Compare roles in health

Not sure where to start with the hundreds of NHS careers? Use our compare roles section to get bite-size information on the entry requirements and training, pay and conditions, prospects and skills needed of up to three roles. If there is something that you think you could do, then get more in-depth information on the role.

Don't forget, you can also save your role comparisons by registering with us.  

  1. Catering manager

    NHS catering managers make sure our patients and staff have highly nutritious, high quality food and drink when they need it. 

    Catering managers in the NHS have a relevant qualification, usually a degree or HND eg in hospitality management, hotel and catering management or culinary arts management. To get onto a degree or HND course you usually need appropriate level 3 qualifications. Some cooks or chefs enter the NHS as catering assistants and take qualifications while they are working and gaining experience. If you join the NHS as a catering manager you will be given the training you need to introduce you to the department and its systems and procedures. You are likely to have opportunities to take further qualifications. You may also be expected to go on short courses in particular topics such as special diets.
    Catering staff working in the NHS are paid on the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay system. As a cook team manager, you'll typically be on AfC band 4, and with further training and experience, you could apply for posts as a catering manager at AfC bands 5 and 6. Catering managers in the NHS work standard hours of around 37.5 a week. They may work shifts including early starts and evenings. Terms and conditions will usually be different for catering managers staff working outside of the NHS.
    As a catering manager, you have to be interested in food and drink, flexible and adaptable, able to plan ahead and prioritise and keen to provide good customer service. You'll need good organisational, management, budgeting, problem-solving and communication skills.
    With experience, catering managers can progress by being responsible for larger departments. With further experience, they may become head of a trust’s catering service. There may be opportunities outside the NHS.
  2. Child and adolescent psychotherapist

    Child and adolescent psychotherapists (CAPT) work with children and young people aged up to 25 and their families and carers to assess and treat a wide range of psychological problems.

    To train as a child and adolescent psychotherapist, you need to complete a recognised pre-clinical course including psychoanalytic and child development theory and psychoanalytic observations of infants and young children. You will also need experience of working with children and adolescents.
    While you train, you will be paid at Agenda for Change Band 6, moving to a post at Band 7 after qualifying. You could develop to become a highly specialist clinician, consultant or take up teaching and management positions at Band 8a and above.
    You'll need a keen awareness of people and their behaviour, be able to relate to a wide range of people, be emotionally resilient and have a capacity for study and continued learning.
    In addition to community child and adolescent mental health services, you could work in inpatient units, looked after children teams, hospital teams for children with physical illness and disability, eating disorder services, perinatal and parent-infant services, schools, learning disability teams and forensic services. You could progress into a leadership, supervision or teaching role.
Make a comment or report a problem with this page

Help us improve

This form is for you to tell us about something that could be improved about the website or if there's anything wrong, incorrect or inaccurate with what you see. 

If you have a query about a career in the NHS, please visit our contact us page and call or email us.