Catering Officer

Catering Services

The Catering Officer, Grade III will:

· Be responsible for the Management, supervision, and monitoring of performance of the catering team

· Be an integral part of the Management Structure, providing a quality driven, patient and customer centred, team based catering service.

· Develop good customer relations to include surveying patient opinions.

· Be responsible for the organisation of catering facilities including continuous menu planning in conjunction with the Chef’s within the unit to incorporate variety and choice of suitable foods to meet the nutritional/dietary needs, specialised diets and personal requests of all service users.

• Liaise with the nursing staff, dieticians and occupational therapists in relation to all aspects of catering services to patients.
• Ensure catering services are operated within budget.
• Participate in internal audits and other accreditation initiatives as may be required.
• Attend local management team meetings.
• Be a key contributor to the meetings that are held.
• Organise and cost in advance, the provisions for special functions as required.
• To order and liase with suppliers in relation to stock requirements.
• To monitor the quality of goods inwards where requested.
• To participate in the review of all supplies to the Catering Department.
• To ensure standards are met in respect of HIQA Nutrition and Hydration guidelines.

Quality of Service

The Catering Officer, Grade III will:

· Gather information from the units in relation to patients’ meals; stock management; and food waste. Acknowledge and address service user queries and complaints when appropriate and report same to the Catering Manager.

• Ensure that standards of service are maintained and all aspects of HACCP are fully implemented including organising on-going staff training courses.

Hygiene and HACCP

The Catering officer, Grade III will:

• Check that all relevant areas are kept clean, tidy and in a hygienic condition.
• Monitor the progress of daily cleaning schedules and ensure staff signoff checklists.
• Ensure that all principles of HACCP are checked on a daily basis and weekly audits are carried out to test the effectiveness of the system.
• Devise, implement and document corrective actions when required.
• Administer the HACCP system in all areas of the Catering Department and Unit food service kitchens in conjunction with each member of the catering team.
• Ensure that all staff are aware of HACCP procedures/controls and are acting accordingly.
• Ensure that proper work practices are adhered to in relation to food handling and food safety.

Health and Safety

The Catering Officer, Grade III will:

• Ensure that all staff are provided with, and wear, full uniform and personal protective equipment, including footwear.
• Ensure that equipment and work areas/practices are safe, and that maintenance is carried out in a timely and regular fashion.
• Report and take necessary action in the event of fire, an accident, stock damage and unfit food, and complete the necessary documentation/reports.
• Comply with the cash handling procedures as agreed.
• Ensure all staff are fully aware and adhere to Fire Safety and Health and Safety Regulations.
• Take necessary steps to ensure the security of all equipment, utensils, stores and offices.
• Manage staff attendance in fire safety, manual handling, Infection Control, food hygiene training and other relevant training, in conjunction with the Catering Manager.
• Keep the safety statement updated, and carry out safety and cleaning audits, to ensure that health and safety standards are maintained.
• Have a working knowledge of the Health Information and Quality Authority(HIQA) Standards as they apply to the role for example, Standards for Healthcare, National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, Hygiene Standards etc and comply with associated HSE protocols for implementing and maintaining these standards as appropriate to the role.
• Support, promote and actively participate in sustainable energy, water and waste initiatives to create a more sustainable, low carbon and efficient health service.

Supervision of Staff

The Catering Officer, Grade III will:

• Supervise and liaise with all Chefs and Catering Staff. Prepare the Monthly rosters to ensure that sufficient staff are available each day on all shifts, to provide proper services.
• Ensure that all catering staff and are adequately trained to provide a high quality service to all residents, day care users and staff.
• Ensure all staff adhere to the “Catering Department Uniform Policy”.
• Ensure all staff adhere to Departmental Policies and Procedures.
• Maintain good communications within the department and encourage good employee relations including ensuring that staff are aware of and comply with HR practices and procedures.
• Deal with matters of staff discipline at local level and record same in relevant file and bring to the attention of Catering Manager.
• Be responsible for the monitoring and controlling of staff entitlements to leave; completing timesheets, absenteeism reports, and sick leave records, and returning them to the appropriate departments.

Information Technology

The Catering officer, Grade II will:

• Be aware of developments within the industry, and assist in the introduction/implementation of new/updated technologies.
• Operate existing/new/updated technology as appropriate.

The above Job Specification is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.