Oaklands Rest Home
Housekeeper
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Housekeeper
Cleanliness · Dignity · Resident Comfort
About Oaklands Rest Home
Oaklands Rest Home is a family-run care home based on the edge of the New Forest. We support residents to feel safe, respected, known, and cared for as individuals.
In a care home, housekeeping is not just cleaning. It directly affects dignity, infection prevention, safety, comfort, first impressions, and how residents feel in their own home.
About This Role
The Housekeeper / Domestic Assistant maintains high standards of cleanliness, hygiene, presentation, and comfort throughout the home — including residents' rooms, bathrooms, communal areas, and other agreed spaces.
You will follow cleaning schedules, use products and equipment safely, report concerns promptly, and work respectfully around residents and colleagues. You will help ensure Oaklands feels clean, fresh, safe, and welcoming — without making residents feel disrupted or rushed.
This is not a background role. You are part of the care environment. What you do, how you do it, and how you interact with residents matters.
Role Details
- Reports To: Head Housekeeper
- Accountable To: Registered Manager and Deputy Manager
- Location: Oaklands Rest Home, Marchwood, New Forest
- DBS Required: Yes — enhanced DBS check required
What This Role Is Really About
A resident's room is their home
You are not cleaning an empty space. You are working in someone's personal environment — their photos, their belongings, their bed, their space. Every room must be treated with that level of respect.
Standards matter even when nobody is watching
The right person for this role takes pride in doing the job properly every time — not because someone is checking, but because they care. Cutting corners in a care home has consequences for real people.
You are part of resident wellbeing
Clean rooms, fresh bathrooms, well-stocked supplies, and a calm presence all affect how residents experience Oaklands. Families form opinions about the quality of our care partly from what they see and smell when they walk through the door.
Main Responsibilities
Cleaning and Presentation
- Follow agreed cleaning schedules and task lists
- Clean residents' rooms, bathrooms, wet rooms, toilets, corridors, lounges, and communal areas to a high standard
- Dust, vacuum, mop, disinfect, empty bins, clean mirrors, clean surfaces, and refill supplies as required
- Spot clean walls, carpets, furniture, and surfaces where needed
- Support deep cleans and room turnouts in line with schedules
- Help ensure the home smells fresh, feels clean, and remains presentable
- Leave residents' rooms and shared areas tidy, safe, and comfortable after cleaning
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Infection Prevention and Safe Practice
- Follow infection prevention and control procedures at all times
- Use cleaning products, color-coded equipment, and PPE correctly
- Store chemicals and equipment safely in line with COSHH requirements
- Report spills, hazards, defects, odors, or infection control concerns promptly
- Avoid creating trip hazards or unsafe conditions while cleaning
- Clean bathrooms, toilets, and high-touch areas thoroughly and consistently
Respectful Working Around Residents
- Knock before entering residents' rooms and respect privacy and dignity
- Explain what you are doing where appropriate
- Work calmly and respectfully around residents, including those living with dementia
- Be mindful that a resident's room is their home — not just a room to clean
- Avoid moving personal items unnecessarily and report any concerns about belongings
- Be kind, patient, and friendly in everyday interactions
- Report any concerns about a resident's wellbeing to the senior person on duty
Laundry Support (Where Required)
- Support laundering of bedding, towels, and garments as required
- Follow garment labels and laundry procedures carefully
- Handle residents' clothing respectfully
- Report missing, damaged, or wrongly labeled items promptly
- Help ensure laundry is returned clean, fresh, and appropriately managed
Communication and Records
- Complete cleaning records accurately and promptly
- Report completed tasks, missed tasks, or issues to the appropriate person
- Communicate respectfully with residents, relatives, visitors, and colleagues
- Raise maintenance issues, equipment faults, or low stock promptly
- Work with the Head Housekeeper, care team, and management to maintain standards
What Good Looks Like
In this role, strong performance means:
- The home feels clean, fresh, safe, and welcoming
- Residents' rooms are treated as personal homes
- Bathrooms and toilets are hygienic and well-stocked
- Cleaning records are accurate and completed on time
- Hazards and concerns are reported promptly
- Residents, relatives, and visitors experience the home as well cared for
- Infection prevention procedures are followed consistently
- You work around residents with kindness, dignity, and patience
- Colleagues trust you to follow schedules and hold standards
- Oaklands feels homely rather than institutional
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
This Role Is Not Right For Everyone
Please read this honestly. This role is not suitable for someone who:
- Dislikes routine cleaning tasks or physical work
- Cuts corners when under time pressure
- Is careless with infection control, chemicals, or equipment
- Is uncomfortable working around older people or people living with dementia
- Does not respect residents' rooms as personal spaces
- Is unreliable with timekeeping or attendance
- Avoids reporting problems, hazards, or concerns
- Struggles to follow schedules, instructions, or safe systems of work
- Sees housekeeping as unimportant to resident experience
Person Specification
Essential
- Pride in cleanliness, hygiene, and presentation
- Reliability and good timekeeping
- Ability to follow cleaning schedules and instructions
- Attention to detail
- Willingness to work around residents respectfully and patiently
- Understanding that housekeeping contributes to dignity, comfort, and safety
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Willingness to follow infection control and health and safety procedures
- Ability to report hazards, defects, or resident concerns promptly
- Willingness to complete required training
Desirable
- Previous housekeeping, domestic, cleaning, or laundry experience
- Experience in a care home, healthcare, hotel, or hospitality environment
- Infection control or COSHH training
- Experience working around older people or people living with dementia
Additional Requirements
- DBS Check: Enhanced DBS check required
- Right to Work: Must have the right to work in the UK
- References: Satisfactory references required
- Training: Completion of Oaklands induction and all mandatory training
- Flexibility: Flexibility to meet the needs of residents and the home
Our Values
Everything we do at Oaklands is guided by our core values: Caring · Respectful · Person-Centred · Informative · Innovative · Collaborative · Honest · Reliable · Open · Trusted.
Our specialty is you — our residents. Every clean room, every fresh bathroom, and every respectful interaction makes that real.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills