INTENSIVE CARE AND THEATRES

Intensive Care, Theatres, Theatre Recovery, Theatre Arrivals, Pain and Sleep. Our specialist areas have amazing teams and fantastic learning opportunities for HCAs, nurses and ODPs.

Intensive Care and Theatres are large, dynamic and very specialised departments. We welcome nurses, ODPs and HCAs with all levels of experience, as full training is provided. These areas are interesting and fast paced, and we have dedicated education teams and clear progression pathways.

Intensive Care

Our Intensive Care Units are where the sickest patients in the hospital are cared for. These patients are very ill and require close monitoring. They may require organ support, such as dialysis, or assistance with breathing, such as ventilation via a tube or mask.

Each nurse looks after one or two patients, depending on the patient’s needs. Shifts are 12 hour day and night shifts, 7 days per week.

We have 2 Intensive Care Units and one dedicated High Dependency Unit within ITAPS. The Leicester Royal Infirmary has a 25 bed Intensive Care Unit, and the Glenfield Hospital has a 33 bed Intensive Care Unit. At the Leicester General, there is a 4 bedded High Dependency Unit.

Each unit has its own personality and case mix. At the Leicester Royal they look after patients from the Emergency Department, those requiring upper and lower gastrointestinal surgery, Haematology and Cancer patients and Spinal patients. The Glenfield is a National Centre for ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) and a centre for Cardiac Surgery. Other specialities at the Glenfield include Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine, Thoracic Surgery, Hepatobiliary Medicine and Surgery, Renal Medicine and Surgery, and Vascular Surgery.

The High Dependency Unit at the Leicester General takes patients following complex surgical procedures, particularly Urology, Orthopaedics and Gynaecology. They also retain one Intensive Care bed, should a patient deteriorate and need to be cared for prior to transfer to LRI or GH.

We welcome nurses and HCAs with all levels of experience, including newly qualified, and we have an enthusiastic Education Team and bespoke learning programmes.

HCAs are a vital part of our workforce. As a HCA in Intensive Care, you will be an integral part of the team. You will be involved in assisting the nurses with the personal care of the patients, helping with patient meals and visitors, and helping us keep the areas clean and safe for our critically ill patients.

If you would like to discuss joining the ITU team, contact:

Sukhi Rayt 
Matron of Recruitment and Retention
[email protected]

Download brochure

Theatres, Theatre Arrivals and Theatre Recovery

Theatres at Leicester’s Hospitals offer a variety of opportunities to care for patients at all stages of their journey through the department. Wherever you go in this area you will be assured of great teams, a dedicated Education Team and training packages to suit all levels of experience, including newly qualified.

First is Theatre Arrivals (TAA), the front door to Theatres. In TAA we have nurses and HCAs who are responsible for greeting patients arriving for surgery on the day, getting them ready for their operation, and handing them over to the Theatre Team. TAA are currently based at LGH and LRI only, and they offer day shifts from 7am to 5pm. This service is currently Monday to Friday only, but this may change in the future.

Next is the Operating Theatres themselves. HCAs in the operating theatres are called Theatre Support Assistants. Your role is to help the Theatre staff in the operating theatre but also assist with managing stores and making sure the area is clean and ready for surgery. There are opportunities to undertake further training to develop more enhanced skills, including assisting in minor surgery.

If you are interested, there is also a pathway to gain your registration as a Band 5 Operating Department Practitioner (ODP). Nurses and ODPs in the Theatre department assist directly in surgery (scrub role) and assist the Anaesthetist with caring for the patient under anaesthetic (anaesthetic role). Shifts in Theatres depend very much on the individual theatre. Some are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Others require shifts over 24 hours, 7 days a week, and some require on-call or twilight shifts.

The last step in the patient’s journey before they return to the ward is Theatre Recovery. In Recovery, nurses and HCAs care for the patient immediately after the operation. It is a fast paced area and these patients require close monitoring and care as they wake from the anaesthetic. It is one of the few areas you have the opportunity to care for both adult and paediatric patients (LRI only). Shifts in Recovery are 11.5 hour days and nights, 7 days per week. Some units require twilight and on-call rather than night shifts

Leicester’s Hospitals have over 50 operating theatres across all three sites covering a range of surgical specialities including Cardiac, Renal, Hepatobiliary, Vascular, Paediatrics, Emergency Surgery, Ophthalmics, Plastics, Orthopedics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and General Surgery.

Download brochure

Colleague Stories

Helen has worked as a Health Care Assistant in the High Dependency Unit at LGH for 3 years

“I really enjoy working here, the team is very friendly and we all work really well together to care for our patients. Every day is different in High Dependency and you never quite know what you are coming in to!”

Helen Harris, Health Care Assistant, LGH

Krishna has worked as a Theatre Support Assistant in Main Theatres at LGH for 5 years

“I mostly work in Urology theatres. I love the variety of patients and operations that we that we see, we even have robotic surgery here. The best thing about working here is the team. We all work together really well and support each other. It’s like one big family.”

Krishna Naik, Theatre Support Assistant, LGH