RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A review of the clinical assistant workforce at a district general hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic
JF Future Healthcare Journal
JO Future Healthc J
FD Royal College of Physicians
SP fhj.2021-0056
DO 10.7861/fhj.2021-0056
A1 Nicole L Brown
A1 Sebastian A Moshtael
A1 Michaela Rogers
A1 Idil Mohamed
A1 Ben Smith
A1 Christopher T Rimmer
A1 Adeel Hamad
A1 Angela Yan
YR 2021
UL http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/early/2021/08/30/fhj.2021-0056.abstract
AB 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' and clinicians' perceptions of this programme.Methods Separate questionnaires were developed for CAs and clinicians, assessing the scheme'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.