Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Decontamination Support Assistant

The closing date is 11 September 2025

Job summary

  1. To provide decontamination support to the Special Care Dental Service
  2. To take responsibility for the day to day running of the decontamination room
  3. To assist in the smooth and efficient running of the dental service

Main duties of the job

  1. To decontaminate dental instruments and equipment working to the services quality systems, policies, procedures and guidelines as required
  2. To clean dental instruments and dental equipment as required to manufacturers guidelines
  3. To clean dental instruments using the washer disinfector or ultra-sonic bath
  4. To sterilise dental instruments using autoclaves
  5. To pouch decontaminated dental instruments marking the "use by date" and store in accordance with HTM 01-05 guidelines
  6. To carry out daily equipment checks to adhere to health and safety and regulations and organising for prompt repair
  7. To document daily maintenance of machines and equipment as required
  8. To carry out all dental instruments and equipment tracking as required
  9. Comply with daily documentation of the decontamination of all equipment
  10. Be proactive in problem solving when equipment fails and be confident and competent when reporting any non-conformance
  11. To undertake administrative duties as required

About us

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.

Why work for us?o Positive 2023 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeingo Varied environments: community hospitals, patients' homes, and bases across Sussexo Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retiremento Excellent training, development, and research opportunitieso Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brightono Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networkso Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trusto Beautiful Sussex location near the South Downs and coast

Our values--Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence--guide everything we do.

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.

Details

Date posted

01 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 2

Salary

£24,465 a year per annum pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time, Job share, Flexible working

Reference number

150-MM2014-PC

Job locations

Morley Street Special Care Dental Centre

School Clinic

Brighton

BN2 9DH


Job description

Job responsibilities

  1. To deliver dental instruments and equipment for use to the dental surgeries in the clinic
  2. To collect dental instruments and equipment requiring decontamination from the dental surgeries within the clinic
  3. Ensure that the correct dental instruments and equipment are decontaminated for each dental surgery and that there is adequate supply to ensure that the lists run efficiently
  4. Follow process and procedure covering daily/weekly/monthly checks of all equipment
  5. To assist with the organising of general and periodic machine servicing and action accordingly
  6. To report when stock levels are low and monitor stock control
  7. To check sterilised dental instruments and equipment in store are within date and re-process non-compliant items
  8. To assist the dental nurse team with the set up and close down of surgeries including replenishing stock where low
  9. To assist in collecting and returning dental equipment to the area in which it is stored
  10. To have a full understanding of COSHH regulations , especially with regard to hazardous cleaning chemicals
  11. To ensure personal protective equipment is worn in all areas as specified in the infection control protocol
  12. To ensure Trust policies and procedures are adhered to

Job description

Job responsibilities

  1. To deliver dental instruments and equipment for use to the dental surgeries in the clinic
  2. To collect dental instruments and equipment requiring decontamination from the dental surgeries within the clinic
  3. Ensure that the correct dental instruments and equipment are decontaminated for each dental surgery and that there is adequate supply to ensure that the lists run efficiently
  4. Follow process and procedure covering daily/weekly/monthly checks of all equipment
  5. To assist with the organising of general and periodic machine servicing and action accordingly
  6. To report when stock levels are low and monitor stock control
  7. To check sterilised dental instruments and equipment in store are within date and re-process non-compliant items
  8. To assist the dental nurse team with the set up and close down of surgeries including replenishing stock where low
  9. To assist in collecting and returning dental equipment to the area in which it is stored
  10. To have a full understanding of COSHH regulations , especially with regard to hazardous cleaning chemicals
  11. To ensure personal protective equipment is worn in all areas as specified in the infection control protocol
  12. To ensure Trust policies and procedures are adhered to

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Key Skills English & Maths - minimum Level 2

Desirable

  • Key Skills English & Maths - minimum Level 2

Experience

Essential

  • Some experience of decontamination

Desirable

  • knowledge of working with a Quality Management System would be desirable

Skills

Essential

  • Demonstrate effective communication skills

Desirable

  • Ability to work well within a team, prioritising tasks and working well under pressure
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Key Skills English & Maths - minimum Level 2

Desirable

  • Key Skills English & Maths - minimum Level 2

Experience

Essential

  • Some experience of decontamination

Desirable

  • knowledge of working with a Quality Management System would be desirable

Skills

Essential

  • Demonstrate effective communication skills

Desirable

  • Ability to work well within a team, prioritising tasks and working well under pressure

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

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Morley Street Special Care Dental Centre

School Clinic

Brighton

BN2 9DH


Employer's website

https://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/work-with-us/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Morley Street Special Care Dental Centre

School Clinic

Brighton

BN2 9DH


Employer's website

https://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/work-with-us/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Dental Nurse Manager

Emma Mason

emma.mason@nhs.net

07775024502

Details

Date posted

01 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 2

Salary

£24,465 a year per annum pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part-time, Job share, Flexible working

Reference number

150-MM2014-PC

Job locations

Morley Street Special Care Dental Centre

School Clinic

Brighton

BN2 9DH


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)