Jobs at DCHS – why work with us?

We are a real Living Wage employer

DCHS participate in the voluntary initiative relating to the payment of the real Living Wage as opposed to the National Living Wage. The real Living Wage is a guide as to where to set the minimum hourly rate to improve upon the National Living Wage.

The real Living Wage is an independently determined hourly rate of pay which takes into account fluctuations in the prices of food, fuel and other essential items and is determined with the aim of ensuring recipients of the real Living Wage can afford to purchase these essential items from the salary they earn.

We are a rewarding place to work

There are few careers that are as rewarding as one in the NHS, or that give you the opportunity to work with such a variety of people.

We actively recruit people of all ages, backgrounds and levels of experience. This helps us understand the different needs of patients and provide the best possible service.

Whichever area you join, you become part of a talented, passionate team of people, committed to providing the best care and treatment to patients. You will also enjoy one of the most competitive and flexible benefits packages offered by any employer in the UK.

•    Join one of the UK's best pension schemes

Every new employee is automatically enrolled into the NHS pension scheme (subject to eligibility) and you will get an excellent package of pension benefits, fully protected against inflation and guaranteed by the government. For more details see the NHS Pensions website.

•    Mileage rates

DCHS recognises that, in order to meet our vision of providing care close to home, many employees are required to use their own vehicles in the day-to-day delivery of their work.  We provide a fair mileage rate and the Trust's environmental goals are aligned to the DCHS Green Travel Policy [ link to Green Travel Policy ]. Our scheme is fully compliant with HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) regulations and will protect the health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues.

•    Maternity and adoption pay

All employees irrespective of their length of service are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity/adoption leave. Depending on their length of service, they may receive Occupational Maternity/Adoption Pay and/or Statutory Maternity/Adoption Pay.

Employees who have more than 12 months continuous NHS service at the beginning of the 11th week before the due date/placement date, and are returning to work, will be entitled to 39 weeks maternity/adoption pay, paid as follows:

• For the first 8 weeks, full Occupational Maternity/Adoption Pay (which includes Statutory Maternity Pay/Statutory Adoption Pay)
• For the next 18 weeks, half of Occupational Maternity/Adoption Pay plus any Statutory Maternity Pay/Statutory Adoption Pay
• For the next 13 weeks pay at Statutory Maternity Pay/Statutory Adoption Pay
• Final 13 weeks is unpaid
• Employees who have been continuously employed by the NHS for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before the due date/placement date, but have less than 12 months service by the 11th week before the due date/placement date, will be entitled to 39 weeks maternity/adoption pay, paid as follows:
  • 6 weeks Statutory Maternity/Adoption Pay at 90% of your average weekly earnings
  • 33 weeks Statutory Maternity/Adoption Pay at the lower rate
  • Final 13 weeks is unpaid

Employees who have been employed for less than 26 weeks, by the 15th week before the due date/placement date, will be entitled to 52 weeks unpaid maternity/adoption leave. They may be able to claim maternity/adoption allowance from the Department for Work and Pensions.

•    Paternity leave

Providing a member of staff has at least 12 months continuous service with DCHS, without a break in service when the baby is born, they are eligible to receive 2 weeks paternity leave at full pay.  Other options and paternity leave packages are available should the person not meet the qualifying service criteria.

Clinical supervision 

DCHS is committed to the concept of clinical supervision for all registered and non-registered clinical staff. Clinical supervision (also known as reflective practice or reflection on practice) is regular protected time for yourself, allowing you to meet up with your chosen clinical supervisor using a recognised model of reflection.  This may be one to one or in a group, depending on your individual needs.  

There is a network of clinical supervisors available throughout DCHS from a range of professions, backgrounds and specialities to enable you to find someone suitable to support your needs.
There is also a DCHS Clinical Supervision Resource Portal [need link] with a range of information and resources to support you, ranging from documentation to record clinical supervision activity, to videos, books and websites.

Clinical supervision aims to promote continuing professional development, lifelong learning and innovation in practice. It enables the supervisee to develop a high quality of practice and reflective learning skills through the means of focused support and development.

DCHS inter-professional preceptorship programme

We recognise that moving into a new organisation and also the transition from student to registered member of staff can be rather daunting, so here at DCHS we aim to support you.

Preceptorship is provided by DCHS to all newly qualified staff, all experienced staff who are new to working in the community and all staff who have successfully completed a return to practice.

Local induction plays a part in the specialist side of preceptorship, but the preceptorship programme aims to provide emotional support to help the preceptee’s transition into their new role.

The preceptorship programme is a generic 12 month inter-professional support system, which provides time for staff to settle into their new working environments and teams. The preceptorship programme is facilitated by trained preceptors and clinical practice facilitators (CPF’s) from within DCHS. Clinical supervision is a strong theme throughout the preceptorship programme and is facilitated at each session. 

As part of the preceptorship programme, preceptees are expected to attend 12 preceptee forums over their first year, where they receive face-to-face and peer support, group clinical supervision / action learning and a chance to reflect. The forums also provide an opportunity for preceptees to share experiences and network inter-professionally. We also have guest speakers to talk about relevant DCHS and clinical topics.

Click here for more details on preceptorship [link to page tbc]

Developing you and progressing your career

At DCHS we are commited to:

• Supporting apprenticeship opportunities
• Developing our band 4 clinicians
• Associate nurse trainee programme

Looking after you, your health and wellbeing

At DCHS we have a simple philosophy when it comes to your health and wellbeing, we believe that work should benefit your health, not challenge it. This is why we consider staff health and wellbeing throughout every aspect of our organisation and the work we do. This focus has resulted in us consistently scoring top in the staff survey for employee engagement and organisational focus on staff wellbeing across all community NHS trusts.

We ensure this focus through a dedicated staff wellbeing team that oversee our strategy and link in with human resources and operational colleagues to make sure your health is accounted for at every step, throughout your time with us. We place a particularly big focus on your mental health. Working in the NHS can be stressful so we have various functions in place to look after your emotional wellbeing. We offer stress management and resilience training as well as self-care tools and resources. We are also signed up with Time to Change and Mindful Employer and promote Time to Talk campaigns. We even have an in house counselling service, Resolve - where you can get free, impartial and confidential one-to-one talking therapies.

For your physical health we have a specialist staff physio, health MOTs, and fast-track self-referral to many of our outpatient services.

When you arrive at DCHS you will meet our staff wellbeing team on day-one of your induction and they will talk you through everything that is available to you. When you arrive at your new base you can meet your local staff wellbeing champion (we have over 100 across DCHS) who will help you settle in and find out what else is available to you. If there’s anything you aren’t sure about or anything that you feel is missing from our staff wellbeing offer you only have to ask, our service is here to support you and is only ever a phone call away.

Schwartz Rounds

Schwartz Rounds are held regularly throughout the year at venues across DCHS. They provide an opportunity for staff, whether they are clinical or non-clinical, to get together and have a discussion about how our work affects us emotionally. A small panel of DCHS staff share their experiences with the group on a chosen topic before the group are invited to share their own thoughts and reflections if they wish. Attending a Schwartz Round has been shown to lower our stress levels, increase our engagement with our work and make us feel closer to our colleagues. 

DCHS has a good reputation both locally and nationally for its work on equality, diversity and inclusion. We believe equality, diversity and inclusion is everyone’s business. It is not ‘political correctness’ or just ‘saying the right thing’ but about embedding a culture of fairness and respect that we can be proud of and helps us to look forward to coming into the workplace every day.

Find out more on our equality, diversity & inclusion pages. 

DCHS are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Leader who acts as a champion within our local and business communities. The Trust encourages and supports other businesses in our supply chains and networks to become Disability Confident. In doing so, we demonstrate to disabled people that we are leading the way in getting every business to become Disability Confident.

Working in a fabulous part of the world

Derbyshire is an area of great natural beauty with rugged, peat-covered moorlands and magnificent limestone dales, with picturesque towns and villages, historic churches and some grand houses. It is the location of Britain’s first National Park - the Peak District National Park, which is the world’s second most visited National Park. The Peak District is located in the central northern part of England, covering parts of the counties of Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and South Yorkshire.

Whether you enjoy your shopping or leisurely sightseeing trips Derbyshire’s lively towns offer a delightful array of attractions. Derby itself offers the best of both worlds – multicultural city life on the doorstep of a stunning rural environment.

Derbyshire is a county of contradictions. It’s home to the wilderness of the Peak District National Park, but only a one to two hour drive from the cosmopolitan cities of Manchester and Sheffield. It’s home to some of the nation’s oldest pubs yet Derby – the county’s only city – has been named UK Capital for Innovation.

Housing

Derby has a great buying and rental property market with prices that are comparably favourable with the rest of England and Wales. There are a wide range of homes available across the city of Derby and Derbyshire from upmarket luxury flats, family homes to city mill conversion apartments.

Transport Links

Train

• You can get to London in less than two hours from Derby
• Direct rail services also connect Derby and Chesterfield with many other destinations
• Derby to Nottingham, Leicester or Birmingham takes only 30 minutes

Car

• A6 links Derbyshire to Leicester and Manchester
• M1 takes you south to London or north to Sheffield and Leeds
• 80% of the UK population are within a two hour drive of most locations in Derbyshire - great for visiting friends and family

Air
Derby is:

• 15 miles from East Midlands Airport
• 40 miles from Birmingham International Airport

These airports have extensive air links to both European and worldwide destinations.

Ferry

• Liverpool’s ferry terminals are 60 miles from Derby

Education

Derby and Derbyshire both provide an excellent choice of state schools and a wide range of highly regarded independent schools including:

• Derby Grammar
• Derby High
• Repton
• Ockbrook School

The city of Derby also features:

• Derby College, which has over 15,000 students
• University of Derby, featured in the Top 50 of The Guardian University Guide 2015, which offers a wide range of high quality education

Home to:

• Derby County Football Club
• Derbyshire County Cricket Club
• World-famous Donington Park motor racing circuit
• Derby multi-purpose arena which includes a velodrome
• Sporting events such as Triathlon, 10K runs and marathons

Enjoy music, the arts, national and internationally acclaimed festivals such as:

• Live performances at Derby Theatre and Guildhall Theatre
• The QUAD, hosting the very best international quality art and film
• The Joseph Wright Gallery at Derby Museum
• Deda is a centre for excellence in the world of dance performances, classes and visual art
• Derby Cathedral

Top places and experiences in Derbyshire you shouldn’t miss...

• Chatsworth, known as the palace of the peak. Historic home of the Duke of Devonshire with 1000-acre estate and ever changing exhibitions
• Haddon Hall, described as the most perfect English house to survive from the middle ages
• National Trust properties, Derbyshire has some of the finest and most varied national trust properties in the country 
• If you love film, you’ll recognise Kedleston Hall. The building appeared in the Hollywood film The Legend of Tarzan as well as The Duchess
• Hardwick Hall was built by Bess of Hardwick, the richest woman in England after Queen Elizabeth I. It is famed for having more windows than walls. Take one of the many walks around the estate to enjoy its woodland and farm animals
• Bakewell is home to the Bakewell pudding, one of the Peak District’s world famous delicacies
• Buxton Opera House, take in a show at the Edwardian gem of a theatre. The Edwardian theatre was restored in 2001 and is home to Buxton Festival
• Well Dressing, ther centuries old tradition of creating living art installations from petals and other natural materials
• Expend some energy among the Peak District National Park’s moors, lakes and tors. Choose from abseiling, rock climbing, caving, potholing, kayaking, rowing, cycling, walking or horse riding
• Admire the views of Derwent Valley and the Peak District from the Heights of Abraham at Matlock Bath
• Castleton’s Caverns, marvel at the largest natural cave mouth in Europe.

Starring roles

Derbyshire has taken centre stage in everything from Hollywood blockbusters to gritty television dramas. Here are the headline acts that have been launched in the area:

• Chatsworth – setting for the film of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice
• Derwent Valley – setting for the war film The Dam Busters
• Dovedale, Lindale and Ilam Hall – luscious white peak landscapes that appeared in the latest version of Robin Hood
• Hardwick Hall – Elizabethan splendour transformed by 21st century technology into Malfoy Manor in Harry Potter.