Wider Healthcare Team
Variety of careers
The wider healthcare team offers you a unique variety of career options. The many roles have one thing in common – they are essential to the running of the NHS.
Members of our wider healthcare team design, construct and maintain NHS buildings, run the catering, supply the linen, clean the wards, book the appointments and much more. We rely on people as diverse as painters, caterers, chaplains, secretaries and engineers.
They play a vital part in ensuring that patients receive the best possible care.
You might be interested in cutting-edge technology, in providing hospitality, in administration, in estates or in human resources, for example. You might be looking for high-flying career or a less demanding but still rewarding role. Whatever your situation and strengths, the wider healthcare team has the answer. If you want to play your part in helping us to look after our patients and to provide healthcare for the future, you can find a role that is right for you.
The six main areas of the wider healthcare team are listed below, click on each section for more information about the careers available:
Administration
In the NHS, good record-keeping and administration can save lives. Healthcare professionals need fast access to patients’ notes to make vital decisions about treatment. Administrative staff also have to communicate clearly with patients and outside organisations to ensure everyone contacting the health service receives a first-class response.
Estates
Most hospitals today consist of multiple buildings and extensive grounds and maintaining them is an ongoing challenge. For this we depend on an estates team doing many different jobs, such as gardening, painting and maintaining equipment, but working together. Everyone values safe, attractive surroundings. Patients enjoy a bright, welcoming environment and it can have a positive impact on their well-being.
Corporate services
Staff in a variety of key areas deliver the core services on which the whole organisation depends. Some, such as health education officers and chaplains, have direct contact with patients and relatives but more often corporate staff work behind the scenes in areas such as finance, human resources or building design.
Clinical support services
Clinical support staff work in a huge variety of different settings across the NHS. Their role is to assist healthcare professionals, sometimes - but not always - working alongside them. They might be based in a lab helping to diagnose different conditions; they might work in a hospital or clinic or visit patients in their own homes, assisting with treatment or providing general care.
Domestic services
The experience of patients in hospital depends to a large extent on comfortable, hygienic surroundings and nutritious, well-presented food. Some are on special diets or have particular cultural requirements. Domestic services staff help make sure that everyone who visits or works in a hospital benefits from good meals and a clean, attractive environment.
Support services
Support staff provide essential day-to-day services, often working closely alongside the healthcare team. For example, they assist in laboratories, move patients, staff and equipment around the hospital site and look after security. They ensure supplies are available when needed and that surgical instruments are sterilised ready for the operating theatre.
