5 CV examples · UK · Updated October 2026
Healthcare Assistant CV Examples and Templates (UK)
A strong healthcare assistant CV proves safe, dignified care in concrete terms: the ward or setting, how many patients you support, the Care Certificate, in-date mandatory training and any signed-off clinical skills, written to UK conventions on one or two sides of A4.
Healthcare Assistant CV at a glance
- Best format
- Reverse-chronological, personal profile first, single column, A4
- Length
- One page for first jobs; two pages when experienced
- Top skills
- Personal and continence care, Moving and handling, Observations and escalation, Food and fluid charts
- Key qualifications
- Care Certificate (16 standards, England), Level 2 or 3 healthcare apprenticeship, Enhanced background check (DBS, PVG, AccessNI)
- Average salary
- £25,000 to £27,000 a yearstarter to experienced, National Careers Service
- Typical hours
- 37 to 40 a weekevenings, weekends, bank holidays on a rota
5 healthcare assistant CV examples for 2026
Below are 5 UK healthcare assistant CV examples, from no experience to senior Band 3, mental health and bank roles, plus personal profile examples, skills, NHS keywords and answers to the questions HCAs ask most. Each one is shown at true A4 size and comes with a free single-column Word template. Open any example to read it in full.
Swipe to see all 5 examples →
Bilal Hanif
Aspiring Healthcare Assistant
Bradford · bilal.hanif@email.com · 07700 900447
Skills & Tools
Personal Profile
Retail team leader with eight years in customer-facing work and 18 months as a ward volunteer on an older people’s unit, applying for a first healthcare assistant role. Calm with confused or distressed people, used to long, physical shifts and available for days, nights and weekends.
Employment History
Ward Volunteer, Older People’s Unit, Wrosedale General Hospital, Bradford Mar 2025 – Present
- Support patients at lunch and evening meals as a trained mealtime companion on a 28-bed older people’s ward, twice a week.
- Spend time with patients living with dementia, using their ‘This is me’ profiles to start conversations and ease agitation.
- Refill water jugs and tell the nurse in charge straight away about any patient who is not eating, drinking or seems unwell.
Retail Team Leader, Braunstead Home Stores, Bradford Jun 2021 – Present
- Lead 9 colleagues across early, late and weekend shifts, covering sickness at short notice so the store never opens short-staffed.
- Resolve 20 or more customer complaints a week face to face, helping lift customer satisfaction from 78% to 91%.
- Train every new starter in manual handling and health and safety; all 14 recruits in 2025 passed probation.
Sales Assistant, Braunstead Home Stores, Bradford Sep 2018 – Jun 2021
- Served up to 200 customers a shift, giving older and disabled customers extra time and help with heavy items.
- Completed daily health and safety checks on aisles and stockrooms, with no reportable accidents in three years.
Education & Qualifications
NCFE CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Preparing to Work in Adult Social Care, 2026
Emergency First Aid at Work (Level 3 Award), 2025
A-levels: Sociology (B), Biology (C), Business Studies (C), 2018
7 GCSEs grades A*-C including English and Maths, 2016
Why this example works
- Volunteering sits above retail work, so the shortlister sees care evidence first, then transferable leadership and customer skills.
- Retail results are translated into care language: calm with distressed people, manual handling training, reliable cover for rota gaps.
- A knowledge-only Level 2 certificate shows commitment before a first care job, without claiming clinical skills the candidate does not have.
Kelsey Morgan
Healthcare Assistant (Band 2)
Stoke-on-Trent · kelsey.morgan@email.com · 07700 900528
Profile
Band 2 healthcare assistant with three years on a 30-bed care of older people ward, supporting patients with dementia, delirium and frailty. Skilled in personal care, pressure area care and food and fluid charts. Care Certificate and Level 2 apprenticeship completed. Seeking an HCA post on a medical or rehabilitation ward.
Employment History
Healthcare Assistant (Band 2), Care of Older People, Burslee Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent Sep 2023 – Present
- Deliver washing, dressing, continence and mouth care for 7 to 8 patients a shift on a 30-bed ward, offering choices at every step.
- Reposition high-risk patients to their SSKIN plans and report early skin changes, contributing to 11 months without a ward-acquired pressure ulcer.
- Support patients at protected mealtimes and keep food and fluid charts complete, flagging poor intake to the nurse in charge the same shift.
- Created a reminiscence box and music sessions for patients living with dementia, now used on 2 wards to ease agitation in the evenings.
- Help patients dress and mobilise safely with frames, standing aids and hoists, supporting the ward’s End PJ Paralysis campaign every morning.
Domestic Assistant, Burslee Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent Oct 2021 – Sep 2023
- Cleaned 2 surgical wards to the National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness, including terminal cleans of side rooms after infection outbreaks.
- Served meals to 28 patients, checking allergies and IDDSI texture levels.
- Decontaminated commodes and bedside equipment between every patient.
- Built rapport with long-stay patients and their families, and was encouraged by the ward manager to apply for a healthcare assistant post.
Education & Qualifications
Level 2 Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeship, 2025
BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Health and Social Care (DM), 2021
6 GCSEs (9-4) including English and Maths, 2019
Registration & Training
Care Certificate, 2023 · Basic Life Support, moving and handling, safeguarding: in date
Core Skills
Personal care · Continence care · Pressure area care (SSKIN) · Hoist transfers · Food and fluid charts · IDDSI diets · Dementia support · End of life care
Ward Roles
- Ward dementia champion since 2025, keeping ‘This is me’ profiles current.
Why this example works
- Personal care is written as skilled care with outcomes, such as months without a pressure ulcer, so a Band 2 role reads as substantial.
- The domestic assistant job shows a realistic route into care and proves infection prevention and diet knowledge from day one.
- Every task stays within Band 2 scope, matching NHS job profiles and keeping the CV honest at interview.
Why this example works
- Band 3 clinical skills are listed with the word ‘signed off’ and a competency year, which is exactly what NHS shortlisters check.
- Supervision, Care Certificate assessment and link roles show leadership beyond tasks, the gap between a Band 2 and a senior HCA.
- The career story is clear: retail, home care, Band 2, apprenticeship, then Band 3, with every move explained by results.
Dawid Sobczak
Mental Health Healthcare Assistant (Band 3)
Nottingham · dawid.sobczak@email.com · 07700 900396 · linkedin.com/in/dawidsobczak
Profile
Mental health healthcare assistant (Band 3) with eight years in mental health and learning disability support, including five on inpatient wards, now on a 10-bed male PICU. Skilled in therapeutic engagement, enhanced observations, verbal de-escalation and restrictive practice used only as a last resort. Escorts section 17 leave and runs ward activity groups. Seeking a Band 3 post on an acute, PICU or forensic ward.
Employment History
Healthcare Assistant (Band 3), Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, Cliftonbrook Hospital, Nottingham Apr 2024 – Present
- Carry out intermittent, within-eyesight and arm’s-length observations on a 10-bed male PICU, recording each check and any change in presentation.
- De-escalate 3 to 4 incidents a week through calm talk, space and distraction, part of a 35% fall in restraint after Safewards launched.
- Record NEWS2 checks after rapid tranquillisation and escalate any deterioration at once.
- Escort patients on section 17 leave under the Mental Health Act 1983, completing pre-leave risk checks and return records with nurses.
Healthcare Assistant, Adult Acute Mental Health Ward, Cliftonbrook Hospital, Nottingham Jun 2021 – Apr 2024
- Supported up to 22 adults in acute crisis, including people detained under the Mental Health Act, with daily living and recovery goals.
- Held protected 1:1 time with named patients every shift, feeding their views into ward rounds.
- Carried out admission property searches and daily ligature checks in line with ward policy.
- Helped Polish-speaking patients settle into ward routines and understand their rights leaflets, while booking professional interpreters for clinical conversations.
Support Worker, Meadowline Supported Living, Derby Sep 2018 – May 2021
- Supported 4 adults with learning disabilities and autism in a shared house, following each person’s Positive Behaviour Support plan.
- Reduced one tenant’s incidents of distressed behaviour from 12 to 4 a month by building a visual daily schedule with him.
- Administered medicines from monitored dosage systems after competency sign-off, with no medicine errors in over two and a half years.
- Helped tenants cook, budget and travel independently by bus, with 2 tenants starting regular voluntary work in their community.
Warehouse Operative, Lindgate Logistics, Nottingham Feb 2015 – Aug 2018
- Picked and packed up to 180 orders a shift against a 99.5% accuracy target in a busy regional distribution centre.
- Acted as shift first aider and fire marshal, responding calmly to 2 workplace injuries and leading every evacuation drill on the shift.
- Kept the pick zone clear of hazards and reported near misses promptly, earning the site’s quarterly safety award in 2017.
Education & Qualifications
NCFE CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Healthcare Support (mental health support units), 2023
Functional Skills English and Maths, Level 2, 2020
Registration & Training
Restrictive practice training certified to RRN Training Standards, refreshed 2026 · Care Certificate, 2018 · Basic Life Support and Safeguarding Adults Level 2, 2026 · Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training, Tier 2
Core Skills
Therapeutic engagement · Enhanced and 1:1 observations · Verbal de-escalation · Least restrictive practice · Physical health checks and NEWS2 · Section 17 leave escorts · Environmental and ligature checks · Safewards interventions · Positive Behaviour Support · Activity and recovery groups
Technical
RiO electronic patient record · Datix incident reporting · Vital signs monitors
Further Training
- Mental Health Act 1983 and Mental Capacity Act 2005 awareness, 2024
- Physical health checks in serious mental illness: ECG recording and blood glucose monitoring, trust competency, 2025
- Safewards interventions training, 2024, and suicide prevention awareness, 2025
- Positive Behaviour Support foundation training, 2019
Languages and Volunteering
- Polish (native) and English (fluent)
- Volunteer run leader since 2022 for a Nottingham community running group that supports people in mental health recovery, leading a weekly beginners’ session.
Recognition
- Shortlisted for the hospital’s annual patient experience award in 2025, nominated through patient feedback that praised consistent, respectful support on the PICU.
Why this example works
- Uses the exact language mental health wards screen for: observation levels, section 17 leave, rapid tranquillisation checks and least restrictive practice.
- Restrictive practice training is named against RRN Training Standards, the benchmark statutory guidance under Seni’s Law points to.
- Language skills are shown responsibly, with professional interpreters for clinical conversations, which signals sound judgement to a ward manager.
Why this example works
- The career break gets one honest line with dates, then refreshed training, so the gap answers itself before anyone asks.
- Bank work is framed as adaptability with proof: 9 wards, a start-of-shift routine and repeat requests from ward managers.
- Older experience is kept short but specific, showing seven years of hands-on care without crowding the single page.
Applying through an online portal? Use the Word download: it is the same CV in a single-column, ATS-safe layout. Keep this two-column design for emailing and networking.
Healthcare Assistant personal profile examples
Copy the personal profile that matches your level, then swap in your own experience, settings and results.
Career changer with eight years in retail and hospitality, used to long shifts, busy rotas and calming upset customers. Volunteer mealtime companion on a hospital ward and unpaid carer for a relative living with dementia. Completing a Level 2 certificate in adult social care and keen to start the Care Certificate in a first healthcare assistant role.
Motivated school leaver completing the T Level in Health (Supporting the Adult Nursing Team), including a 350-hour industry placement on a surgical ward. Experienced in helping patients with washing, dressing and meals under supervision, with GCSEs in English, Maths and Science. Seeking an apprentice or Band 2 healthcare assistant role with day, night and weekend availability.
Compassionate healthcare assistant with four years on a busy medical ward, supporting up to 8 patients a shift with personal care, mobility, mealtimes and food and fluid charts. Care Certificate completed and dementia champion for the ward. Known for clear handovers and for spotting early changes in patients. Seeking a Band 2 role on an older people’s or stroke unit.
Senior healthcare assistant (Band 3) with six years in surgical care, the last two in a pre-operative assessment clinic. Signed off for MRSA screening swabs, blood pressure, height and weight checks, urinalysis and simple wound dressings. Keeps clinic lists running to time and helps patients prepare for day surgery. Level 3 apprenticeship completed. Seeking a Band 3 role in outpatients or surgical pre-assessment.
Mental health healthcare assistant with four years on an older adult inpatient ward, supporting people with dementia, severe depression and late-life psychosis. Gives gentle personal care to people who feel frightened or resist help, using life history and meaningful activity to ease distress. Completes physical observations and escalates changes promptly. Seeking a role on an older adult organic or functional ward.
Best skills for a healthcare assistant CV
List the skills the job advert and person specification name, in the same wording, and prove the important ones in your employment history.
Hard skills
- Personal care: washing, dressing, oral and continence care
- Moving and handling with hoists, slide sheets and standing aids
- Pressure area care and repositioning (SSKIN)
- Food and fluid balance charts
- Mealtime support and texture-modified diets (IDDSI)
- Physical observations and NEWS2 recording (Band 3)
- Blood glucose monitoring (Band 3)
- Venepuncture and 12-lead ECGs (with trust competency)
- Specimen collection and urinalysis
- Infection prevention and control, including isolation rooms
- Dementia and delirium care
- End of life comfort care
- Accurate record keeping and handover
Soft skills
- Compassion and respect for dignity
- Calm under pressure
- Clear verbal communication
- Teamwork across the multidisciplinary team
- Observation and attention to detail
- Accepting feedback and supervision
- Flexibility across shifts and wards
- Courage to speak up about concerns
Systems and equipment
- Electronic observation systems such as Nervecentre
- Electronic patient records (Oracle Health Cerner, Epic, SystmOne, RiO)
- Hoists, standing aids and slide sheets
- Vital signs monitors and blood glucose meters
- Bladder scanners and ECG machines
- E-rostering apps such as HealthRoster
- Incident reporting systems such as Datix
Qualifications and training
- Care Certificate (England, 16 standards since 2025)
- Level 2 Healthcare Support Worker apprenticeship
- Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker apprenticeship
- Level 3 Diploma in Healthcare Support
- T Level in Health (Supporting the Adult Nursing Team)
- Basic Life Support (annual refresher)
- Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism
Healthcare Assistant CV bullet point examples
Strong bullets pair an action verb with a specific task and a measurable result. Adapt these to your own numbers.
Personal care and dignity
- Gave catheter care and recorded urine output for up to 5 patients with catheters each shift, with no catheter-related urine infections in the bay over 6 months.
- Helped a patient with advanced dementia accept personal care by following the morning routine her daughter described, ending daily refusals within a week.
- Checked a patient’s hearing aids every morning and used a whiteboard during washes and meals, so he could make his own choices about his care.
Observations and clinical support (Band 3)
- Recorded 4-hourly NEWS2 observations for 10 patients and escalated a score of 5 to the nurse in charge within minutes, prompting a sepsis screen.
- Tested urine samples on admission and recorded results on the EPR, flagging high glucose in one sample that led to blood tests and a new diabetes diagnosis.
- Recorded 12-lead ECGs for patients with chest pain within 10 minutes of request and handed each trace straight to the doctor.
Safety, falls and infection prevention
- Took lying and standing blood pressures for patients over 65 on admission, picking up a large drop in 3 patients so their medicines were reviewed before they walked.
- Set up isolation rooms and followed the outbreak checklist during a norovirus closure, helping keep the outbreak to one bay with no spread to the rest of the ward.
- Carried out hourly intentional rounding on a 6-bed high falls-risk bay, checking pain, position, toileting and call bells, with no unwitnessed falls in 3 months.
Teamwork, training and communication
- Gave structured SBAR handovers at every shift change, so nurses knew which patients had eaten, drunk, opened bowels or changed behaviour.
- Showed 6 first-year student nurses how to give personal care and complete charts on placement, and was named in 4 of their placement evaluations.
- Collected take-home medicines from pharmacy and checked transport and belongings for each discharge, helping the ward send 2 patients home before midday most days.
Action verbs for a healthcare assistant CV
Start each bullet with a precise verb instead of “responsible for”.
- Supported
- Assisted
- Monitored
- Recorded
- Escalated
- Reassured
- Repositioned
- Mobilised
- Prioritised
- Delivered
- Maintained
- Observed
- Documented
- Communicated
- Collaborated
- Supervised
- Mentored
- Buddied
- Assessed
- Organised
- Prepared
- Sterilised
- Responded
- Advocated
- Comforted
- Safeguarded
- De-escalated
- Audited
Find more by category with the free action verb finder.
Best CV format for a healthcare assistant
Use a reverse-chronological CV: personal profile, key skills, employment history, then education, qualifications and training. One page suits a first HCA job; two sides of A4 suit experienced and senior HCAs. Keep it single-column for online application systems and leave off your photo and date of birth.
| Your situation | Format | Length | Lead with |
|---|---|---|---|
| No experience or career changer | Hybrid: profile and transferable skills first | 1 page | Caring experience, volunteering, customer care, rota availability |
| School leaver or T Level student | Reverse-chronological, placement first | 1 page | T Level or BTEC, placement hours, GCSEs in English and Maths |
| Band 2 HCA | Reverse-chronological | 1 to 2 pages | Ward type, patient group, Care Certificate, personal care outcomes |
| Senior HCA (Band 3) | Reverse-chronological | 2 pages | Signed-off clinical skills, Level 3 apprenticeship, supervision |
| Mental health HCA | Reverse-chronological | 2 pages | Observation levels, de-escalation, restrictive practice training |
| Returning after a career break | Reverse-chronological with a one-line career break entry | 1 to 2 pages | Past ward experience and refreshed mandatory training |
Every example above follows these rules, on A4 and without a photo, date of birth or full address.
How to write a healthcare assistant CV that gets shortlisted
A healthcare assistant CV gets shortlisted when it proves you give safe, dignified care on a busy shift. Name the setting, patient group and bed numbers, then show what you did and what changed: fewer falls, completed charts, calmer patients, smoother handovers.
Match the job title in the advert. The same role is advertised as healthcare assistant, healthcare support worker, nursing assistant or clinical support worker, so use the employer’s wording in your profile and key skills.
Be precise about your band: NHS national job profiles (clarified for Bands 2 and 3 in 2021) separate personal care Band 2 roles from Band 3 roles with delegated clinical duties such as blood pressure, blood glucose monitoring and simple wound dressings. List only skills you are signed off for.
Healthcare assistant CV with no experience
You can write a strong healthcare assistant CV with no experience by leading with the evidence you do have: caring for a relative, hospital or care home volunteering, customer service and shift work. Employers train new HCAs, so values, reliability and communication carry real weight.
Put a skills-led personal profile first, then volunteering and caring above unrelated jobs. Translate retail or hospitality into care language: staying calm with upset people, working long shifts, following procedures and keeping accurate records.
A short course helps but is not essential. The Level 2 Certificate in Preparing to Work in Adult Social Care is knowledge-only, so you can study it before your first care job. In England the Care Certificate comes after you start, usually within 12 weeks.
Keywords to include on an NHS healthcare assistant CV
NHS shortlisters score your application against the person specification, and some private employers and agencies use screening software, so mirror the advert’s wording. Use exact terms for the care you give and the training you hold, then back each one with a bullet that shows it in practice.
- Personal care, continence care, oral care
- Moving and handling, hoists, slide sheets
- Pressure area care, SSKIN, repositioning
- Food and fluid charts, protected mealtimes
- NEWS2 observations, escalation, SBAR (Band 3)
- Infection prevention and control
- Dementia, delirium and end of life care
- Care Certificate, Basic Life Support, safeguarding adults
- Your employer’s values (in England, the NHS Constitution values)
CV, NHS application form or supporting statement?
Most NHS trusts recruit through NHS Jobs, Trac or Jobtrain using an application form, so every candidate is assessed on the same basis. An HCA CV is still worth writing: it is the source for the form, and care homes, agencies and private hospitals often ask for one.
On NHS forms the supporting information section carries the most weight. Work through the essential criteria in the person specification in order, give a short example for each, and show how the employer’s values guide your everyday care.
What to include and leave off a UK healthcare assistant CV
| ✓ Include | ✗ Avoid |
|---|---|
| A personal profile naming your setting, patient group and the role you want | A photo, date of birth, age, marital status or full address |
| Ward or service type, bed numbers and patients per shift | Patient names, initials or any detail that could identify someone |
| Your band and job title, matched to the advert’s wording | Clinical tasks you are not trained or signed off to do |
| Care Certificate, apprenticeship or diploma, with the year completed | Unproven lines such as ‘hard-working team player’ |
| In-date mandatory training: Basic Life Support, moving and handling, safeguarding | Duty lists copied from your job description |
| Delegated clinical skills only where you hold a signed-off competency | Referees’ names and contact details |
| Shifts you can work, including nights, weekends and bank holidays | Your National Insurance number or DBS, PVG or AccessNI certificate number |
| Right to work in the UK, if an employer might otherwise be unsure | Unexplained gaps: add a one-line career break entry instead |
How to write a healthcare assistant CV
- Read the person specification. Highlight every essential and desirable criterion in the advert and person specification. These are the criteria NHS shortlisters score you against, and some private employers and agencies also screen with software, so plan where each one will appear on your CV.
- Write a short personal profile. In 3 to 5 lines, say who you are, your setting and patient group, your strongest skills and training, and the role you want. Specific beats generic: three years on a 30-bed frailty ward says more than experienced and caring.
- List your key skills. Add 8 to 12 skills taken from the advert, such as personal care, moving and handling, food and fluid charts or NEWS2 observations. Only list clinical skills you are signed off to perform in your current role.
- Write results-led employment history. For each job give the ward or service, dates and 3 to 5 bullets, newest first. Start with an action verb, name the task and add a result: fewer falls, completed charts, settled patients or trained colleagues.
- Add qualifications and training. List the Care Certificate, apprenticeships, diplomas, T Levels or degree, then GCSEs including English and Maths. Add in-date mandatory training such as Basic Life Support, safeguarding and Oliver McGowan training.
- Proofread, save and tailor. Start from one of the healthcare assistant CV templates above, check spelling and dates, then save as Word or PDF as the advert asks, named with your name and the role. Tailor your profile and top bullets for every application.
Healthcare Assistant salary in the UK
National averages for England. Use them to benchmark offers, not as a promise for any single job.
The National Careers Service puts average pay for a healthcare assistant at £25,000 a year for new starters, rising to around £27,000 with experience. Typical hours are 37 to 40 a week, with evenings, weekends, bank holidays on a rota.
Source: National Careers Service, Healthcare assistant job profile (Department for Education), contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are averages; pay varies by region, employer and experience.
Covering letter tip for a healthcare assistant
For NHS posts, treat the supporting information section as your covering letter: answer each essential criterion in the person specification in order, with one short example, and link your care to the employer’s values. For care homes and agencies, name the service, the shifts you can work and one patient outcome you are proud of.
Start from our cover letter templates or draft one in seconds with the cover letter generator.
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