Health Care Assistants and Clinical Support Workers

Health Care Assistants (HCAs) play an important part in enabling the Trust to provide excellent patient care. They work alongside nurses and carry out tasks such as helping patients to:

• wash and dress
• eat and drink
• move about the ward
• go to the toilet.
  

They also monitor patients by taking their temperature, pulse, respiration and weight, and generally help to make them feel comfortable while they are in hospital.

Clinical Support Workers (CSWs) do slightly different work but their role is equally important. Their main job is to support the general running of a department, and they work mainly in short-stay clinical areas such as outpatient departments, day surgery, main theatres or clinics. CSWs usually have less contact with patients than HCAs.

How we recruit

We advertise for HCAs and CSWs about five times a year on NHS Jobs and on our website (under the Nursing & Midwifery section). These vacancies are advertised about three to four weeks before the recruitment days. Recruitment days allow us to assess you and enable you to get an idea of whether the job is right for you.

• To apply, complete the online job application on the NHS Jobs’ site.
• If we think you may be suitable, we will invite you to one of our recruitment days at an assessment centre.
  

We have the following recruitment days planned for HCAs and CSWs in 2012:

Read our advice on how to apply for a job at King’s.

Want to find out more?

Come to a session at one of our information days at Job Centre Plus in Peckham to find out more about the role and what it’s like to work at King’s. We have the following dates planned for 2012:

For more details and to let us know that you want to attend a session, contact:

Anna Bittle
Peckham Job Centre Plus
Tel 020 7800 5309
Email anna.bittle@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk

Training and support

When you join King’s you will complete a two-week training programme before you start work in clinical areas. You will then have a local induction to help you familiarise yourself with your specific department and role.

You also need to complete a Clinical Competency document. Your manager will arrange for one of your colleagues to support you as you work through this document. You may also get the chance to study for Level 2 and 3 NVQ in Healthcare.

To ensure you have every opportunity to become familiar and confident in your new position, we will ‘buddy’ you with a more experienced member of our staff before you work independently.