Support Worker (Access to Work)
Job Description
Job summary
Support Worker
This is a vital team role providing dedicated support to a senior colleague with disabilities, enabling them to carry out their responsibilities effectively and contribute fully in the workplace.
The postholder will deliver administrative and practical support, including drafting correspondence, managing emails, minute-taking, and assisting with office equipment and technology. They will also provide logistical support, including travel arrangements and carrying work-related items where required.
The role involves practical workplace assistance in line with the Access to Work scheme, including supporting safe movement around the workplace, assisting with wheelchair manoeuvring, and helping the colleague access workplace facilities such as breaks.
The postholder will contribute to an inclusive and enabling working environment and support the colleague's mental health and wellbeing day-to-day.
This 37.5-hour-per-week post is funded by Access to Work and involves a mix of office-based and home working in Leeds, with occasional offsite visits, weekend working and overnight stays.
This role does not include personal care or domestic tasks. All assistance must directly relate to overcoming workplace accessibility barriers, consistent with Access to Work guidance.
The organisation promotes the employment of disabled people and will make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 to accommodate a suitable disabled candidate.
Main duties of the job
- Supporting the employee to complete day-to-day administrative tasks, including drafting correspondence, reports and assets, managing emails, organising files and documents, scheduling and coordinating meetings, appointments and diary management
- Taking notes or minutes on the colleague's behalf including support to create to do lists, communications plans during meetings and circulating actions as required
- Supporting with the use of office equipment, software and technology including filming and recording equipment
- Assisting with travel and logistics arrangements where needed
- Carrying out any other administrative tasks as reasonably requested by the employed colleague
- Providing practical assistance to help the employee within the workplace, in line with the Access to Work scheme. This may include:
- Supporting safe movement around the workplace, including assistance with manoeuvring the wheelchair where needed to access workspaces or equipment.
- Carrying work-related items (e.g., laptop, files or work materials) where disability-related barriers prevent the employee from doing so.
- Where workplace facilities are inaccessible, assisting the employee by making drinks or retrieving lunch to enable the employee to access required breaks.
- Contribute to an inclusive and enabling working environment
About us
NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.
Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms -- enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.
In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.
If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR).This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band. As this post is funded through Access to Work, you will be employed by NHS England for tax purposes only.
We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.
Job responsibilities
As an Administrative Support Worker (Access to Work), the post holder will support a colleague with a physical disability in their role, in an empowering way, to enable them to deliver high quality, insight-led communications and engagement for their assigned area(s).
In particular, the post holder will provide support with a range of practical and administrative tasks in the usual workplace, the individual's own home and occasionally out of the office.
Boundaries of the Role:
- The role does not include personal care or domestic tasks.
- Any assistance must relate directly to overcoming workplace accessibility barriers, consistent with Access to Work guidance.
- The Support Worker is not responsible for preparing food
You can find further details about the role,including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside theorganisational structureand person specificationin the attached Job Descriptionand other supporting documents.
Secondments
Applicants from within the NHS willbe offered on a secondment basis only, agreementshouldbeobtainedfromtheiremployerpriortosubmittingtheapplication.
Person Specification
Education / Training / Qualifications
Desirable
- NVQ 3 level in a relevant subject or equivalent level of qualification or significant equivalent previous proven experience.
Values and behaviours
Essential
- Commitment to and focused on quality, promotes high standards in all they do
- Able to make a connection between their work and the benefit to patients and the public
- Consistently thinks about how their work can help and support clinicians and frontline staff deliver better outcomes for patients
- Values diversity and difference, operates with integrity and openness
- Works well with others, is positive and helpful, listens, involves, respects and learns from the contribution of others
- Consistently looks to improve what they do, looks for successful tried and tested ways of working, and also seeks out innovation
- Actively develops themselves and supports others to do the same
Equality and diversity
Essential
- Understanding of, and commitment to, equality of opportunity and good working relationships
Skills and capabilities
Essential
- Ability to support others, especially people with a physical disability/ and or long term condition in an empowering way, promoting independence wherever possible
- Good skills with Microsoft Office products and well-developed organisational and presentation skills
- Administration and organisational skills
- Clear communicator with excellent writing, data entry and presentation skills: capable of constructing and delivering clear information/ instructions to staff and members of the public with lived experience
- Ability to work under pressure in a busy working environment and able to multi-task, as well as note take
- Effective team working to support the wider work of the team as needed
- Ability to coach and support people and empower and help them to achieve and do the work themselves, (without doing the work for them)
Knowledge and experience
Essential
- Administrative/ secretarial experience including initiating and maintaining office systems.
- Demonstrable and significant experience working with and supporting people with a physical disability/ and or long term condition, both outside of and in employment and dealing with sensitive and confidential information.
- Excellent knowledge of IT systems and software programmes such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access.
- Understanding of Confidentiality and Data Protection Act.
- Knowledge of NHS issues
Other
Essential
- Ability to work without supervision. Able to work on own initiative, organising and prioritising own and others' workloads to changing and often tight deadlines
- An ability to maintain confidentiality and trust
- Professional, calm and efficient, as well as understanding and patient
- Commitment to continuing professional development
- Positive and flexible approach to work with a "can do" attitude
Employer details
Employer name
NHS England
Address
Wellington Place
Leeds
LS1 4AP
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/working-for/ (Opens in a new tab)
