A training programme for healthcare support workers.

Healthcare support workers (HCSWs) are at the front line of patient care delivery. It is essential that they are appropriately trained and competent in the skills required to deliver the fundamentals of care. There is also a need for HCSWs to have access to continuing professional development that offers a career pathway. The University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has developed a framework for career progression that incorporates three phases of continuing professional development. These are organised and co-ordinated by a dedicated support worker training team comprising four registered nurses plus senior support workers in the role of peripatetic NVQ Care assessors.