Healthcare support worker

You'll help people with a wide variety of support needs, in hospitals, clinics, patients' homes or other settings.

Healthcare support workers assist a wide variety of healthcare professionals. You could work in many areas such as maternity, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, oncology, dietetics or the operating theatre.

Your tasks would vary depending on which area or department you work in.

Your tasks might include:

• helping patients to wash, shower or dress

• keeping equipment, instruments and supplies stocked and tidy

• helping pregnant women to make personalised antenatal and birth plans

• serving food to people or helping them to eat

• making and changing beds

• making and modifying prosthetic moulds

• comforting people to help them feel less anxious

• use mobility aids and equipment to help lift and move patients

• recording observations such as temperature, pulse and breathing

• processing radiotherapy images

A friendly, sensitive and positive approach will be very important. You’ll need to be able to get on with people of all ages and backgrounds. 

Nursing or other healthcare staff will supervise your work. With experience, you may be involved in training new healthcare support workers.

If you work for the National Health Service (NHS) the salary for this role is covered by the Agenda for Change pay rates. Find out more on the Pay and benefits page of the NHS Scotland Careers website.

• Royal College of Nursing – Advice to become a healthcare support worker from the professional body for nurses, midwives and HCAs

• NHS Education for Scotland – Find out about the different types of healthcare support worker roles