Oxford Health NHS Trust

Health Care Support Worker - Adolescent Mental Health - Swindon

The closing date is 29 January 2026

Job summary

Are you seeking a progressive career in mental health?

Marlborough House in Swindon has two full time opportunities for those looking to work in mental health care with young people aged 11-18 and their families!

We are a 12 bedded inpatient unit supporting young people with a variety of mental health needs including eating disorders, anxiety, depression, Psychosis, OCD and emotional dysregulation.

We are looking for a highly motivated and caring individual to come and work for us as a Health Care Support Worker. This role involves delivering care and the daily therapeutic structure on our busy and dynamic General Adolescent Unit.

In this role, you would work as part of a wide team from a range of professional backgrounds including nurses, healthcare support workers, family therapists, psychologists, occupational therapists, doctors, social workers and more.

To be successful in the role, we'll need you to be someone who welcomes a challenge and someone who will find it rewarding to support young people through crisis and to improve their self care, coping skills and overall wellbeing. We are looking for individuals who are able to reflect on and develop their practice, and who have an ability to work well within a diverse team.

Main duties of the job

Your role as a Healthcare Support Worker will be to work as part of the nursing team to deliver day to day care.

The role will include supervising meals and giving support during and following mealtimes to young people who may have an eating disorder. You must have a willingness and ability therefore to role model healthy eating behaviour with patients and to provide support as trained.

The role will also include supporting young people to learn and apply DBT informed skills to help manage distress as part of our Managing Emotions care pathway. Full training and supervision will, again, be provided.

You will be involved in carrying out individual observations to patients that may need a higher level of staff care. You will also be involved in the case team of a small number of young people and will have the opportunity to co-facilitate small groups and activities.

We also work very closely with families to support and empower them.

About us

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust provides physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.

Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people's homes, delivering care as close to home as possible

Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive:"Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team"

Our values are:"Caring, safe and excellent"

At Oxford Health we offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:

Excellent opportunities for career progression
Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
Competitive pension scheme
Lease car scheme
Cycle to work scheme
Employee Assistance Programme
Mental Health First Aiders
Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists may apply)
Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team

Date posted

22 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£24,937 to £26,598 a year Per Annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

267-OC7477290-A

Job locations

Marlborough House

Swindon

SN1 4JS

Job description

Job responsibilities

You do not need prior experience in the field but some experience of caring for others would be an advantage. The post is suitable both for those that are looking for a career change and those seeking experience in a care field prior to further progression.

A level of fitness and ability to competently perform Physical Interventions and/or Breakaway techniques (practical and theory) following training is also essential.

The role involves working shifts which may include twilights, nights, weekends and bank holidays. Our shift patterns are as follows: early shifts 07:00-14:45, late shifts 13:15-21:00, twilight shifts 15:00-22:45 and the night shifts are 20:40-07:20.

The service is always striving to ensure high quality care is provided for all young people and their families, to ensure their experience is positive. You would have access to regular supervision and additional training and learning opportunities to help you really develop in this role.

We are very committed to developing our support workers to reach their full potential. Once established in post, you may apply to undertake additional training to become a Nurse Associate (Band 4) and may then further apply to undertake Mental Health Nurse training(Band 5).

Job description

Job responsibilities

A level of fitness and ability to competently perform Physical Interventions and/or Breakaway techniques (practical and theory) following training is also essential.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

Experience of providing care in a professional setting
Experience of working in a multi disciplinary team
Experience of working with children

Desirable

Experience of working on an Children Inpatient ward.
NHS experience

Knowledge

Essential

Must be able to undertake Trust training in physical interventions required for breakaway and/or restraint of patients
Ability to work within the boundary of the job description. Interest in personal & professional development

Personal Qualities/Skills

Essential

Ability to work as an active and supportive member of the team
Ability to work on his/her own,but with supervision.
Ability to remain calm in stressful situations
Ability to support & motivate patients.
Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

Experience of providing care in a professional setting
Experience of working in a multi disciplinary team
Experience of working with children

Desirable

Experience of working on an Children Inpatient ward.
NHS experience

Knowledge

Essential

Must be able to undertake Trust training in physical interventions required for breakaway and/or restraint of patients
Ability to work within the boundary of the job description. Interest in personal & professional development

Personal Qualities/Skills

Essential

Ability to work as an active and supportive member of the team
Ability to work on his/her own,but with supervision.
Ability to remain calm in stressful situations
Ability to support & motivate patients.
Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

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.