WHAT DOES A HEALTHCARE ASSISTANT DO?

Published: Jun 17, 2025 - The Healthcare Assistant delivers personal care by assisting with hygiene, bathing, and continence needs while maintaining accurate records through general observations. This role supports residents with encouragement and ensures their dignity, privacy, and rights are respected in every aspect of care. The assistant works collaboratively with the permanent care team and performs safe moving and handling procedures using appropriate equipment.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Healthcare Assistant

1. Healthcare Assistant Duties

  • Patient Assistance: Assist the patients in the room and
  • Family Liaison: Liaises with the patients and family and reports any queries and issues to the Nurses
  • Meal Support: Help the patients with drinking and eating
  • Hygiene Procedures: Assist in patient hygiene and elimination procedures
  • Clinical Support: Be on hand with the Nurses and doctors and assist them

2. Healthcare Assistant Details

  • Patient Admission: Assist in admitting patients to the ward, completing demographic details and recording baseline observations
  • Care Delivery: Provide care to patients following instructions in the care plan, programme or pathway
  • Observation Recording: Demonstrate competence in the accurate recording of routine clinical observations
  • Condition Monitoring: Recognise abnormal recordings or signs of change in a patient’s condition and report changes to a registered nurse
  • Personal Care: Assist patients in meeting their personal care needs (includes hygiene, mobility, nutrition, elimination and comfort)
  • Feeding Support: Assist patients to eat and drink in a sensitive and supportive manner
  • Chart Recording: Accurately record information on patient food charts and fluid balance charts, reporting concerns to a registered nurse
  • Data Management: Assist clinical team with data entry, filing and maintaining accurate documentation of care
  • Patient Transfer: Assist in escorting, transferring and discharging patients
  • Bed Preparation: Ensuring all property is packed and the bed area is prepared for the next patient
  • Stock Maintenance: Ensure treatment rooms and ward areas are adequately stocked and tidy
  • Conflict Resolution: Assist in resolving conflicts by responding to concerns and complaints positively

3. Healthcare Assistant Responsibilities

  • Hygiene Support: Helping patients to wash or shower
  • Meal Assistance: Serving food and helping patients to eat
  • Bed Maintenance: Making and changing beds
  • Positioning Care: Turning patients who are confined to bed to avoid pressure sores
  • Patient Interaction: Talking with patients to help them feel less lonely or anxious
  • Mobility Support: Helping patients with mobility problems to move around
  • Toileting Assistance: Giving out and collecting bedpans, helping patients to the toilet and removal of human waste

4. Healthcare Assistant Job Summary

  • Care Support: Play a vital role in supporting their teams and patients by delivering high levels of care and attention to individual needs
  • Infection Control: Responsible for maintaining cross-infection control standards and may also be involved in the preparation of food and assisting at mealtimes
  • Hygiene Assistance: Supporting patients with their hygiene regimes
  • Safe Care: Ensuring that their patients receive overall reassurance, comfort and safe care
  • Health Promotion: Promoting positive mental/physical nutritional health with patients
  • Supply Management: Checking and ordering supplies
  • Confidentiality Maintenance: Maintaining patient confidentiality
  • Patient Respect: Treating patients with respect and dignity at all times

5. Healthcare Assistant Accountabilities

  • Comfort Care: Assisting in the provision of care to patients to ensure their comfort/safety needs are identified, taking into consideration cultural, religious beliefs, respecting values and respecting those beliefs
  • Patient Advocacy: Reporting to nurses any problems arising out of conversations with patients, acting as the patient advocate at all times
  • Vital Monitoring: Report patient’s condition and record observations of temperature, pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate, urinalysis, BM stix, pulse oximetry, weight and height
  • Procedure Preparation: Preparing dressing/procedures under the direction of the clinical team and for which instruction has been given
  • Clinical Assistance: Assisting nursing and medical staff with different procedures with supervision and competency

6. Healthcare Assistant Functions

  • Patient Support: Supporting the RN in attending to all patients' needs
  • Feeding Assistance: Assisting with Nutrition and Hydration and assisting patients
  • Rehab Support: Working with RN/Multidisciplinary Team in the mobilisation/rehabilitation of patients
  • Pressure Care: Working as part of a team in the pressure area prevention
  • Oral Care: Assisting patients with mouth care
  • Hygiene Standards: Maintaining high standards in Hygiene
  • Family Communication: Communicating with patients/family/parents
  • End Care: Assisting with the needs of patients/families at the End of Life

7. Healthcare Assistant Job Description

  • Nursing Support: Support the nursing team and undertake duties as directed by a registered nurse
  • Patient Escort: Escort patients to and from the clinical area to the waiting areas or transport
  • Meal Service: Serve patient drinks and snacks during treatment
  • Health Checks: Undertake basic health checks with patients pre- and post-dialysis including weight and blood pressure
  • Equipment Cleaning: Check and clean equipment following appropriate training
  • Documentation Support: Assist with patient documentation
  • Area Preparation: Prepare, restore and maintain areas and equipment for clinical treatments, ensuring that supplies and machines are readily available
  • Patient Assignment: Act as an assigned member of staff for a group of patients, ensuring ‘great care‘ is provided at all times
  • Service Improvement: Proactively participate in quality and service improvement programmes

8. Healthcare Assistant Overview

  • Individual Support: Give individual care and support
  • Rights Respect: Promote and respect the rights and choices of individuals
  • Plan Compliance: Read, follow and record details in Care Plans
  • Personal Care: Assist with personal care tasks
  • Dignity Treatment: Treat people how they want to be treated
  • Need Response: Listen to, observe, and respond to a person’s needs, wishes, and feelings
  • Activity Support: Assist with leisure and meaningful activities of the person
  • Change Reporting: Report any changes in needs or circumstances, preferences
  • Privacy Respect: Ensure privacy and dignity are respected at all times
  • Condition Monitoring: Observe, monitor, and report accordingly
  • Call Response: Answer calls for assistance promptly and politely
  • Medication Support: Administer some medication in line with the medication procedure
  • Record Keeping: Record in care plans and daily records accurately and concisely

9. Healthcare Assistant Details and Accountabilities

  • Policy Compliance: Ensure that practice is by the company policy at all times
  • Conduct Awareness: Be aware of the company’s code of conduct and abide by the General Skills Council
  • Safety Compliance: Ensure compliance with Manual handling and Health and Safety policies relating to activities
  • Emergency Procedure: Be aware of the procedure to follow in the event of fire and other emergencies
  • Hazard Reporting: Report to the Line Manager any hazards or accidents that may occur in the working environment
  • Workplace Safety: Ensure compliance with the terms of the Health and Safety at Work Act
  • Complaint Reporting: Reported to the Line Manager immediately any complaint or grievance from the Person being supported
  • Schedule Planning: Participate in the agreed method of “Off Duty” planning and annual leave planning, to enable the provision of a comprehensive service to the Person and their families
  • Performance Review: Participate in the ongoing system of appraisal and supervision
  • Standards Implementation: Assist in the implementation and maintenance of the standards required by legislation related to the registration of the company with the Care Quality Commission
  • Quality Maintenance: Involved in the implementation and maintenance of the company’s quality assurance programme

10. Healthcare Assistant Tasks

  • Personal Care: Providing personal care to residents
  • Hygiene Assistance: Assisting residents with bathing, washing, shaving, oral hygiene and continence requirements
  • Record Updating: General observations and updating records
  • Resident Support: Providing support and encouragement to residents
  • Dignity Respect: Ensuring the respect, dignity and rights to privacy of residents
  • Team Collaboration: Work as part of a team along with permanent staff in each home
  • Resident Handling: Moving and handling of residents using hoists and slide sheets
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