Healthcare Assistants

Healthcare Assistants (HCAs) support qualified staff across a range of duties to ensure the delivery of a high standard of nursing care for patients. Duties include bathing and feeding patients, bed making, and communicating with patients, families, and other staff.

Being an HCA will provide you with opportunities to develop lifelong skills within the nursing profession and enhance your personal development.

HCAs are required to have excellent communication skills and enthusiasm for providing direct contact and support to patients, often during vulnerable and emotional situations. Maintenance of patient confidentiality and a professional attitude are paramount to the role.

We advertise for HCA roles regularly throughout the year. If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to one of our assessment centres where you will sit a numeracy and literacy test and have a competency-based interview.

If you are interested in HCA posts on our Temporary Staffing Services bank and have HCA experience within an acute hospital setting or have the Care Certificate qualification, please email us for information on how to apply.

Training and Development

• These competencies ensure each Healthcare Assistant in our Trust has the skills and knowledge to provide a safe and high-quality service. All HCAs undergo a compulsory Effective Care Practices course, designed to prepare them to undertake their role within any department in the Trust. The course is six days long and involves both theory and practical sessions. HCAs are then given a set of competencies to complete within a 6-month period. Upon completing these competencies and mandatory training, HCAs are awarded the Care Certificate.

Shift Patterns

We provide a 24/7 service to our patients, and nursing care needs to be delivered to the same high standard whether day or night. All staff work a variety of shifts, including weekends and bank holidays.

Common shift start and finish times include:

• Early: 07:30 – 15:30
• Late: 13:30 – 21:30
• Night: 21:00 – 08:00
• Long day: 07:30 – 21:30

Apprenticeships

We also offer HCA Apprenticeships for individuals keen to start a career in healthcare. The Healthcare Apprenticeship programme provides an opportunity to learn vocational skills by working as part of a ward-based team in a fully supervised Healthcare Assistant post, providing patient care, while studying towards a nationally recognized qualification in Health & Social Care.

Working under the close supervision of the nursing team, post holders will be required to achieve work-related competencies over a 12-month period to attain the full apprenticeship.

For more information on apprenticeships, contact 02476 968744 or email us.

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