Tarve
Start Free Trial →

Verified Skilled Worker sponsor

Catering Assistant

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Tonbridge, TN11 0NE £25,272 a year Permanent Posted 31 August 2026 Apply by 13 September 2026

Home Office register entry: Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, Ashford

Visa sponsorship

This role is listed by an employer that holds a live Home Office sponsor licence on the Skilled Worker route.

NHS roles fall under the Health and Care Worker route. Public reference figures for that route: the general salary minimum is £25,000 a year, and salaries set by national pay scales (NHS bands) at or above the relevant band rate typically meet the occupation's requirement. Individual eligibility depends on personal circumstances. These figures are public reference information, not advice or a verdict on this job.

Role description

Job summary

Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts, the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Medway Community Healthcare or working on the Staff Bank within these organisations. Nursing and AHP vacancies are also open to Student Nurses and Newly Qualified Nurses/AHPs.

We are recruiting for a Catering Assistant at Tonbridge Cottage Hospital with a requirement to clean inpatientand clinical areas when service needs require. This post is for 37.5 hours per week, working a 2 week rotapattern, alternate weekends with shifts between 7am to 7pm.Experience within the Commercial Catering industry is welcomed.

Your hourly rate in this role will be £12.92. Weekends and Bank Holidays attract enhanced rates of pay.

Working for KCHFT has many benefits for all of our staff which include:

  • 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays. Your annual leave entitlement increases with length of service.
  • Automatic enrolment into the NHS Pension scheme (opt out available)
  • Access to NHS discounts and access to Blue Light card discounts

We encourage you to call us here at Tonbridge Cottage Hospital on 01732 376820 for more information, or to arrange a time to come in and see us, meet the team and receive support with your application.Jo Hammerton, would love to hear from you on 07984557624 or email jo.hammerton@nhs.netOr else you can chat to our recruitment team on 0300 123 2072 or email kentchft.recruitment@nhs.net.

Main duties of the job

This is primarily a hands-on catering position where you will learn all the back-ground skills and knowledge toenable you to complete the role, e.g. food preparation and cooking, allergens and other dietary requirements,completion of HACCP paperwork, equipment training and waste management. Preparing and cookingnutritious meals for patients and staff, along with a robust cleaning down process throughout the shift.Full training will be provided for the cleaning aspect of this role.

Please note, this vacancy does not meet the criteria for skilled worker sponsorship and therefore, we are unable to accept applications from candidates that cannot provide documentary evidence of right to work in the United Kingdom.

About us

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is due to integrate with Medway Community Healthcare on 1 October 2026. Following integration and to align our community services to the new Neighbourhood Model of care delivery, there will be a period of consultation which may result in changes affecting some services, teams or roles. Depending on the area you are applying to work in, this could include potential changes to your role, work base, reporting arrangements, or terms and conditions of employment. Any changes would be subject to consultation and managed sensitively and in line with relevant employment processes. Please do contact the recruiting manager if you have any concerns about this so they can answer any questions you might have.

Rated 'Outstanding' by CQC, we deliver high-quality care that improves the health of our communities. We are looking for people who share our values:Compassionate, Aspirational, Responsive and Excellent.

We are proud to be an inclusive, welcoming organisation and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We use protected characteristic information for monitoring only and it is not seen by recruiting managers, except where applicants choose to be considered under our disability guaranteed interview scheme.

We know life outside work matters. As a flexible working-friendly organisation, we welcome conversations about arrangements that help you thrive while supporting excellent care for our patients.

Explore KCHFTcareer pathways

Details

Date posted

31 August 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 2

Salary

£25,272 a year pro rata per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

846-8243778-EP

Job locations

Tonbridge Cottage Hospital

Tonbridge

TN11 0NE

United Kingdom


Job description

Job responsibilities

As a community Trust, many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. Where driving is a requirement of the role, you will be asked to confirm that you hold a full UK driving licence or a full driving licence issued by an EU country (not exchanged from a non-EU country) to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment. If you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via kentchft.recruitment@nhs.net, quoting the vacancy reference number, so we can support you further.

The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.

Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you, their contact details can be found in the job advert.

We can get a lot of applications for some roles so to be in with the best chance of being shortlisted please make sure you apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job.

At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve.

Find out more about the community difference here.

Good luck! We cant wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Level 2 Food service qualification or equivalent
  • Good standard of general education including literacy and numeracy

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working in a similar role
  • Experience of working as part of a team

Knowledge

Essential

  • Understanding of good hygiene and health and safety practices
  • Basic computer skills

Skills & Abilities

Essential

  • Good interpersonal and communication skills
  • Attention to detail and presentation
  • Can work as part of a team and on their own initiative
  • Able to carry out manual tasks

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

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Tonbridge Cottage Hospital

Tonbridge

TN11 0NE

United Kingdom


Employer's website

https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/

Apply now

Last verified against our ingestion on 2 September 2026; sponsor register dataset 2026-08-25.