Head Driver

Job Summary

Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). We currently have a vacancy for a Head Driver to manage and maintain the Mobile Dental Surgery's and trust lease cars in London and Kent. You will oversee the servicing, maintenance and repairs of all vehicles in collaboration with key staff in London and Kent and have line management of three drivers. The London boroughs covered are Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Havering and Barking & Dagenham.

You'll be based in London but will also travel to Kent to support services. The post is critical to providing clinical and outreach services to deliver and meet contracted activity in the community, clinics, prisons, medium secure forensic units, homeless sites and a secure school.

You will need to be able to work in a very busy environment whilst remaining calm, the ability to work independently, proactively and under pressure is important. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are required to act as a professional contact point for all driver and vehicle related enquiries with the ability to exercise tact and diplomacy.

You will require a driving license that allows you to drive a vehicle up to 7.5 tonnes (C1/D1 category) and an enhanced DBS.

Main Duties of the Job

To support the provision of an efficient and effective mobile dental unit (MDU) service, in Kent and London, and support a variety of dental outreach services including Homeless provision and other ad-hoc duties as and when required while always maintaining the continuity of the service using the trust pool vehicles. The daily supervision of drivers coordinating use of resources, routes and managing rotas and workloads.

You will work in close partnership with the Senior Project Coordinator in London, key staff in Kent and Operational managers to ensure outreach services are delivered in line with service needs.

The Mobile Dental Unit team is a small team within the London Dental Services and Kent Dental services who support a variety of dental outreach services including the Homeless provision (London), Medium Secure Units (London), Medium Secure Forensic unit (Kent), Prisons (Kent) and Secure School for children (Kent). The team is comprised of several drivers and spread across various bases within North East London and Kent.

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

Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, [Employer hidden — sign up to reveal] (KCHFT) has a passion for delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. To do this we need outstanding people who share our values: compassionate, aspirational, responsive, excellent.

We know a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion leads to better patient care and a happier workforce. We pride ourselves in being diverse and welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences.

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 [contact hidden], 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 [Employer hidden — sign up to reveal] 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.

Person Specification

• Qualifications – Essential: GCSE including Maths and English grades A to C. Desirable: Advanced driving qualifications.
• Experience – Essential: Demonstratable experience of driving a 7.5 tonne vehicle; Good verbal and written communication skills; Experience of managing staff; Evidence of continued professional development; Computer literate. Desirable: Advanced driving experience within the NHS.
• Knowledge – Essential: Knowledge of routine daily maintenance of vehicles (checking oil/water levels, tyre pressures); Understanding of Health & Safety in the workplace. Desirable: Knowledge/experience of NHS procedures & processes; Knowledge of UK Driving Rules and Regulations; Understanding of Health & Safety issues.
• Skills – Essential: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills - ability to use tact, diplomacy and empathy; IT skills to record the clinical procedures performed.
• Personal Attributes – Essential: A full, valid UK driving licence or a full driving licence issued by an EU country (not exchanged from a non-EU country) and the ability to travel independently are essential. Should you require workplace adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, we are committed to supporting you to meet the mobility requirements of the role wherever possible.

Employer Details

Employer: [Employer hidden — sign up to reveal]

Address: St Leonards Hospital, Hackney, N1 5LZ

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