GP Assistants & Healthcare Assistants

General Practice Assistants (GPAs) work as part of a team in GP surgeries to help doctors and nurses deliver the best care to patients. They handle both administrative and basic clinical tasks, helping the practice run smoothly and allowing clinicians to focus more on patients.

GPAs support with everyday duties such as booking appointments, managing patient records, and preparing paperwork. They may also carry out simple clinical tasks like checking blood pressure, taking blood samples, doing urine tests, or recording a patient’s medical history before an appointment. Full training is provided for any clinical activities.

They play a key role in helping patients stay healthy — for example, by supporting long-term condition reviews, encouraging health checks, and promoting healthy lifestyles. GPAs also help organise referrals to hospitals or community services and make sure patients know where to go for further care.

GPAs are supervised by GPs and other qualified clinicians, and their work helps improve patient access, health outcomes, and the overall experience at the surgery.

Health Care Assistants (HCAs) play an important role in GP practices by supporting doctors and nurses with both clinical and administrative tasks. They are not registered professionals but must be properly trained, supervised, and work within their level of competence.

HCAs may take blood pressure, do blood tests, record ECGs, and give lifestyle advice. With the right training, they can also give certain vaccines under a doctor or nurse’s direction. More complex tasks, like cervical screening, must be done by qualified clinicians.

All new HCAs complete the Care Certificate, which sets high standards for safe, skilled, and compassionate care. Practices are responsible for training their HCAs and must show they meet these standards.