Job summary
- Main area
- Volunteer
- Grade
- Volunteer
- Contract
- Voluntary
- Hours
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 277-7811750-VOL
- Employer
- Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Bracton Centre
- Town
- Dartford
- Closing
- 02/03/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Volunteer PAT Dog
Volunteer
Job overview
Volunteer PAT Dog, Flexible Working
This is an exciting opportunity to be working alongside staff and patients on a ward providing a Pets as Therapy service, in an effort to bring comfort and companionship to patients, staff and family members. Animal-assisted therapy offers huge potential to the healthcare profession in a range of disciplines and, in the UK at least, is greatly under-utilised.
Key Task and Responsibilities
· To motivate patients
· Support the therapy team
· Offer Comfort (dog)
Main duties of the job
Key Task and Responsibilities
· To motivate patients
· Support the therapy team
· Offer Comfort (dog)
Working for our organisation
Working for our organisation
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
- We’re Kind
- We’re
- We Listen
- We Care
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This is an exciting opportunity to be working alongside staff and patients on a ward providing a Pets as Therapy service, in an effort to bring comfort and companionship to patients, staff and family members. Animal-assisted therapy offers huge potential to the healthcare profession in a range of disciplines and, in the UK at least, is greatly under-utilised.
· To motivate patients
· Support the therapy team
· Offer Comfort (dog)
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- The Applicants pet must have completed the assessments and be cleared by the PAT Dog Charity
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Applicants must have their own registered pet for the role
communication
Essential criteria
- applicants must have excellent communications skills
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Felicia Ajayi
- Job title
- Lead Occupational Therapist
- Email address
- [email protected]
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