Healthying the World

What is healthcare science?
This page provides an introduction to healthcare science careers in the NHS.

Healthcare scienceIf you have an interest in science - and want to work in improving people’s health - few organisations can offer you more scope than the new NHS.

As the “Backbone of the NHS” (influencing around 80% of clinical decisions) healthcare scientists are increasingly being recognised for their vital role in delivering health care.

Almost any patient investigation or treatment depends on the work done by healthcare scientists: from biomedical scientists providing diagnostic information on blood and tissue, to clinical perfusionists enabling surgeons to perform complex procedures on the heart and lungs. The list goes on and on.

Many healthcare scientists work in the background, unseen by the patients whose diagnosis and recovery depends so much on their expertise.

But there are others who are directly involved in patient care.

Most healthcare scientists are also involved in research, developing new methods of detecting and monitoring disease, designing new equipment, and introducing treatments that will help improve health prospects for everyone.

Healthcare scientists work in one of three broad areas in the NHS. These are:
life sciences
physiological sciences
physical sciences and engineering