Healthcare assistant

Healthcare assistants provide basic health care for patients, working under the supervision of a nurse. They have tasks such as feeding patients, making beds and sorting laundry, and helping patients to dress and use the toilet. They take readings, for example, of temperature, weight and pulse. They work in hospitals and in the community, including in patients’ own homes.

Also known as:

• Hospital care assistant
• Nursing auxiliary

Work activities

Healthcare assistants are responsible for routine care tasks, working under the supervision of a nurse or another medical professional. Some patients cannot get about very easily. It is the healthcare assistant’s job to help them with personal hygiene and to get them to the bathroom, or to help them use a bedpan. If the patient cannot get out of bed at all, the healthcare assistant gives them a bed bath, dressing and undressing them. They use manual handling aids and equipment to help with lifting. The healthcare assistant helps to turn them regularly to prevent them from getting pressure sores. Some patients might also need help to feed themselves.

Generally, healthcare assistants have to keep a close eye on patients, noticing when their condition changes and making sure they are comfortable. They provide regular food and drink for patients. If a patient is experiencing pain, the healthcare assistant may ask a doctor for pain relief on their behalf. Hospital-based healthcare assistants might work with housekeepers to keep the ward clean and tidy. They change the linen on the beds and either put it down a chute or bag it up, to be collected by the laundry staff. They must dispose of used dressings (and anything else that may be a health risk) in clinical waste bins.

Another aspect of the job may involve taking patients’ temperature and pulse rates and collecting urine samples. With further training, healthcare assistants can take on extra responsibilities. For example, they can take blood samples from patients (this is known as phlebotomy or venepuncture). Healthcare assistants help out with simple clinical tasks such as changing dressings and collecting specimens for testing. They are responsible for checking supplies and might order replacements when needed.

Healthcare assistants may also give patients encouragement and emotional support, for example, reassuring a patient before an operation. They might also comfort and reassure the patient’s family or carer. Healthcare assistants working with patients with mental health problems help to increase patients’ confidence and independence, for example, by going with them on shopping trips. Most patients with mental health problems live in community settings and not in hospitals. Some healthcare assistants are community-based, for example, working alongside district nurses. This means they have to travel around a local area.

Personal qualities and skills

To be a healthcare assistant, you’ll need:

• A caring and responsible attitude.
• Sensitivity and sympathy, with the ability to respect each patient’s dignity and sense of independence.
• Patience and tact.
• Communication skills to support the patient and give reassurance.
• Practical skills and a willingness to do messy tasks.
• Emotional strength because some of the work can be distressing.
• Stamina and physical fitness, as this is a physically demanding job.
• Strong observational skills, for example, to monitor changes in a patient’s condition.
• The ability to keep careful, accurate notes and write short reports.
• Teamwork skills.
• The ability to use your initiative.

A driving licence is essential for healthcare assistants who visit patients in their own homes, and can be essential for some community-based posts.

Pay and opportunities

NHS employees are paid on the rising Agenda for Change payscale, according to their skills and responsibilities. Healthcare assistants start on band 2, earning earn from £22,383 per year.

You will work a basic 37.5-hour week. Shift work is usual and overtime is common. Many employers offer flexitime, job-sharing and term-time working. Agency and working are increasingly available.

Employers include the NHS (in hospitals and in the community), the armed forces, independent healthcare companies and private care homes. Opportunities for healthcare assistants occur in towns and cities throughout the UK.

Where are vacancies advertised?

Vacancies are advertised on the NHS Jobs website, in local/national newspapers, on the Government’s Find a Job service, and on job boards.

Entry routes and training

Most people apply for vacancies and then have on-the-job training. You could decide to go on a full-time school or college course before looking for a vacancy. For example, qualifications in health and social care can provide a good preparation for careers in health care. Some entrants have had experience in providing health care, maybe having worked as a volunteer.

You could also undertake a healthcare support worker apprenticeship. This level 2 (intermediate) programme is mostly based around on-the-job training, while you work towards relevant qualifications to support your work.

Whether or not you do an apprenticeship, you may be able to work towards a level 2 or 3 qualification. These include:

• Diploma in health and social care.
• Diploma in clinical healthcare support.
• Certificate or diploma in healthcare support services.

You may also be able to work towards a relevant foundation degree.

Gaining experience and qualifications often leads to increased responsibility. Promotion could be to a senior healthcare assistant role and then to a post as an assistant practitioner. Achieving a relevant level 3 qualification could enable you to enter training as a nurse at university.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: This career is an exception to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that you must supply information to an employer about any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings, if they ask you to. This is different from other careers, where you only have to reveal information on unspent convictions if you are asked to.

Qualifications

If you wish to enter this career through an intermediate apprenticeship, you will need GCSEs in English and maths, although you may be able to complete these alongside your programme. Similar qualifications will be required for other entry routes.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

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