Support Services in Health Care NVQ Level 2

Programme Summary

Health and Social Care services for adults and children are highly regulated. This means you need to have the right qualification if you are working in a hospital, residential home or day care setting. Employees working in support roles within health and social care play a critical part in ensuring that patients, users and carers experience a high quality service and participation in this programme will help to achieve this, providing benchmarks of good practice and identifying commonalities and boundaries between work roles.

The programme leads to a nationally recognised and flexible qualification based on industry standards and is aimed at full or part-time workers employed within the NHS or by independent health care providers. The flexibility of the programme reflects the breadth of roles often taken on by people in ancillary positions in health service settings and enables staff and managers to select the most appropriate combination of units for the support worker’s occupational learning pathway and development needs, and to facilitate transferability between occupational roles.

Day to day work tasks will provide opportunities for recognition for candidates. In particular, the programme emphasises the development and enhancement of those practical skills necessary to provide high levels of support within a health care environment.

Start Date

On demand and in the workplace to suit employer and employee needs.

Programme Content

The programme is unit based and candidates must complete eight units in total to successfully complete the qualification. There are four mandatory units and candidates must choose an additional four units from a wide variety of available optional units to reflect their own work experience and organisational needs.

Mandatory Units

• Foster people's equality, diversity and rights

• Contribute to the effectiveness of work teams

• Promote, monitor and maintain health, safety and security in the workplace

• Give customers a positive impression of yourself and your organisation

Optional Units

• Support and control visitors to services and facilities

• Transport supplies of physical resources within the work area

• Receive, transmit, store and retrieve information

• Support the use of information and technology

• Minimise and deal with aggressive and abusive behaviour

• Organise the receipt and storage of goods

• Control and monitor access to premises and property

• Drive passenger carrying vehicles safely

• Move and transport patients within the work area

• Collect transport and dispose of health care waste

• Distribute and despatch mail

• Maintain housekeeping supplies

• Prepare beds and handle linen and bed coverings

• Monitor and maintain the cleanliness of environments

• Clean floors manually

• Clean furniture fittings and vertical surfaces manually

• Clean toilets and washrooms manually

• Classify items and make up loads

• Clean items by washing processes

• Press and finish simple garments and items

• Repair alter and maintain items

• Prepare food and drinks for clients

• Maintain hygiene in food storage preparation and cooking

• Prepare cook and assemble food for service

• Provide a table or tray service

• Clean and service a range of areas

• Administer patient appointments

• Record store and supply information using a paper based filing system

• Enter retrieve and print data in a database

• Provide authorised access to records

• Protect records

• Maintain the arrangements of records

• Administer the current records system

Assessment Process

Each unit is assessed through the observation and questioning of normal activities within the workplace and the development of a portfolio within which learners collect electronic, paper and witness statement evidence that they have covered the skills/knowledge required for the unit. Learners are also required to create reflective accounts of their work for inclusion in the portfolio and apply knowledge and understanding of their work practices to the principles contained within each unit.

Learners who do not complete the whole qualification can gain certification for those units they have successfully achieved.

Length of Programme

We support learners and set standards to enable participants to achieve targets and personal goals at an agreed pace. All learners are supported by a dedicated uke learning assessor who provides advice, guidance and support in the workplace throughout the duration of the programme.