NHS
Home First Support Worker
The closing date is 01 February 2026
You can help people in your community and start a great new career by becoming a Support Worker for the NHS and Kent County Council Home First Team.
These are roles working across health and social care to provide support for people leaving hospital to help them return home safely and continue their recovery in their own surroundings.
You’ll help people to regain their confidence by helping with personal care, eating and drinking and staying as active as they can.
You’ll have the full support of a large team of health and social care professionals at all times and your best reward will be the smiles on the faces of the people you help to get home, where they belong.
You don’t need any formal qualifications, we’ll give you all the training you need to provide a truly valuable service to people in your community. So, when someone in hospital says “I just want to go home”, you’ll be there to help them do just that.
Roles are based in East Kent (Ashford, Thanet, Dover) and West Kent.
Please note: We are not accepting previous applications – if you have applied for this role in the last month, you need not apply. Thank you.
Main duties of the job We are looking for staff who:
Believe in providing personalised support
Can work independently and flexibly
Respect privacy and dignity and want to expand their knowledge in health and social care settings
No experience in the Health and Social Care sector is required, however the ability to work flexibly and a passion to make a difference is a must.
The operational hours of the service are 08:00 - 20:00 seven days a week (working on a shift basis). Contracts will be available for all staff.
This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence. The Trust & Council are committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.
You will be employed by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, but equally accountable to Kent County Council.
About us Rated “outstanding” by the CQC, we’re passionate about delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. We need outstanding people who share our values: compassionate, aspirational, responsive, excellent.
We know that 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.
We ask for information about your protected characteristics on our application forms. This isn’t visible to anyone involved with short‑listing or interviewing you, except when you choose to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme due to disability. Short‑listers will see two ticks alongside your application to ensure they apply the principles of the scheme to your submission.
The data we collect helps us ensure we are attracting diversity in our applicants, that all our colleagues have equitable access to career opportunities and supports us on our journey to being a Great Place to Work.
As a flexible‑working friendly organisation, we want you to be able to work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Talk to us about a flexible working arrangement that won’t involve sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We’ll support you to work flexibly in a way that suits us both.
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 can’t wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.
Person Specification Qualifications
Care Certificate or willingness to undertake the Care Certificate
GCSE or equivalent in Maths & English
Experience
Demonstrates an interest in caring for the health and welfare of adults needing support in the community
Working as part of a team
Knowledge
Understands and can apply key Health & Safety procedures relevant to the role
Awareness and compliance with equality policies, procedures and legislation
Understands the role and remit of the unregistered worker
Awareness of national policies and legislation, its relevance to care settings and its application across health and social care services
Use of a wide range of domestic appliances
Skills and abilities
Sound communication and interpersonal skills (verbal and written)
Ability to organise and prioritise own work
Ability to cope with change
Ability to use own initiative
Personal Attributes
Car owner/driver with UK licence (subject to Equality Act 2020). The Council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.
Ability to manage
Ability to manage own time effectively
Ability to prioritise care delivery in a professional manner, considering health and social care policies and procedures
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.
Address East Kent (Ashford, Thanet, Dover) West Kent (base to be confirmed)
Pay £24,937 to £26,598 a year pro rata per annum
Contract Permanent
Working pattern Full‑time
Reference number 846‑7694672‑UJ‑A
Job locations East Kent (Ashford, Thanet, Dover) West Kent (base to be confirmed)
#J-18808-Ljbffr
You can help people in your community and start a great new career by becoming a Support Worker for the NHS and Kent County Council Home First Team.
These are roles working across health and social care to provide support for people leaving hospital to help them return home safely and continue their recovery in their own surroundings.
You’ll help people to regain their confidence by helping with personal care, eating and drinking and staying as active as they can.
You’ll have the full support of a large team of health and social care professionals at all times and your best reward will be the smiles on the faces of the people you help to get home, where they belong.
You don’t need any formal qualifications, we’ll give you all the training you need to provide a truly valuable service to people in your community. So, when someone in hospital says “I just want to go home”, you’ll be there to help them do just that.
Roles are based in East Kent (Ashford, Thanet, Dover) and West Kent.
Please note: We are not accepting previous applications – if you have applied for this role in the last month, you need not apply. Thank you.
Main duties of the job We are looking for staff who:
Believe in providing personalised support
Can work independently and flexibly
Respect privacy and dignity and want to expand their knowledge in health and social care settings
No experience in the Health and Social Care sector is required, however the ability to work flexibly and a passion to make a difference is a must.
The operational hours of the service are 08:00 - 20:00 seven days a week (working on a shift basis). Contracts will be available for all staff.
This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence. The Trust & Council are committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.
You will be employed by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust, but equally accountable to Kent County Council.
About us Rated “outstanding” by the CQC, we’re passionate about delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. We need outstanding people who share our values: compassionate, aspirational, responsive, excellent.
We know that 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.
We ask for information about your protected characteristics on our application forms. This isn’t visible to anyone involved with short‑listing or interviewing you, except when you choose to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme due to disability. Short‑listers will see two ticks alongside your application to ensure they apply the principles of the scheme to your submission.
The data we collect helps us ensure we are attracting diversity in our applicants, that all our colleagues have equitable access to career opportunities and supports us on our journey to being a Great Place to Work.
As a flexible‑working friendly organisation, we want you to be able to work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Talk to us about a flexible working arrangement that won’t involve sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We’ll support you to work flexibly in a way that suits us both.
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 can’t wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.
Person Specification Qualifications
Care Certificate or willingness to undertake the Care Certificate
GCSE or equivalent in Maths & English
Experience
Demonstrates an interest in caring for the health and welfare of adults needing support in the community
Working as part of a team
Knowledge
Understands and can apply key Health & Safety procedures relevant to the role
Awareness and compliance with equality policies, procedures and legislation
Understands the role and remit of the unregistered worker
Awareness of national policies and legislation, its relevance to care settings and its application across health and social care services
Use of a wide range of domestic appliances
Skills and abilities
Sound communication and interpersonal skills (verbal and written)
Ability to organise and prioritise own work
Ability to cope with change
Ability to use own initiative
Personal Attributes
Car owner/driver with UK licence (subject to Equality Act 2020). The Council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.
Ability to manage
Ability to manage own time effectively
Ability to prioritise care delivery in a professional manner, considering health and social care policies and procedures
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.
Address East Kent (Ashford, Thanet, Dover) West Kent (base to be confirmed)
Pay £24,937 to £26,598 a year pro rata per annum
Contract Permanent
Working pattern Full‑time
Reference number 846‑7694672‑UJ‑A
Job locations East Kent (Ashford, Thanet, Dover) West Kent (base to be confirmed)
#J-18808-Ljbffr