Healthcare Support Worker

Healthcare Support Workers are a crucial member of the health and care team, assisting with washing and dressing, monitoring vital signs, helping people move around, supporting people to eat, and observing and reporting any changes in the people you support. You will have a lot of contact with people and have a direct influence on their health, including seeing them progress and improve.

As a Healthcare Support Worker you have the ability to make a positive change in someone's life, you will be resilience, patience and have the value of kindness.

This role is varied with no two days the same.

Healthcare Support Worker is also known as Clinical support worker, Healthcare assistant, Nursing assistant, Health support worker, health care support worker.

Role Characteristics

Build relationships, trust and reassure people making them feel comfortable
Monitor people's health by taking temperatures, pulse, respirations and weight
Help people with every day tasks such as showering and get dressed
Serve meals to patients and assist people to eat meals
Assist patients by using equipment to lift and move patients
Personal care including infection prevention and control

Skills

Active listening
Communication
Empathy
Team work
Working under pressure
Resilience

Day in the life

Watch this video to hear more about being a Healthcare Support Worker.

Here's recent blog by one of LYPFT's Healthcare Support Workers Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust -Case Study – Ozioma’s experience of working as a health support worker at the Trust (leedsandyorkpft.nhs.uk)

Routes into this role

Here are some example routes that can lead into this role.

Pre-employment Programmes

Volunteering or work experience

GCSEs

BTEC

T-Level

A-Levels

An apprenticeship

How to become

There are no set entry requirements to become a Healthcare Support Worker. You could complete a college course or apprenticeship, or you could apply directly and gain experience on the job.

Employers will expect you to have good English and maths skills, and some may ask for GCSEs. Employers may expect you to have some experience in healthcare or care work. This could be from paid or voluntary work, volunteering and work experience is valued by employers.

Employers often recruit based on values and qualifications (where required) and believe lived experience is an advantage. They are looking for colleagues who share these principles, mainly people who find empathy comes easily and who treat everyone with respect without thinking. Make sure you do your research on each organisation to see what their values are and how you can demonstrate them.

It is important to check your preferred employer's entry requirements for guidance.

Where can this role lead

No matter what role you start in or where you are in your career path, there are always opportunities to develop and progress in health and care.

With experience and further training, you could become a Senior Healthcare Support Worker. You could then apply to train as an Assistant Practitioner or Nursing Associate.

With the appropriate qualifications you could also train as one of the many degree-level professionals such as a Nurse, Podiatrist, Midwife or Occupational Therapist.