Healthcare assistants make sure the patient experience is as comfortable and stress-free as possible. It can also be a steppingstone into many other NHS roles. You will work under the guidance of a healthcare professional such as a nurse and your job will vary depending on where you are based. For example, In a health centre and GP surgery, you may:

• do new patient or NHS health checks
• process lab samples
• take blood samples
• do health promotion or health education work
• assist with the monitoring and management of long-term conditions
• take ECGs
• undertake wound care

There are no set entry requirements to become a healthcare assistant. Employers expect good literacy and numeracy and may ask for GCSEs (or equivalent) in English and maths. They may ask for a healthcare qualification, such as BTEC or NVQ.

With experience and further training, you could become a senior healthcare assistant. You could then apply to train as an assistant practitioner or nursing associate. With the appropriate qualifications/evidence of academic ability, you could also train as one of the many degree-level healthcare professionals such as a nurse, podiatrist, midwife or occupational therapist.

Further details about the role are in the links below:

Level 2 HCA Overview

Level 3 HCA Overview

 To book a place on the HCA Training Forum, please click here

Please click link below to open an editable version of a HCA Job Description and Person Specification:

Editable HCA Job Description and Person Specification

Please click link below to open a leadlet which contains details on Healthcare Apprenticeships through Walsall College:

College Apprenticeship Details

The link below will take you to the Healthcare careers website for further information:

Healthcare Careers Website

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) brings you First Steps for Health Care Assistants (HCAs) to support you either individually – or as part of your workplace induction programme – to learn in your own time, the most important factors that will get you started in your health care career.

For more information, please click the link below:

RCGP Website - First Steps for Healthcare Assistants