Health Care Support Worker (HCSW)

PRIMARY CARE

Health Care Support Worker

The term healthcare support worker (HCSW) is an umbrella term which covers a variety of health and care support roles, including healthcare assistant (HCA), nursing assistant, and more.

Find out more about the healthcare support worker programme on NHSE’s website.

Opportunities & Training

Care Certificate

Health Education England, Skills for Care and Skills for Health have worked together to develop the Care Certificate. The Certificate has been designed to meet the requirements set out in the Cavendish Review.

eLearning

The e-learning is free to access for health and care professionals.

For more information about the e-learning programme, including how to access, visit: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/care-certificate/

Health Care Support Worker Development Programme Level 4

Level 4 short course. This programme is designed to develop and provide additional skills to HCSW and can be used to support the TNA pathway. Click here for more information.

For more information about the HCSW DP or a TNA role please contact [email protected].
Limited places available. Please submit your EOI via the flyer in the soonest to avoid disappointment.

Embracing Support Workers & Nursing Associates in Primary Care Webinars

An opportunity for Practice Managers, PCN Clinical Directors and General Practitioners to hear about the engagement of Support Workers and Trainee Nursing Associates/Nursing Associates into Primary Care. The short sessions will highlight the incentives available and how embracing these roles into the workforce can bring benefits to the practice and the population health of those they care for.

Dates

Four events are planned to highlight the opportunities available to embrace the Support Worker and Trainee Nursing Associate/Nursing Associate workforce into Primary Care.

Tues, 29 November 2022 (1530-1630)
Fri, 2 December 2022 (1200-1300)
Tues, 6 December 2022 (1530-1630)
Fri, 9December 2022 (1200-1300)

Phlebotomy Training

All upcoming Phlebotomy/Venepuncture training can be found on our events calendar.

RCN Foundation LV= Education Grant

The fund is dedicated to your professional development. Grants awarded will be worth up to £1,600, and will cover the cost of a wide range of educational courses, such as: phlebotomy, wound care, cannulation, taking an ECG, venepuncture, and Advanced Life Support.

The deadline for applications to the RCN Foundation LV= Education Grant fund is Monday 23 January.

The newly established RCN Foundation LV= Education Grant fund is open to all health care support workers employed in the UK.

So if you are a health care support worker, you may be able to get funding that will help you progress in your career. Being under the supervision of a nurse is the key criteria – roles this grant covers include the following:

nursing support worker
health care assistant
care home assistant
maternity support worker
registered nursing associate

To be eligible to apply for the funding, you need to be a health care support worker, and you need to select a course that has a start date between 1 January 2023 and 1 January 2024.

To apply for this grant please login to the RCN Group portal, or click here to register.

Care Support and Senior Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeships

There are various apprenticeships created for;

Those currently in non-clinical roles wanting to progress in to a care support role, or those new to/in a care support role, wanting to gain new knowledge, skills and qualifications for development (such as the Health Care Support Worker or Adult Care Worker apprenticeships).
Those with clinical experience and the opportunity and desire to support colleagues and progress in to a senior role (such as the Senior Healthcare Support Worker or Lead Adult Care Worker apprenticeships).

For more information see our apprenticeship page.

Resources

The Higher Development Award

Health Education England continue to engage with Employers and Colleges across the country, providing support to structure the Higher Development Award (HDA) for your area. The HDA is a personal development programme for Support Workers that enables Clinical and Non-Clinical Support Workers from all sectors to “Be the best and acknowledge potential
Click Here to view

First Steps (RCN)

RCN’s popular online learning tool for health care assistants. Whether you’re new to your role, or looking to boost your knowledge, First Steps will give you the skills you need to succeed.

Mapped to a range of National Occupational Standards, First Steps covers the key aspects of assisting nursing practice.

Consultation Skills

New resource alert!

Welcome to the new home of Teaching and Learning Consultation Skills (TALC Skills) and Healthy English: www.consultationskills.com.

TALC Skills covers all aspects of consulting with a patient, whether you are a GP or another healthcare professional, and aims to make consultations more enjoyable and more efficient.

These valuable free resources can be used independently by anyone who wants to learn or improve their consultation skills – or by educators. TALC Skills is an RCGP award-winner and its popular podcast has already received more than 28,000 downloads.

Healthy English has been developed to help everyone who works with patients become a better user of English. It addresses the language and communication needs of international health and care staff, their trainers and colleagues working in the UK.

Access to both of these resources is free of charge to NHS people and organisations.