Work Abroad
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still being felt throughout the sector as all professionals navigate a new normal. Combine this with debates over vaccines, unrest around pay and a shortage of nurses and there are a lot of issues in this ultimately rewarding sector.
• allied health (e.g. physiotherapy, radiography, and occupational therapy)
• ambulance services
• complementary therapies
• dentistry
• health informatics
• health promotion
• healthcare administration and management
• healthcare science (e.g. clinical engineering, biomedical science, and pathology)
• medical equipment sales
• medicine (e.g. doctors, surgeons, and GPs)
• medical research
• midwifery
• nursing
• nutrition and diet
• optometry and opticians
• pharmacy
• psychological therapies.
• care homes or hospices
• community healthcare (e.g. doctors' surgeries, dental surgeries, health clinics)
• hospitals
• medical laboratories
• people's homes.
• customer care
• finance
• hospitality
• human resources (HR)
• IT
• legal services
• marketing
• procurement
• sales.
The largest employer in the UK healthcare sector is the NHS, which employs more than 1.5 million people - placing it in the top five largest workforces in the world. There are more than 350 different roles available within the NHS.
A significant proportion of the sector's workforce is in independent healthcare. In addition to their private sector functions, these providers are increasingly contracted to provide services on behalf of the NHS.
• Bupa
• BMI Healthcare
• Care UK
• Ramsay Health Care UK
• Spire Healthcare.
• British Red Cross
• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) UK
• Nuffield Health
• Save the Children
• Sue Ryder.
Graduates entering the healthcare sector can expect:
• national pay rates for all NHS employees except doctors, dentists and senior managers, who are paid via a separate arrangement
• to wear a mask when dealing with all patients and further PPE when dealing directly with a COVID-19 contact, this can be uncomfortable but is necessary to keep everyone safe (correct as of March 2022)
• shift work with unsociable and often long working hours
• a range of different working conditions depending on the role and organization
• a potentially stressful and emotionally challenging working environment particularly during the pandemic
• to be able to work anywhere in the country.
Since September 2020 all undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery, nursing and a number of other allied health profession students have been able to access a maintenance grant that doesn’t need to be paid back. This could increase to, if you meet some additional criteria.
Employers in the healthcare sector require candidates with:
• the ability to stay calm in high-pressure situations, such as during surgery
• attention to detail
• empathy and an approachable nature to deal with both patients and their families in what can be difficult times
• good communication skills, which will help when advising patients of their options
• the ability to work in a team as very rarely will you be able to help a patient without input from multiple people.
For many graduate healthcare careers, including medicine, nursing, midwifery and allied healthcare, you must be a registered healthcare professional. You'll need a relevant approved degree and to register with a professional body to work in these roles.
If you haven't studied an approved first degree, you could consider a graduate-entry accelerated course to start your clinical career. Some of these will require you to have a science or health-related degree, but others are open to graduates of any subject. In any case, you'll typically need at least a 2:2 and a substantial amount of work experience to be successful.
The NHS Modernizing Scientific Careers scheme has resulted in more structured training for healthcare science roles. The NHS Practitioner Training Programmer (PTP) combines study for a BSc with work-based training in areas such as life sciences, medical physics technology and clinical engineering.
For some roles such as paramedic, physiotherapist and occupational therapist, it's possible to work your way up from assistant level through in-service, work-based learning, including degree-level study. However, postgraduate study is an essential part of training in a number of roles such as pharmacy and clinical psychology.
In other areas, such as nursing and midwifery, you can consider taking post-registration courses at postgraduate level in order to specialize.
More information about routes into healthcare careers can be found by visiting the websites of relevant professional bodies, such as:
• General Dental Council (GDC)
• General Medical Council (GMC)
• General Optical Council (GOC)
• General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
• Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC)
• The Royal College of Surgeons in England
• Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH)
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