Ancillary Roles

As a cook/kitchen assistant, you'll be responsible for providing nutritious and balanced meals whilst working with residents and staff to ensure individual's dietary needs are met.

Role overview:
•    Developing healthy and balanced meals in consultation with residents and staff
•    Preparing meals to meet individual's medical needs, for example people with dysphagia or allergies.
•    Considering how people’s religious and cultural backgrounds might impact on their dietary requirements
•    Monitoring kitchen stocks and ordering supplies
•    Ensuring high standards of hygiene and cleanliness are maintained. 

Skills and experience:
To work in this role, you will need to be able to treat people with dignity, have good listening and observational skills, number skills, and some awareness of the challenges faced by people who need care and support.

Cook/Chef roles may require a relevant qualification such as a Professional Chef Diploma, BTEC National Certificate in Hospitality Supervision or an Advanced Chef Diploma. However, you could do these qualifications whilst on the job.   

It’s also important that you have the right core values and behaviours to work in social care.

Opportunities:
Your employer will provide an induction including necessary training such as health and safety and food hygiene. You might also receive specific social care training such as autism awareness, communication skills or working with people with dementia.

When in your role you could do a vocational qualification such as a Certificate in Food Hygiene or continuing professional development qualification such as a food allergy awareness course or adult dysphagia training.
Your employer might pay for you to do these qualifications or you could apply for an Advanced Learner Loan to pay for them yourself.

There may be opportunities to progress into more senior kitchen roles, for example a kitchen assistant may have the opportunity to progress into a head cook/chef role or you might choose to go into other social care roles.

As a driver/ transport manager, you’ll provide transport for people who need care and support, for example to and from a day centre or to hospital appointments.

Role overview:
•    Transporting people to and from day centres, hospital appointments and outings
•    Planning routes that include different pickups and drop offs
•    Supporting people to get on and off the vehicle
•    Performing basis vehicle checks and ensuring the vehicle is clean. 

Skills and experience:
To work in this role, you'll need to be reliable and trustworthy with good organisation and communication skills and the ability to cope under pressure or in an emergency. It will also be helpful to have knowledge of the local area and of the issues faced by people who draw on care and support.

You’ll need a full driving license and possibly a category D licence depending on the vehicle you’re driving. You’ll need to be 17 years old to drive smaller minibuses and cars and at least 21 to have a category D licence to drive vehicles with more than 9 seats.

It might be useful to have previous experience in a similar role, or in a social care and health setting.

It’s also important that you have the right core values and behaviours to work in social care.

Opportunities:
You employer will arrange an induction which includes training necessary for your role such as health and safety and moving and handling training. You might also receive specific social care training such as autism awareness, communication skills or working with people with dementia.

You could do additional training whilst working such as an advanced driver qualification or bus, coach, and minibus PCV driver training courses. There are also BTEC driver training qualifications to help you progress into more senior roles. Your employer might pay for you to do these qualifications, or you could apply for an Advanced Learner Loan to pay for them yourself.

There may be opportunities to progress into more senior driver roles or you might choose to go into other social care roles.

As a housekeeper / domestic worker, you’ll be responsible for keeping the environment clean and safe.

Role overview:
•    Ensuring the environment is welcoming and comfortable for residents
•    Making beds and doing laundry
•    Keeping records of housekeeping stocks and ordering supplies
•    General upkeep of communal areas and bedrooms. 

Skills and experience:
To work in this role, you will need to have a high attention to detail, good organisational skills and the ability to cope under pressure. It may also help to have some knowledge of health and safety in the workplace and of the issues faced by people who need care and support.
You don’t necessarily need any qualifications to become a housekeeper but it might be useful to have some previous experience in a similar role, or in a social care and health setting.

It’s also important that you have the right core values and behaviours to work in social care.

Opportunities:
Your employer will provide an induction including training necessary for your role such as health and safety, fire safety and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) training. You might also receive specific social care training such as autism awareness, communication skills or working with people with dementia.

You could do a vocational qualification whilst working, such as a Diploma in Housekeeping or a HNC’s and SVW qualifications in hospitality or hospitality and supervision. Your employer might pay for you to do these qualifications or you could apply for an Advanced Learner Loan to pay for them yourself.

As a maintenance worker, you’ll carry out practical maintenance jobs, usually in a residential home or sheltered housing.

Role overview:
•    Supporting with gardening and the upkeep of outdoor areas in a care facility
•    Painting and decorating and ensuring the building’s interior and exterior decor remain well kept
•    Conducting minor electrical repairs in a safe manner
•    Conduiting minor plumbing repairs in a safe manner
•    Repairing fixtures and fittings to ensure safe use
•    Carrying out health and safety inspections

Skills and Experience:
Everyone working in social care needs some level of English, number, digital and employability skills including teamwork and problem-solving skills. 
Some specific skills needed to work in this role include:
•    Some awareness of the issues faced by people who need care and support such as older or disabled people
•    A skill in carpentry, plumbing, decorating or electrical repairs
•    Knowledge of health and safety procedures and protocols 
•    Good number skills

You don’t necessarily need any qualifications to become an entry level maintenance worker but it might be useful to have previous experience in a similar role or a qualification in one aspect of maintenance such as plumbing or gardening. It might also be useful to have experience in a social care and health setting.

Your employer might ask that you have qualifications showing good English and number skills such as GCSE A-C (9-4) in English and maths.

It’s also important that you have the right core values and behaviours to work in social care..

Opportunities:
When you start in your role, you should do an induction which includes training necessary for your role such as health and safety and first aid. You might also receive specific social care training such as autism awareness, communication skills or working with people with dementia.

When in your role you could do additional training or a qualification in specific aspects of maintenance such as plumbing, gardening or decorating.  
Your employer might pay for you to do these qualifications, or you could apply for an Advanced Learner Loan to pay for them yourself.

There may be opportunities to progress into more senior maintenance roles, or you might choose to go into other social care roles such as a care worker, senior care worker or a rehabilitation worker.