Patients & Public Overview
Nearly every patient who attends hospital or their GP practice will come into contact with a Healthcare Scientist.
The aim of Healthcare Scientists is to improve the health and well-being of patients and the public by practising alongside doctors, nurses, and other health and social care professionals in the delivery of healthcare.
Healthcare Scientists provide an extremely important contribution to the diagnosis of diseases and monitoring the treatment of patients, delivering almost a billion diagnostic tests every year.
They intervene throughout entire care pathways from diagnostic tests to therapeutic treatments and rehabilitation and although this workforce comprises approximately 5% of the healthcare workforce in the UK, their work underpins 80% of all diagnoses and clinical decisions made.
Examples of the type of work they undertake include:
- Advising, diagnosing, interpreting, and treating patients.
- Advising health and social care professionals in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.
- Researching the science, technology, and practise used in healthcare to innovate and improve services.
- Designing, building, and operating technology for diagnosing and treating patients.
- Ensuring the safety and reliability of tests and equipment used in healthcare.
