Apprenticeship – Senior Healthcare Support Worker (Standard) – Level 3

Senior Healthcare Support Workers help registered practitioners to deliver healthcare services to people. Experienced support workers carry out a range of clinical and non-clinical healthcare or therapeutic tasks, under the direct or indirect supervision of the registered healthcare practitioner.

They provide high quality, compassionate healthcare, following standards, policies or protocols and always acting within the limits of their competence.

They may work in a range of services such as a hospital, community, health or day case unit, birth centre or midwifery-led unit, someone’s home, an operating theatre, a nursing or care home, an assessment centre, a hospice, a school, a prison, a GP surgery, a charity or a voluntary organisation. Their role could involve working in partnership with individuals, families, carers and other service providers.

You may wish to select an apprentice with prior experience as a support worker.

Mandatory Units:

• Health and wellbeing
• Duty of care and candour, safeguarding, equality and diversity
• Person-centred care, treatment and support
• Communication
• Personal, people and quality improvement
• Health, safety and security

Maternity Support Units:

• Assist with clinical tasks
• Assist with caring for babies
• Support mothers and birthing partners

Theatre Support Units:

• Assist healthcare practitioners with delegated clinical tasks
• Support individuals
• Equipment and resources

Mental Health Support Units:

• Assist with delegated clinical tasks and therapeutic interventions
• Support individuals
• Risk assessment and risk management

Children and Young People Units:

• Assist with clinical tasks
• Activities of daily living
• Child development

Therapy Support Units:

• Assist with delegated therapeutic or clinical tasks and interventions
• Support, educate and enable individuals with their health and wellbeing
• Equipment and resources

• Treat people with dignity, respecting each individual’s diversity, beliefs, culture, needs, values, privacy and preferences
• Show respect and empathy for those they work with
• Have the courage to challenge areas of concern and work to best practice
• Be adaptable, reliable and consistent
• Show discretion, resilience and self-awareness
• Show supervisory leadership

• Care Certificate
• Level 3 Diploma in Clinical Healthcare Support or Maternity and Paediatric Support or Perioperative Support or Mental Health Care or Allied Health Profession Support (depending on the pathway chosen).

Before going forward for end-point assessment, the apprentice must have completed:

• The 15 standards required by the Care Quality Commission (as set out in the Care Certificate)
• Level 2 Maths and English
• A specified regulated Level 3 occupational competence qualification
• A learning journal documenting and reflecting on their development (knowledge and skills) as well as their approach to the workplace (values and behaviours). The learning journal is completed during the three months leading up to the planned date of the end-point assessment.

The end-point assessment will consist of the following:

• 60-minute multiple choice and short answer test
• 90-minute observation of practice
• Learning journal
• 30-60 minute interview

Your apprentice will not need to attend College. All support will be provided in the workplace.

You will need to provide your apprentice with any PPE required legally and to help them to undertake their role safely.

Your apprentice can move on to a higher level apprenticeship in the same occupational area on completion of this qualification.

• Senior Healthcare Support Worker
• Senior Healthcare Assistant
• Maternity Support Worker
• Theatre Support Worker
• Mental Health Support Worker
• Children and Young People Support Worker
• Therapy Support Worker
• Rehabilitation Support Worker
• Enablement Worker

You may already have someone in your organisation or someone has come to you direct asking for an apprenticeship, but if you don’t we have a free recruitment service to help you hire the best candidate for your organisation from our talent pool and external advertising through social media and the national apprenticeship services website

If you are an employer and you would like to know more, please email businessenquiries@derby-college.ac.uk or call 01332 387421