Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Healthcare Assistant

The closing date is 10 February 2026

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen to recruit an energetic, compassionate, caring and flexible individual to join our Community Mental Health Team in the role of a Band 3 Health Care Support Worker.Our team looks forward to welcoming confident, approachable and empathetic individuals who are able to demonstrate compassion and understanding towards people who are in a challenging phase of their journey, and who are willing to support and assist them towards their recovery.You must be a good team player with an ability to manage time effectively. You will need to be a good communicator who is able to demonstrate empathy, be non-judgmental, self-motivated and committed to delivering high quality patient care. You will need to demonstrate good verbal and non-verbal communication and show evidence of good listening skills, demonstrating patience and willing to spend time with service users to discuss their care and assist them with their daily needs.

Main duties of the job

As a valued member of the team, you will need to assist the qualified members of the team in the holistic assessment and delivering of care and treatment whilst they are under CMHT.CMHT is an Adults Community Mental Health service based at West strand house Preston. We are a community based service who visit service users in their own home across the whole of the Preston locality. Our service users often present with long term mental health conditions and require input in the community to help promote independence and avoid, where possible, an admission into a mental health hospital. We are a 5 day a week service with operating hours from 9am to 5pm, Monday-Friday.We have a wealth of disciplines based at CMHT, including Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists an Assistant Psychologist and Psychiatric Consultants. This ensures a holistic way of working and enables us to deliver the highest standard of care to our patients. We have close working links with other health departments, social services and voluntary agencies.Our service users can present with a mixture of differing mental health difficulties which are often combined with complex social care and physical health needs.After an induction period, we continue to promote training and development via internal and external training.The service covers a large geographical area, so the ability to travel to various locations is essential.

About us

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you'd like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.

Details

Date posted

27 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

351-CEN2424-CC

Job locations

West Strand House

Preston

PR1 8UY


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please note: Due to recent changes in UK immigration and visa rules, this role may not be eligible for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. Applicants who do not currently have the right to work in the UK may not be considered. Candidates requiring sponsorship should review the eligibility criteria on the gov.uk website before applying to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship for this role.Applications from individuals on a Student Visa or Graduate Route Visa cannot be progressed, as this role does not meet the current UKVI requirements for sponsorship within these visa categories.All applicants must have the unrestricted right to work in the UK for the duration of the role.For further information about the role, please see the attached recruitment pack which includes a detailed job description and person specification, or visit our website via Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please note: Due to recent changes in UK immigration and visa rules, this role may not be eligible for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. Applicants who do not currently have the right to work in the UK may not be considered. Candidates requiring sponsorship should review the eligibility criteria on the gov.uk website before applying to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship for this role.Applications from individuals on a Student Visa or Graduate Route Visa cannot be progressed, as this role does not meet the current UKVI requirements for sponsorship within these visa categories.All applicants must have the unrestricted right to work in the UK for the duration of the role.For further information about the role, please see the attached recruitment pack which includes a detailed job description and person specification, or visit our website via Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • NVQ Level 2 in Health & Social Care
  • Willingness to undertake NVQ Level 3 in Health & Social Care

Knowledge

Essential

  • Demonstrate a good understanding of confidentiality
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Basic understanding of mental health problems for older people and an understanding of therapeutic relationships
  • Have an understanding regarding the importance of assessing the client's mental health and reporting to the care co-ordinator

Experience

Essential

  • Previous relevant experience of working with clients in later life with mental health problems

Skills

Essential

  • Excellent writing and typing skills to maintain clear records
  • An awareness for the need for support and supervision
  • Able to function as a team member
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • NVQ Level 2 in Health & Social Care
  • Willingness to undertake NVQ Level 3 in Health & Social Care

Knowledge

Essential

  • Demonstrate a good understanding of confidentiality
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Basic understanding of mental health problems for older people and an understanding of therapeutic relationships
  • Have an understanding regarding the importance of assessing the client's mental health and reporting to the care co-ordinator

Experience

Essential

  • Previous relevant experience of working with clients in later life with mental health problems

Skills

Essential

  • Excellent writing and typing skills to maintain clear records
  • An awareness for the need for support and supervision
  • Able to function as a team member

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Additional information

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Address

West Strand House

Preston

PR1 8UY


Employer's website

https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Address

West Strand House

Preston

PR1 8UY


Employer's website

https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Service Manager

Margaret Marshall

margaret.marshall@lscft.nhs.uk

Details

Date posted

27 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

351-CEN2424-CC

Job locations

West Strand House

Preston

PR1 8UY


Supporting documents

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