Chrissie tells us about the skills you can learn as a Health Care Support Worker.

Chrissie is an education and practice support worker at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, working with teams of new healthcare support workers to guide them through training as they embark on their role.

Having begun her career as a healthcare support worker herself, working on an acute medical ward, Chrissie ensures new staff have access to the training tools and guidance they need to provide the best possible care to patients.

Chrissie plays an integral part in the newly-created Health and Social Care Academy, which offers healthcare assistants (HCA) across all disciplines a two-week, fully funded training period to ensure they are work-ready and confident in their role.

And creating a real difference in people’s lives and building relationships with patients is what makes a career in healthcare support so rewarding.

“It really does take a special kind of person to be in this job – it’s certainly not easy, no two days are the same and it’s most definitely challenging, but giving patients a positive experience is an incredible feeling, and one that makes it all worthwhile.

We have the opportunity to change lives every day and our team of healthcare support workers – across all areas – are passionate about doing just that. For me, I love to watch our team progress from the early days of their career, often with little to no experience, to roles elsewhere in the NHS because of the core skills they’ve built as a healthcare support worker.

Helping to build these strong foundations is essential – offering the right training and providing as much guidance as possible is, ultimately, what will lead to enhanced patient outcomes, which is at the core of what we’re all here to do.”

– Chrissie

Chrissie tells us about the skills you can learn as a Health Care Support Worker.

Helen tells us about the different pathways available.

Sara tells us about the sort of skills you develop as a Health Care Support Worker.

Louise tells us about the long term opportunities to progress as a Health Care Support Worker.