Healthcare Support Worker and Healthcare Assistant opportunities

Want to start your NHS Clinical Career with us at GOSH? Learn about our opportunities for both healthcare support workers (HCSWs) healthcare assistants (HCAs) at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), and upcoming assessment centres.

Start your NHS Clinical Career with us at GOSH

We have fantastic opportunities for both HCSWs and HCAs to join our specialist teams across the Trust. You will work with friendly and experienced staff committed to delivering a high standard of care to children, young people and their families.

As a HCSW or HCA employed at GOSH, you will complete a programme which will provide you with training, development and education to care for children and young people in a healthcare setting. Your education is important to us and as a centre at the forefront of children's and young people's healthcare education you will be offered an opportunity to develop your career in care

If you are caring, compassionate and possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills and would like to further develop your skills at GOSH, we advertise our HCSW and HCA vacancies several times a year on NHS Jobs.

These vacancies are advertised about six to eight weeks before the recruitment assessment days.

Learn more about apprenticeships at GOSH.

Read our Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers. (1.5 MB)

Nursing and Healthcare Support Workers apprenticeships

At GOSH we are committed to developing our nursing workforce, delivering high quality training and ensuring that everyone has the chance to fulfil their potential.

Healthcare Support Workers play a vital role in our ability to deliver the best care for our patients and the Healthcare Support Worker (HCSW) apprenticeship programme is a fantastic opportunity to earn while you learn.

When you join GOSH you will complete a four day Care Certificate for Children and Young People. The Care Certificate is a national education certificate with the aim to provide clear evidence to employers, patients, and people who receive care and support that the healthcare support worker in front of them has been trained and developed to a specific set of standards and has been assessed for the skills, knowledge, and behaviours to ensure that they provide compassionate and high quality care and support.

You will complete the Care Certificate as an initial requirement as part of the educational and practical development of your skills. This will follow a local hospital induction.

The programme will comprise of four in-house study days: three days based on the generic standards, and one GOSH specific day covering topics from focus groups. Study days will be a mixture of taught content, blended learning, role play and group work.

You will also have a local induction to help familiarise yourself with your department and role. You will also need to complete a Clinical Competency Document and will be given the opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills in paediatric care.

The programme usually takes 12 months to complete during which you will gain confidence, valuable skills and knowledge and real life experience in delivering high quality compassionate care to children, young people and their families. It combines on the job training with support and guidance from a clinical mentor, whilst studying for a nationally recognised qualification.

The recruitment timeline for our 2024 to 2025 Healthcare Support worker Apprenticeships intake is:

January 2025 Intake:

  • Application Open: 19 - 26 August 2024.
  • Interviews by GOSH Team: week commencing 21 October 2024.
  • Enrolment on course with Training Provider: Friday 24 January 2025.
  • Start at Great Ormond Street Hospital: week commencing Monday 27 January 2025.

May 2025 Intake:

  • Application Open: 2 - 15 December 2024 (may close earlier if large number of applications received).
  • Interviews by GOSH Team: week commencing 10 February 2025.
  • Enrolment on course with Training Provider: Friday 9 May 2025.
  • Start at Great Ormond Street Hospital: week commencing Monday 12 May 2025.

September 2025 Intake:

  • Application Open: 7 - 21 April 2025 (may close earlier if large number of applications received).
  • Interviews by GOSH Team: week commencing 9 June 2025.
  • Enrolment on course with Training Provider: Friday 6 September 2025.
  • Start at Great Ormond Street Hospital: week commencing Mon 8 September 2025.

Contact information

For more information please contact:

Email: Nursing.Jobs@gosh.nhs.uk

Watch apprentices on the front line

The Care Certificate