Compare roles in health

There are no set entry requirements for security officers. Employers usually expect security staff to have some experience of security or customer service, particularly dealing with challenging situations. Employers may ask for relevant training and will expect a good standard of numeracy and literacy. They may ask for GCSEs (or equivalent) in English and maths and a driving licence. Staff joining the NHS as a team leader or manager need experience in security work or with a uniformed service such as the Army or police. When you join the NHS in a security role, you will have an introduction to the site, departments, systems and procedures. You will be expected to keep your skills and knowledge up to date by going on short courses on particular topics, such as conflict resolution or physical intervention.

Security staff working in the NHS are paid on the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay system. You would typically start on AfC band 2. With further training and experience, you could apply for more senior positions at band 3. Security staff in the NHS work standard hours of around 37.5 a week. The work involves shifts which include early starts, evenings, nights and weekends. Terms and conditions will usually be different for porters working outside of the NHS.

Security staff need to be able to understand a situation quickly, remain calm in stressful situations, confident and reassuring, resilient in dealing with other people’s challenging behaviour, able to follow procedures, able to work alone or in a team, prepared to go into unknown or unpredictable situations and physically fit for walking and standing. They also need good communication, teamwork and customer service skills.

With experience, security officers can become team leaders supervising other security staff. With further experience, you could become a manager responsible for the security of a hospital, area or trust or be responsible for security and related areas such as health and safety and fire safety. You may be able to move into other support services roles or into other areas such as estates.

The main route to become a director of public health is through initial completion of specialty training. In some circumstances, it is possible to achieve specialist status through a 'portfolio' route where individuals present a portfolio of experience for assessment, to demonstrate that they have gained sufficient experience that is deemed to be equivalent to completing specialty training.

While you may usually work standard hours, it's likely you will need to be available outside normal working patterns, for example in the case of a public health emergency, for media interviews etc. Salaries for directors of public health are likely to be between £70-100,000 or more depending on the requirements of the role (around equivalent band 9 of Agenda for change or comparable local authority pay scale).

You’ll have substantial experience of public health practice at a senior level in order to be able to make visionary, challenging and often difficult decisions about how services are delivered. You’ll have high-level skills in diplomacy, appropriate for working in complex political and social environments.

Further opportunities for directors of public health include more senior government roles or political consultancy and advisory roles.