Working in Healthcare as a Care Home Chef

Working in healthcare as a care home chef can be quite different to some other catering positions, but it is still an enjoyable and satisfying place to work. The hours are more sociable than in a public restaurant, and you may have the opportunity to get to know the residents. Care home chef jobs can be a very rewarding experience, whether it’s a short-term temporary position or a permanent job.

Role

What does a care home Chef do? In general, working in a care home kitchen means being part of a small team preparing and serving meals to the residents of the home. You need to be aware of good nutrition and be able to cater for special dietary requirements, which are more common among the older community.

Care home kitchens tend to be smaller than in other institutions, so with fewer staff members, as the Chef you can expect your role to involve many tasks. As well as preparing and cooking the meals you may be responsible for managing and ordering the supplies, menu creation and ensuring the kitchen and equipment meet all health and safety requirements.

What are the requirements for a care home Cook?

Working in a care home requires some specific qualities not always needed by Chefs in other environments. You will be preparing food for the same people every day in the place that is their home, so unlike in a busy restaurant you will possibly see and speak to the residents daily, so you need to have good communication skills and be sensitive to the challenges that some of the people may face.

When looking for a role working in healthcare as a care home Chef or Cook you should have some previous experience working in a commercial kitchen and ideally have a qualification such as an NVQ in food preparation or cooking. You need to know how to adapt meals to make them suitable for residents with different dietary needs and be skilled at creating healthy balanced meals for everyone.

Care home catering staff are required to have a valid enhanced DBS dated within the last 12 months and most positions will need you to have a Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate dated within the last 3 years.

Top 3 Tips for Working as a Care Home Chef

• Be knowledgeable about good nutrition and special dietary requirements.
• Interact with the residents to find out what foods they like and get inspiration for new meals.
• Be sensitive to the abilities and needs of the residents.

Any role within the healthcare sector is as demanding as it is rewarding. If this has piqued your interest in working in healthcare as a care home chef or cook, get in touch with our team to learn more.