Pathways to healthcare

The community setting is what brings all these jobs together ‘under one roof’ and this allows professionals to work together to provide a faster and more effective response to peoples’ health and social care needs. 

We are seeing the growth of multi-disciplinary teams within our primary care services. In these teams there are professionals who previously could only be accessed in the NHS via referral, and there are also emerging new personalised care professionals, so people get support quickly without increasing the burden further up the system. 

Other secondary healthcare roles include Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Radiographers, Dietitians and Speech Therapists. Further opportunities in secondary healthcare include healthcare administration and management, working in hospital administration, health informatics, or health policy. These professionals are responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of a healthcare facility, managing budgets and resources, or developing and implementing policies and procedures. 

It’s a role that requires working closely with patients and other clinicians, such as Ear Nose & Throat Consultants, Speech & Language Therapists, Newborn Hearing Screeners, and GP’s.

To become an Audiology Practitioner, you need to complete either a degree or Level 6 degree apprenticeship in Healthcare Science (Audiology), which includes a placement in an Audiology Department. This allows you to develop your clinical skills.

To apply for place on a degree or Level 6 degree apprenticeship in Healthcare Science (Audiology) programme you need to have 3 or more passes at GCSE grade C or above (including Maths and English Language) and at least 2 A-Levels or equivalent including either Biology or Chemistry.

A cardiac physiologist will undertake tests on the heart, including echocardiograms, ECGs, Holter monitors (24-hour ECG). They also take blood pressure measurement, and tilt-table tests. In this role you could find yourself working in the catheter lab assisting with angiogram and angioplasty procedures, or even pacemaker/ ICD implantation. You will be involved with follow up clinics for patients who have a pacemaker and/ or ICD. Some cardiac physiologists run chest pain clinics and are responsible for the long-term monitoring of patients with heart valve disease or replacement valves.

Training for the role is usually, a four-year vocational degree in clinical physiology (cardiology), including on the job training. You would also have the opportunity to gain additional qualifications and/ or specialise in a particular area.

Within Life Sciences there are many specialisms which work together to test and analyse patient clinical samples. They help determine a diagnosis of disease or monitor disease progression in patients, to guide clinical staff on best approaches to treat and manage the patient. The most common specialisms within Life Sciences are Biochemistry, Haematology, Microbiology and Cellular pathology. Pathology departments are usually based within a hospital. Pathology departments can be part of either an NHS hospital or private healthcare provider. There are many different job roles within Pathology, both qualified and non qualified positions so can be accessed at any level. A school leaver with GCSE’s can work in Pathology at a Laboratory Assistant level and train on the job. A Biomedical Scientist is the professional job role within the laboratory which is suitable for graduates with a Biomedical Science degree. There are many opportunities to progress you career and continually develop your skills and qualifications to access higher level roles within the profession. A Biomedical Scientist will complete manual, practical methods of sample analysis, and also use innovative pieces of technology and robotics to do their job. Also with the profession there are specialist jobs in IT, quality and training for example. It is a very rewarding job, always interesting, no day is the same.

One of the most popular careers in pharmaceutical manufacturing is Production Technician. These work in plants where drugs are produced and are responsible for running equipment used in drug manufacture. This is one of many roles in the production of medicine and drugs. Pharmaceutical manufacturing requires strong scientific and technical skills.  Scientists and engineers in this field are responsible for researching and developing new drugs, designing and ensuring seamless manufacturing processes, or providing technical support to production teams.

In addition to these roles, there are many other opportunities in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry for people with business, marketing, and administrative skills. Sales and marketing professionals are responsible for promoting and selling drugs to healthcare professionals and consumers, while managers and administration staff are responsible for overseeing the day-to-day running of a manufacturing plant.