Featured careers: facilities and estates

Join our Facilities and Estates team at UHSussex

Our porters, housekeepers, caterers, engineers, reception, security and transport teams are the backbone of our hospitals. Give back to your local community by helping your local hospitals improve the experience for our patients.

Our teams

As one of our key support services, facilities and estates is responsible for the smooth running of our hospitals. The teams work in areas such as transport, catering, portering, domestic, reception, switchboard, car parking and security. And they play an important part in patient experience making sure our services work effectively all day, every day for our patients.

The commitment and dedication of all our facilities and estates staff was seen throughout the pandemic. Teams often took on additional tasks to change the use of spaces and get areas ready to support changes in use and more patients. So much so, that our estates teams were crowned Governors’ Award Winners in the 2022 Patient First STAR Awards for their outstanding efforts throughout the pandemic.

A great place to work

Here are just some of the benefits:

• Flexible shift patterns
• Competitive rates of pay
• Job security and career progression
• Wide range of development opportunities, training courses and professional qualifications
• Generous annual leave entitlement including bank holidays
• Company pension
• NHS benefits including high street discounts
• UHSussex benefits including bike scheme and car scheme
• …and being part of our supportive UHSussex family.

Our colleagues put it best…read their stories

Alan, Mechanical Engineer, Southlands Hospital

Our Estates teams provide maintenance, repair, improvement and engineering support across the Trust. Their work takes them to all corners of our sites to ensure a safe and pleasant environment for all our staff and patients.  

Alan is a Mechanical Engineer at Southlands Hospital and is part of the emergency on call engineer team for Worthing and Southlands Hospital. 

He says: “I enjoy making sure everyone is happy so that they can all do their jobs in a good fashion, which helps them do a better job for patients. That’s why we are here – patients first.” 

Barry, Housekeeper, Worthing Hospital

Domestic services ensure our hospitals are kept clean and remain a safe environment to work in by helping to prevent the risk and spread of infection. 

Barry has worked in housekeeping at Worthing Hospital for eight years and is part of a team that helps maintain a healthy, clean, orderly, safe and pleasant environment. 

“The best thing about the role is the patients. They don’t want to be there but you can reassure them and communicate with them. You meet some really lovely people.” 

Renata, Housekeeping Manager, Princess Royal Hospital

She says: “I love how versatile the role is. You are never bored and the time flies. There is so much to do but everyone is on board”.  

“Patients are here because they need to be, it’s not out of choice.  We are providing a service on a daily basis to make them feel comfortable in their environment.” 

Antoinette, Housekeeping Manager, Brighton sites

With 250 housekeeping staff at our Brighton sites, Housekeeping Manager Antoinette is responsible for liaising across multiple departments to make sure her staff are in the right place at the right time.  

Antoinette says: “We help to make our hospitals safe for all our patients. I love working for a large organisation with a shared goal, which is ensuring the patient experience is the best it can be. Patients really revel in engagement between them and our staff.” 

Sonnur, Administrative Assistant Apprentice, Brighton sites

Food and nutrition plays a vital part of a patient’s recovery and overall care experience. Effective catering depends on a number of elements including menu planning, procurement, food production and distribution.  

Sonnur works as an Administrative Assistant Apprentice and supports the catering department at our Brighton Hospitals. An important part of her role is collating and collecting compliance packs to ensure a sufficient, high quality catering service. These include temperature checks, recording food wastage and cleaning checks to name a few.  

Sonnur says: “The team is very diverse. Everyone has been really helpful and every day I am learning something new.” 

Alan, Bank Porter, Worthing Hospital

Porters play an essential role in transporting people, equipment and supplies around our hospitals. As well as making sure patients are at the right place at the right time, porters also provide an excellent source of companionship to nervous or stressed patients.  

Alan Faw is a bank porter at Worthing Hospital, covering staff annual leave and sickness.  

He says: “You get a chance to talk to the patients and can build up a nice rapport. When they are nervous I feel that I can make them feel safe and happier.” 

Carla, Receptionist, Worthing Hospital

From welcoming people through the doors, to giving directions or answering the phones, our receptions, helpdesks and switchboards are often the first point of call for patients and visitors.  

Carla works on Worthing Hospital’s main reception and Children’s Centre reception.  

 She says: “You have to know everything around the hospital and have a good rapport with all departments. They are all really supportive of each other and here to help. 

“The best thing is the interaction with the general public; being able to help and make their day better by providing a calm, friendly and reassuring atmosphere.”  

Brandon, Security Operations Administrator, Worthing, Southlands and St Richard’s hospitals

Our security teams ensure patients and staff are kept safe while in hospital. Regular patrols and monitoring of cameras means they are on hand to prevent and control any issue that may arise.  

Brandon is a Security Operations Administrator for Worthing, St Richard’s and Southlands Hospitals. 

He says: “The best thing about my role is being able to offer a tailored security service and provide reassurance that there is security on site to protect patients and staff.” 

Steve, Relief Driver, Worthing, Southlands and St Richard’s hospitals

Our transport and courier teams run a safe and reliable transport service for staff and patients, as well as facilitating the collection and delivery of specimens, equipment, pharmacy and post. 

Steve works as a Relief Driver at Worthing, Southlands and St Richard’s Hospitals. He currently drives an 18 tonne lorry to Eastbourne twice a day to deliver dirty laundry and collect clean laundry while the laundry service at St Richard’s Hospital is in its second phase of replacing and improving all the equipment.  

Steve says: “Every day is a variety of different things; you don’t know what happens from one day to the next. It’s a really beneficial role within a great team with a good sense of humour.”