Healthcare Assistants (HCAs) and Assistant Practitioners (APs) are an indispensable part of the nursing team. Healthcare assistants ensure patients are as comfortable and stress-free as possible, supporting healthcare professionals in the delivery of nursing care.

What does a Healthcare Assistant do?

Healthcare Assistants work under the guidance of healthcare professionals. However, an HCA’s job will vary depending on the location. In a hospital, a Healthcare Assistant may wash and dress patients, serve meals, feed patients, help people to move around, make beds, take temperatures and other vital signs.

In other settings, such as a health clinic, Healthcare Assistants can be expected to sterilise equipment, perform patient health checks, restock, process lab samples, take blood samples

And do health promotion or health education work.

What qualifications do Healthcare Assistants need?

There are no entry requirements for healthcare assistant jobs. Employers may ask for GCSEs (or equivalent) in English and maths. They may ask for a healthcare qualification, such as BTEC or NVQ.

Healthcare Assistant Working Hours

An NHS Healthcare Assistant’s standard working week will be around 37.5 hours and may include a range of shifts, such as nights, early starts, evenings and weekends.

Skills Required for Healthcare Assistants

Healthcare Assistants need: 

• caring and kind
• cheerful and friendly
• willing to be hands-on with patients
• willing to do personal care tasks (washing, toileting, etc)
• able to follow instructions and procedures
• able to work in a team but use their own initiative