Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
This occupation is found in the health and care sectors. Healthcare Support Workers work in a range of healthcare settings, for example in a hospital, General Practice, as part of a community team and in individuals’ homes where their wider team may include workers from both health and social care. They can also be found in social care settings where the scope of the role they carry out requires them to be responsible for a range of clinical tasks.
These roles are becoming more common as health and social care services in some areas become integrated or where residential and nursing homes are caring for residents who have health and care needs, are unwell or reaching the end of their life but have not been transferred to a hospital or primary care setting.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to provide high quality and compassionate person-centred care and support based on individual needs and setting. Daily activities for a Healthcare Support Worker will vary according to the workplace and will be determined by the needs of the individuals they are caring for. Healthcare Support Workers will check the overall comfort, wellbeing and progress of individuals in their care. They support individuals with their daily activities including eating, drinking, washing, dressing or going to the toilet.
They carry out clinical activities such as measuring and monitoring blood pressure, temperature or weight, checking wounds or applying dressings. They prepare individuals for healthcare activities carried out by other members of the healthcare team, looking after them before, during and/or after those activities in line with their care plan. They will also carry out non-clinical duties such as handling enquiries and signposting or escorting people, keeping records, making beds, tidying the work area, returning or cleaning equipment used during a clinical activity.
Senior healthcare support workers work in a range of settings for example in a hospital, as part of a community team, in a day-case unit, birthing centre, individual’s homes, operating theatres, nursing or care homes, hospices and in general practice.
The broad purpose of the occupation is support registered healthcare professionals in the delivery of high quality and compassionate health and care services. A senior healthcare support worker will provide clinical, therapeutic or diagnostic care under the direct or indirect supervision of a registered healthcare professional. For this standard, one of the following occupational options will be completed:
1. Adult nursing support: Providing care and support for adults as part of the nursing team. Some of the individuals the adult nursing support worker cares for will have short-term needs for example, if they have a wound which requires dressing. Others may have long-term conditions which affect them every day, all their lives. Many individuals will have more than one condition, and some will need round the clock care for all their personal needs including feeding, washing, going to the toilet as well as for their clinical needs.
2. Maternity support: Providing care and support for women, babies and their families as part of the maternity team. The maternity support worker will contribute to the care of women antenatally and during birth, and care for women and babies postnatally. They support new parents to care for their baby and to develop confidence and bonding.
3. Theatre support: Providing care and support for individuals before, during and after operations as part of the multi-disciplinary theatre team. They will support individuals as they are preparing to go into theatre, reassuring them if they are anxious, and helping them move them back to recovery following their procedure. The theatre support worker will support the operating team by checking individuals into the theatre department, preparing equipment, counting swabs or other instruments and measuring fluids. They may be involved in routine, traumatic and emergency surgery.
4. Mental health support: Providing care and support for individuals with mental ill health as part of the multi-disciplinary mental health team. They will support individuals, and their families, at different stages of their recovery by listening, providing emotional support, collaboratively developing care plans, implementing them creatively and reviewing them to meet the needs of the individual. The mental health support worker observes and reports changes in mental and physical well-being, encouraging independence and enabling individuals to live their life and achieve their goals. Usually, they will have to work closely with carers and with other organisations for example in housing and social care.
5. Children and young people support: Providing care and support for babies, infants, children and young people as part of the children’s team. They work within guidelines and legislation designed to protect and support children and young people, recognising the different needs and rights they have at different ages and stages of their development. The children and young people support worker promotes person and family-centred care, including looked-after children, and working in partnership with parents, carers, families and other services and agencies.
6. Allied health profession therapy support: Providing care and support for individuals through therapeutic activities as part of a multi-disciplinary team. Illness, disability or a change in life circumstances often means that individuals have to learn or be supported to do things in new and different ways. This can change the pattern of a life-course, but individuals can often expect to regain and enjoy a quality of life with support and rehabilitation. Some individuals may have short-term needs, others may have long-term physical and/or mental ill health or a learning disability that affects their independence, function or way of living. The therapy support worker will be required to work with the individual either on their own or within a group setting. They may also work with others to support the individual eg training carers or working with families.
7. Diagnostic imaging support: Providing care and support for individuals through screening programmes, elective and emergency diagnostic imaging examinations including interventional procedures as part of a multi-disciplinary team within hospital and community sites. They will support individuals and help to manage the equipment used for imaging procedures. They support individuals and the team before and during the procedure, reassuring people if they are anxious and helping them with post-procedure care where necessary. Many individuals will have more than one condition, including serious traumatic injuries or life-changing diagnoses such as cancer. Diagnostic imaging support workers interact with patients, their carers and their families with various dependencies and ages. Diagnostic imaging support workers work within strict legislation and other guidelines designed to protect themselves and the individuals in their care.
Physiotherapy is a science-based profession. Physiotherapists work with individuals, and their families and carers, from birth to end-of-life and in a wide range of health and social care settings. They lead and deliver programmes and interventions to help people affected by injury, ageing, illness or disability. Physiotherapists use a range of physical and psychological treatment approaches, including movement, exercise and manual therapy, to optimise an individual’s mobility, function and quality of life. They also provide education about health and wellbeing and provide specific advice that can be applied to everyday activities to manage and reduce the risk of pain or injury.
An occupational therapist’s primary goal is to enable individuals to participate in occupations in a meaningful way. In a therapeutic context, the term ‘occupation’ refers to everyday activities that people want, need, or are expected to carry out. Using a holistic person-centred approach, informed by evidence-based practice, occupational therapists support service users to carry out everyday occupations, such as dressing, eating, catching the bus to work, or other activities that are important to them.
Operating department practitioners are registered healthcare professionals specialising in caring for people of all ages before, during and after surgery. Operating department practitioners, therefore, mainly work in operating departments. They work alongside other professionals, such as doctors and nurses, and take a lead role in ensuring the service user is safe during each stage of the journey through the operating theatre. Operating department practitioners must continually make professional decisions to ensure the service user receives the best care. Operating department practitioners also ensure that the operating theatre environment is safe and effective and, therefore, have expertise in the management of specialist equipment and materials in a highly technical environment; for example, handling surgical instruments, checking anaesthetic equipment, moving individuals, and giving medication.
The occupation’s broad purpose is to assess, diagnose, plan, implement, monitor, review and evaluate nutrition and dietetic interventions. Dietitians use the most up-to-date public health and scientific research on food, health and disease to inform their practice. They work in partnership with a diverse range of people to provide tailored, evidence-based practical advice to individuals, groups and populations across the lifespan. Dietitians are key members of clinical multi-disciplinary teams. They prevent, manage and treat a wide range of conditions including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, food allergy and intolerance, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, stroke, liver and kidney disease, mental health conditions, and disease-related malnutrition. Dietitians use advanced communication and behaviour-change skills to enable individuals to make lifestyle and food choices to improve their health and wellbeing.
The occupation's broad purpose is to apply evidence-based science to improve outcomes and quality of life for people with speech, language, communication needs (SLCN), voice, fluency, and/or eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties. Communication and eating and drinking difficulties can have a significant impact on someone’s life from birth to death. There is huge variety in roles; some speech and language therapists work with children to identify and develop their communication difficulties so they can reach their full potential, whereas others work with adults with conditions that affect their communication and/or swallowing, such as stroke, dementia or Parkinson’s, or support those with learning disabilities to communicate. Others might carry out research, work in specialist medical units, or provide advice on communication aids, for example, to children with cerebral palsy.
Advanced Clinical Practitioners are experienced clinicians who demonstrate expertise in their scope of practice. Advanced Clinical Practitioners manage defined episodes of clinical care independently, from beginning to end, providing care and treatment from the time an individual(1) first presents through to the end of the episode, which may include admission, referral or discharge or care at home. They carry out their full range of duties in relation to individuals’ physical and mental healthcare and in acute, primary, urgent and emergency settings (including hospitals, general practice, individuals’ homes, schools and prisons, and in the public, independent, private and charity sectors). They combine expert clinical skills with research, education and clinical leadership within their scope of practice. Advanced Clinical Practitioners work innovatively on a one to one basis with individuals as well as part of a wider team. They work as part of the wider health and social care team and across traditional professional boundaries in health and social care.
Physician associates are healthcare professionals who work alongside registered doctors and provide medical care as an integral part of a wider healthcare team. They are dependent practitioners, which means that they must work with a dedicated medical supervisor, but are able to work autonomously with appropriate support. They can be found working in GP surgeries, accident and emergency departments, care homes and hospitals. Physician associates are medically trained to provide all aspects of health care to patients, including: consultation, assessment, treatment and management of their health care. They can take medical histories, perform physical examinations, request and interpret investigations, diagnose and manage patients, and perform an extensive range of specialised procedural skills within their scope of practice.
2024 Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust
Contact: khft.hrchapprenticeships@nhs.net