Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- Band 3
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Shifts - long days and night duty, varied)
- Job ref
- 363-L&B-HCSW-SEP2025-D
- Employer
- East London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Multiple sites across Luton and Bedford
- Town
- Luton
- Salary
- £24,937 - £26,598 per annum inc HCAS (Hcas to be confirmed on appointment)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 14/10/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Health Care Support Worker
Band 3
ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Job overview
Health Care Assistants for Mental Health
An opportunity has arisen for enthusiastic and caring people to work as health care support workers within our adult and older adult wards. There are a number of mental health wards across ELFT and we are seeking enthusiastic people with the right mindset to come and join our supportive and progressive teams.
We are looking for caring and compassionate people, both experienced and inexperienced, to join our dedicated teams.
Main duties of the job
To be successful in a Health Care assistant or Support Worker role, you will need to be forward thinking and have a keen interest in working with patients being nursed in a mental health settings. You will be working within a supportive multidisciplinary team, caring for patients with a wide range of needs.
Working for our organisation
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Our care and treatment programmes are underpinned by principles of recovery and social inclusion and much of our work is co-produced with patients. You will help to ensure that the people we care for always have a strong voice. If you are committed to providing outstanding patient care with a sound knowledge of best practise, this is the opportunity for you.
Person specification
Education/ Qualification/ Training
Essential criteria
- Educated to GCSE level of equivalent
- Completed or the willingness to undertake Care certificate
Desirable criteria
- GCSE Grade A-C in Maths & English or skills level 2 Maths & English or equivalent
Experience
Essential criteria
- Working in a care setting
Desirable criteria
- Dealing with challenging situations
- Working with Mental Health Service Users
- Experience of providing and receiving complex, sensitive information
Knowledge and Skills
Essential criteria
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Able to manage time to meet deadlines
- Ability to work autonomously
- Ability to work as part of a team
- Be able to respond with compassion and empathy Demonstrate an understanding of caring for people with mental health problems
- Demonstrate a degree of emotional intelligence and self-reflection
Desirable criteria
- Demonstrate an understanding of the specialty
- Ability to take part in reflective practice and clinical supervision activities
- Ability to deal with non- routine and unpredictable nature of workload and individual patient contact
- Knowledge of when to seek advice and escalate to the appropriate professional for expert help and advice
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- ELFT Recruitment team
- Job title
- ELFT Recruitment team
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 020 7655 4000
List jobs with East London NHS Foundation Trust in Nursing and Midwifery