Band 2 NHS Interview

[ExtraCreamy]

I have an interview on Monday for a Band 2 NHS role. I've been in my current job for over 14 years and it's high time for a change! I've done research about what the role is and what responsibilities I'll have, core NHS values etc but does anyone have any insights about what kind of questions they might ask? I really want to do well and I really believe I'd be good at this job! Thanks in advance

You need to give us more of a clue… is it clerical, hca, cleaner… ? Is it in hospital, dentist, GP surgery…?

Yes, sorry, that would help! It's an admin type role in a small local hospital.

I had an interview for a band 2 role last week and was offered the job!

I had a few scenario questions related to the role in question, so try and find some sample questions online that are related to your role so that you can have an understanding of what might me asked. They're normally pretty simplistic, so not too worrisome. I weaved trust values into my answers so it seemed more professional.

Also had questions about the last time I'd dealt with a difficult person, and how I dealt with it.

Had the typical 'describe yourself' questions, and was also asked what sort of skills did I believe were important for the role; I'd try and pull answers from the 'describe yourself' questions and weave them into any skill questions. So, for example, you could say that you believed patience is a very important skill within the role, and is something you possess.

Good luck!

I interviewed for a similar role a few weeks ago.... One question I rmemeber was about how you'd keep sensitive information confidential - my answers were "not writing information down, using notepad on the PC instead, not discussing any patient with anyone unless necessary, only assessing necessary information"

I was also asked about my strengths and my previous NHS / system experience

Yes if the hospital has a set of Trust values/slogan make sure you are aware of what it is and how you match the values. Scenario questions ie, how have you shown initiative? How have you handled conflict? What are you proudest of? How have you shown team working? Plus the usual why do you want this role? What can you offer the Dept? Good luck!

I recruit for band 2, 3 and 4 admin staff and are doing some band 2 next week. We don't have trust wide questions we all write our own. Our previous were competency based around communication, team work, confidentiality, dealing with sensitive/difficult situations, trust values, prioritisation. If you will be booking appointments it's worth having a bit of knowledge around RTT targets and cancer targets. They most likely won't ask about that at a band 2 but you never know they may go rogue! Good luck!

Thanks for all the advice so far. I won't be booking appointments, the department is a bowel screening clinic and it looks like a lot of what I'd be doing is dealing with queries about taking samples, so there might be questions about how I would deal with someone not understanding what they need to do. I don't have any previous NHS experience but I'm pretty quick at picking up new systems etc.

Bowel screening will involve cancer targets so probably worth looking at

@Mamamamasaurus

I interviewed for a similar role a few weeks ago.... One question I rmemeber was about how you'd keep sensitive information confidential - my answers were "not writing information down, using notepad on the PC instead, not discussing any patient with anyone unless necessary, only assessing necessary information"

I was also asked about my strengths and my previous NHS / system experience

Oh, yes - I also had some confidentiality questions.

There are 4 NHS values of confidentiality - look them up!

If they ask what should you do in X situation, refer to the trust policies and procedures. Especially if it's information governance related.

I am a Band 2 typist in a hospital. I got the job a couple of years ago, after quitting a local government job I’d had for 17 years.
I had to do a typing test. In the interview I was asked about confidentiality and my understanding of data protection, plus all the usual stuff… “give an example of when you’ve used problem solving”, “what are your strengths? and weaknesses?… “
Not meaning to knock the job (because I honestly love my job) but it is only a band 2: you’re not expected to know a huge amount. They’re just looking for someone calm and sensible.
Good luck!

Look up the STAR technique for answering situation based questions.

Hi all, thanks again for the help so far. I'm just going over things again before tomorrow and I've been trying to think of good questions to ask but coming up blank. Does anyone have any ideas? Sorry to be asking for help again but I really do want this job so any advice would be great.

I had quite a few band 2 interviews, very basic competency questions e.g. how would you handle a difficult patient/tell us about a time you worked as a team to solve a problem. They responded well to me asking questions which showed a bit of knowledge and interest e.g. I understand you have x target re waiting times, how has covid impacted the challenges you face and the way you run x service?

I didn’t ask any questions and it obviously didn’t matter (as I got the job). I think the suggestion above is good, though - something about how workloads have been impacted by COVID, and/or changes to working practices…
i.e. a lot of patients will now have telephone consultations instead of face-to-face. In one service at our hospital, there are hardly any consultations any more - it’s mostly done by blood tests and letters.

I'm a band 2 on the nursing side, interview questions were around mainly nursing but also confidently.

If I found a patients document on side with nobody around what would I do?

Caldicott principles (which I presume would be a good question to ask admin)

Trust values

Also tell us about a time in your role at the moment where you went above and beyond for a customer/ patient (I wasn't nhs at that point so it was customer focused)

And good luck tomorrow!
I remember how scary it is going for an interview after so many years in the same job. Even if you don’t get it, it’s all useful experience, so try to just enjoy it.

Have a good answer prepared for 'What does equal opportunities mean to you?'

Clue - do NOT say 'it's treating everyone the same'

I have been an administrator for nhs for 17 years. Make sure you understand GDPR and can give examples.
Confidentiality is a huge priority in the NHS. They may ask you how you would deal with a friend asking you for information on a close relative -
The answer is you don't discuss any patients whatsoever, not even to say they have been at the hospital. In my experience you can't even speak to the Police.
They want people who are team players, calm, organised and flexible. Make sure you read the job description thoroughly as they will gear their questions around it. Take a notebook with some questions in it to refer to. Good luck.

You may want to ask about the team?

Sorry as Patient Pathway Co ordinator (all I could understand this was - this was similar to being in a call centre) I found myself on a team of people ranging from 13 years who would sigh at you to 1 years service who was lovely - on my 2nd day I was told by the Manager how loads of people hadn't worked out so you could ask turnaround? How you will be actually be trained? (if new to nhs this is worth asking imo)

My interview like many others was based on confidentiality.

From what I witnessed in the first few days before I told the nhs to stick their one year fixed term, was people with a really good knowledge of which department was where in the hospital. But in the nhs trust I joined you were just left to get on and train yourself on the systems, they joked they didn't remember how they trained the last person of 6 weeks duration, which came as a shock to me. (after all the checks you go through and how long you are left waiting until you join)

@ExtraCreamy So how did it go?

Postponed until next week as one of the panel was ill, got the call this morning. A bit more time to prep though which is good.

How annoying! You are very magnanimous.

Interview done. Think it went pretty well. They asked about my customer service experience and what I knew about the screening programme, plus my experience with Office. They really liked it when I mentioned exporting data to excel. Should hear by the end of the week. Fingers crossed.