Careers at Benenden Hospital

Benenden Hospital was opened in 1907 by the National Association for the Establishment and Maintenance of Sanatoria - to treat postal workers suffering from tuberculosis.

The Association was a consortium founded by trade unions and friendly societies and the Benenden Healthcare Society (formerly the Post Office and Civil Service Sanatoria) became a member. By 1951 the Association had disbanded, and the Benenden Healthcare Society took over the sanatorium.

With cases of TB declining, the Benenden Healthcare Society expanded treatment to include chest complaints and cancer, shortly afterwards building an operating theatre, surgical wards and an x-ray department.

Today the Benenden Healthcare Society is known as Benenden Health. Benenden offers a range of discretionary healthcare and well-being services to individual and business healthcare members.

Benenden Hospital is a subsidiary and is an independent hospital with charitable status, which continues the principle of providing first-class treatment for a wide range of specialities.

In 2017, we launched a multi-million-pound redevelopment of Benenden Hospital, which included the construction of our light and bright atrium, a new outpatient area, new CT, MRI, and diagnostic imaging facilities, our new physiotherapy suite, and our spacious restaurant.

Everything we do is designed to make our patients feel better, including the design of our building. Our Atrium was designed to aid healing, with natural light flooding the room, and murals by local photographer, Hugh Turvey, decorating the walls.

We offer full and part-time vacancies, as well as Flexi-Bank opportunities. 

To ensure that our recruitment and selection process is fair and objective, each application goes through a robust process. Therefore, please don't worry if you don’t hear from us straight away. The process we follow is below.

Step 1: Sending your application

• On receipt, your application will be acknowledged by the resourcing officer or a member of HR.

Step 2: Reviewing your application

• The resourcing officer will initially screen applications to a basic set criteria
• Successful applications will be forwarded to the recruiting manager, who will shortlist each application against a pre-set criteria.
• Unsuccessful applicants will receive an e-mail advising them that they have been unsuccessful at the shortlist stage.

Step 3: The interview stage

• Successful applicants will be contacted by the resourcing officer to offer an interview.
• An e-mail will be sent confirming the details of the interview. There will be important details included in the base of the e-mail.
• The interview will take place at the hospital, alternatives to attending the hospital for an interview can be discussed with the resourcing officer.
• The interview panel will usually consist of the recruiting manager and one other, this may vary according to the level of the responsibility of the role.
• Applicants will be advised as to whether there will be a desk top exercise as well as an interview.
• Unsuccessful applicants will be contacted via e-mail. Unsuccessful applicants will be provided with feedback if they request it.
• Successful applicants will be contacted by phone and they will be advised of the next steps.

Step 4: Your job offer

• An offer letter, terms and conditions and various other documents will be sent via email to the successful applicant by the HR team.
• Once the documents have been completed by the applicant and returned to the HR team, various checks will begin, these include a DBS check, occupational health assessment and request for 2 references. Please be aware that these can sometimes take longer than expected, however you will be kept informed

Our hospital and team are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our patients and therefore all our vacancies are subject to either a Standard or an Enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service, as well as satisfactory reference checks. These procedures need to be completed before a new member of staff can join the hospital.

Step 5: Starting your new job at Benenden Hospital

• Once all the checks have been received and are acceptable, you will be contacted by HR who will discuss a start date with you.

If you wish to apply for a position, please send your application form and CV to kentcareers@benenden.org.uk.

If you'd like further information, or have any questions relating to any role or the recruitment process, you can contact our HR Manager Debbie Woodward at debbie.woodward@benenden.org.uk.

Flexi-Bank working gives fantastic flexibility, and for many people is the ideal way to work. Flexi-Bank workers cover shifts at the hospital depending on staffing requirements, therefore hours are not guaranteed.

At Benenden Hospital, we value and support our employees and if you join our team you'll have access to a range of great benefits and additional support.

We offer a range of training and development opportunities to increase skills, maintain competence and compliance using degree and apprenticeship programmes, external specialist courses, qualifications, eLearning, work shadowing, lunch and learn, coaching, mentoring, and reflective practice.

We are accredited to the Investors in People health and wellbeing award.

There are two apprenticeship routes available:

• The traditional apprentice programme which typically takes two years and has been successful in our IT department
• Upskilling existing employees in Leadership, Quality Improvement, Catering, Customer Service and Nursing

We're currently sponsoring several healthcare support workers to complete the Nursing Associate programme at Canterbury Christchurch University.

We have a yearly work experience programme that will commence again in 2022.

If you are not a UK National, please visit the GOV.UK website to see if you are eligible to work at the hospital.

The hospital does not currently engage in the tier 2 sponsorship scheme.

We're committed to promoting, supporting and encouraging Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) in the workplace and is a central part of our culture.

If you would like to discuss, in confidence, any particular concern or requirement you have in relation to our recruitment and selection process, especially if this is in relation to a protected characteristic, please contact our HR Manager, Debbie Woodward at debbie.woodward@benenden.org.uk.

Applicants bring individual skills and experiences to a role and therefore salaries can be negotiated with successful applicants, according to their skills and experience.

We value and support our team of volunteers, who bring a wealth of skills and knowledge to the hospital. In return we can provide them with new skills and experiences.

Please send us an email at kentcareers@benenden.org.uk.