Apprentice Desktop Support Officer
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustNewcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 15,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.6 billion.
We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.
We’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country, supporting people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.
Our staff oversee around 6,500 patient contacts each day, delivering high standards of healthcare.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.
Job overview
An opportunity has arisen for an Apprentice Desktop Support Officer within the Trust IT Department, to support the delivery of high-quality IT Support Services to the Trust.
We are looking for motivated, proactive individuals with a clear patient focus to join the Desktop Support Team who will be a key team member delivering second and third-line support to our end users. You will be able to demonstrate excellent listening and communication skills with an ability to work under pressure and to deadlines. You will be required to continually develop your skills and knowledge to keep up to date with technological advancements and support a large userbase while working within the Desktop Support Team.
You will be a Band 2 throughout qualification for 18 months and upon successful completion Band 3.
- Interview Date: 2 October 2025
- 37 hours 30 minutes/week
- You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy.
NO AGENCIES PLEASE
Advert
- The post holder will be required to provide first and second line desktop support to users in a complex networked IT infrastructure. The Trust has over 15,000 desktop
PC’s/Laptops, a wide range of other peripherals, used by over 16,000 staff. - Information Technology is increasingly used in the provision of patient care and you will be required to provide support for IT equipment connected to automated Lab Analysers, Linear Accelerators and other diagnostic and treatment equipment.
- Most desktop devices are connected to the Trust’s highly resilient network, which provides high speed data transfer between clients and over 1000 servers providing application services, the Storage Area Network and provides connectivity for the IP Telephone
system
Working for our organisation
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
Our staff oversee over 6,500 patient contacts every day, delivering high standards of healthcare from the following sites:
• Freeman Hospital
• Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
• Health Innovation Neighbourhood (on the former Newcastle General Hospital and Centre for Ageing and Vitality site)
• Newcastle Dental Hospital
• Newcastle Fertility Centre
• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
• Northern Genetics Service
• Cramlington Manor Walks
These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.
We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.
Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.
For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- To provide first and second line desktop support services to users of information technology across the Trust, to maximise the availability and functionality of Information Technology to end users. This may be either over the telephone, by e-mail or at the deskside.
- Provide assistance to the Senior Desktop Support Officers to Diagnose and repair PCs, laptops, peripherals and applications.
- Provide desktop and peripheral installation, configuration and upgrade services to Trust and supported third party organisations.
- Maintain up to date IT Records and Asset Management as required.
- Maintain up to date knowledge of technical hardware used within the trust.
- Provide Basic End User familiarisation with PC hardware facilities when installing new or upgrade systems for end users.
- Provide Basic End User familiarisation with peripherals facilities when installing new or upgraded systems for end users.
- Assess the suitability of PC locations before installation from a health and safety perspective.
- Be flexible in your approach to work in order to support the 3 primary sites and our community sites as required
“You will need to be able to meet all the eligibility requirements as prescribed by the apprenticeship criteria to undertake the role”.
To be eligible for an apprenticeship you must:
· Have the right to work and remain in the UK.
· Have lived in the UK for at least 3 years.
· Provide original evidence of required English and Maths qualifications.
Further information:
· You will not be considered if you have an equivalent or higher qualification in the same or a very similar subject.
· You must not be engaged in any other funded training or education programme.
· We cannot sponsor applicants during or on successful completion of the apprenticeship so please ensure you meet visa status eligibility.
· We cannot accept applications from student visa applicants.
Please be advised if you are a 'Non-UK National' applicant you must meet the eligibility criteria and fulfil the settlement requirements of the apprenticeship course funding. Your settlement status will need to be verified as eligible for funding, by the relevant apprenticeship provider, for you to formally enroll on the course.
Further details can be found on the UK Government website.
Important note on completion of reference section of Application Form
All references from current and previous employers will be sought and must cover a minimum of 3 years employment. Therefore, when completing the reference section of your application form, please give the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current/previous line managers that cover 3 years employment. Failure to complete this section may result in your application not being processed.
Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.
Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail. You should check your SPAM folders as well as your inbox. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you should assume your application has been unsuccessful.