Healthcare support worker

Overview

The successful candidate will work alongside the trained Nursing staff and other members of the multi-disciplinary team to provide safe and effective care to children and young people aged 0-16 year (up to 18 for Young people with long term health needs or complex needs).

You will have experience of working with children and require excellent communication skills. You will be working as part of a team supporting the child and family alongside the multidisciplinary team.

The children's unit currently includes a busy assessment unit, 2 in patient wards, a High Dependency Unit (HDU) and a surgical/medical day unit.

Shifts are 12 hours rotation days/nights/weekends. Future plans include a move to our new Children's Unit at the Bournemouth site. The unit configuration will be one Inpatient area, High Dependency, Day Care and Children's Assessment unit.

This post is being advertised as a Band 3; however applicants that do not meet the required care certificate competencies will initially be employed as a Band
2. Applicants who hold a care certificate accreditation will start in post at Band 3.

Base

Location:

Poole Hospital

• Take observations, providing personal cares, supporting with nutrition requirements.
• Communicate effectively and have excellent documentation skills.
• Work as part of the multidisciplinary team and support the child and family.

• Experience of working with children and require excellent communication skills.
• Care certificate or willingness to complete in role; note that applicants who do not meet care certificate competencies may be employed as Band 2.
• Ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary team and be flexible across Trust locations.

Interview Date: 27 February 2026. The service has planned moves and relocation considerations; some services may move site this year or next. As part of this, some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or permanently. Recruiting Managers will be happy to answer any service-specific questions at interview.

This service has a planned move from Poole Hospital to Royal Bournemouth Hospital in July 2026. If a role or service relocates as part of a planned move, excess mileage will not be reimbursed. Travel from home to the new work base will be classed as a normal commute. Any other changes will be managed under Trust or national terms and conditions.

UHD has active networks including Women’s, BAME, Pride, EU, Pro Ability, and Armed Forces. We support Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant interview schemes. AI tools may be used, but applications must honestly reflect your own skills and experience. Personal integrity is an important part of our recruitment process.

As University Hospitals Dorset we are a three site acute trust with 'university hospital' status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m. We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious transformation programme is well on the way to delivering state-of-the-art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.

We are located in an area with natural beauty and proximity to major towns and transport links. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive workforce and welcome applications from underrepresented groups. Internal candidates: staff employed prior to merger who voluntarily change jobs will be appointed to UHD terms and conditions.