Healthcare assistant CV example (band 3 senior HCA)

Healthcare assistant or care assistant: pick the right words

The two jobs overlap, but they are read by different people. A care assistant CV goes to a care home or home care manager in social care. A healthcare assistant CV usually goes to a ward sister or charge nurse in a hospital, or a practice manager in a GP surgery, and they read it for clinical support. If you are moving from a care home to the NHS, keep the care you gave but rename it in hospital terms: observations, fluid balance, pressure area care, and escalation to the nurse in charge.

NHS Health Careers describes healthcare assistants as paid on Agenda for Change, typically starting on band 2. Senior healthcare assistant and clinical support worker posts at band 3 usually ask for more: clinical tasks you have been signed off for, and a qualification at Level 2 or 3. The CV below is for that step.

The clinical skills that get you shortlisted

Ward managers want to know what you can do on day one without supervision. List each competency your trust has signed you off for, with the year, in a short section near the top. Typical ones include:

• Clinical observations, including blood pressure, pulse, temperature, oxygen saturation and blood glucose.
• Venepuncture and blood cultures.
• 12-lead ECGs.
• Fluid balance, food charts and weights.
• Pressure area care and skin checks.
• Removing cannulas or catheters, where your trust allows it.
• Basic life support.

Only list what you have been assessed on. If you are part way through a competency, write "venepuncture, in training" so nobody expects it on your first shift. Healthcare assistant posts in GP surgeries lean on different work, such as health checks, blood pressure and weight clinics and taking blood samples, so if you are applying to a practice, put those tasks first and name the clinics you have run.

Show how you report a change in a patient

The most important thing a healthcare assistant does may be noticing that a patient is getting worse and telling a nurse straight away. Ward managers look for it. One bullet that shows you take observations, score them on the ward chart and escalate by the ward process says more than any list of qualities. If you have a real example, such as spotting a post-operative patient's rising heart rate and reporting it early, describe it without anything that could identify the patient.

Band 2 or band 3: write for the one advertised

Read the job description before you touch your CV. A band 2 advert centres on personal care, meals, mobility, making beds and keeping the bay stocked, and it may not ask for any experience. A band 3 advert adds clinical tasks, supporting newer HCAs, and often a Level 3 qualification or working towards one. For band 3, move your clinical skills and any teaching of new starters to the top of each job entry. For band 2, lead with the care you give and your reliability on shifts, including nights and weekends.

NHS Jobs, forms and the supporting statement

Most NHS posts in England and Wales are advertised on NHS Jobs, and each advert links to a job description and a person specification. Many trusts ask for an online application form with a supporting statement rather than a CV. Keep your CV up to date anyway: you will copy from it into the form, bank and agency staffing teams often want one, and GP surgeries and private hospitals frequently ask for a CV.

In the supporting statement, work through the essential criteria in the person specification in order and give a short example for each. Your CV bullets are the raw material. If the specification says "experience of caring for patients after surgery", one of your CV bullets should say almost exactly that.

The Care Certificate and other training

The Care Certificate, from Skills for Care, is the set of standards that new health and social care workers in England are expected to meet during induction. List it with the year you completed it. NHS Health Careers mentions qualifications such as the Level 2 Certificate in Healthcare Support Services and the Level 3 Diploma in Healthcare Support; put either one in your education section with the provider and the date, or "working towards" if you are part way through. Your trust's mandatory training does not need listing module by module.

Using the HCA role as a route into nursing

Many healthcare assistants go on to train as nurses, and trusts often support it. NHS Health Careers says experienced HCAs can apply to train as an assistant practitioner or nursing associate. Nursing associates train through an apprenticeship with a foundation degree that typically lasts two years, and are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Registered nursing associates can then put that training towards a shortened nursing degree or a registered nurse degree apprenticeship.

If this is your plan, say so in your profile in one sentence, and make sure your GCSE English and maths grades are on the CV, because training programmes usually check them. Mention any study you have already started, such as an access course or a Level 3 qualification.

Pay for healthcare assistants

The National Careers Service gives average pay for healthcare assistants of about £25,000 a year when starting and £27,000 with experience. In the NHS, pay follows the Agenda for Change band in the advert, and nights, weekends and bank holidays attract unsocial hours payments.