Healthcare Support Workers (HCSW) provide crucial support to expert clinicians in a variety of health areas and settings. HCSW roles often have different names such as Healthcare Assistant but are all great roles which provide a range of experiences to the person in the role. This could be working with patients, carers, and clinicians, as well as carrying out basic clinical procedures such as blood pressure or using community-based approaches in family support worker roles. Many staff stay in their HCSW role for many years or move into different HCSW roles, while others use it as a stepping-stone to other roles as the HCSW provides a good grounding in NHS services.
The link below has a 56 second video showing a few different roles that exist and also provides information about what is needed to become a HCSW. Most roles require good literacy and numeracy skills and the training that will be provided such as the Care Certificate. Health volunteering experiences can also be a route into HCSW roles. The skills and experiences people have from existing roles and volunteering may be valuable to the NHS and help in applications and in carrying out HCSW roles. Healthcare support worker | Health Careers
Here is a link to current vacancies which show the different areas of health HCSW roles cover: https://uk.indeed.com/cmp/Nhs-Healthcare-Support-Workers
