@article {Brownfhj.2021-0056, author = {Nicole L Brown and Sebastian A Moshtael and Michaela Rogers and Idil Mohamed and Ben Smith and Christopher T Rimmer and Adeel Hamad and Angela Yan}, title = {A review of the clinical assistant workforce at a district general hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic}, elocation-id = {fhj.2021-0056}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.7861/fhj.2021-0056}, publisher = {Future Healthcare Journal}, abstract = {Introduction In April 2020, a new workforce of clinical assistants (CAs), comprising predominantly of medical students, began work at Northampton General Hospital. Clinical-years students had a role similar to final-year student assistants; pre-clinical students were offered a healthcare assistant role. This research aimed to evaluate both CAs{\textquoteright} and clinicians{\textquoteright} perceptions of this programme.Methods Separate questionnaires were developed for CAs and clinicians, assessing the scheme{\textquoteright}s successes and failures. Data analysis was carried out using MS Excel and SPSS.Results and discussion Forty-nine CAs and 60 clinicians responded. CAs of all years were completing the higher-level role. They were perceived to improve continuity of care (74\% CA agreement; 88\% clinician agreement), reduce clinician workload (90\% clinician agreement) and felt significantly more confident with practical and administrative tasks. Sixty-eight per cent of CAs and 72\% of clinicians believed the role should be available to students before their final year.}, issn = {2514-6645}, URL = {https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/early/2021/08/30/fhj.2021-0056}, eprint = {https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/early/2021/08/30/fhj.2021-0056.full.pdf}, journal = {Future Healthcare Journal} }