Introduction

Skills for Health has been commissioned by the NOS Governance Group to carry out a review of a range (95) of health National Occupational Standards (NOS).

National Occupational Standards (NOS) describe the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to do a particular job to a nationally recognised level of competence.

These health NOS were last updated in 2020. Separate to this project, the Health and Social Care (HSC) NOS are in review and will reflect the most up to date practices and language in the sector. These health NOS are now being reviewed to ensure that they also continue to reflect the most up to date practices and language alongside the HSC NOS.

The National Occupational Standards within the scope of this review are those which are used to underpin and inform occupational competence qualifications and apprenticeships for Healthcare Support Workers across the UK. 

In Scotland the NOS are used to create units in the four SVQs in Healthcare Support and there is an imperative to ensure that these health NOS are fit for purpose for use as qualification units.

NOS from the following suites are being reviewed as part of this project. The following list indicates the suite and the number of NOS being reviewed from that suite. 

• Children and Young People’s Health Services (CS) - 1
• Clinical Health Skills (CHS) - 42
• Diabetes (Diab) - 1
• Emergency, Urgent and Scheduled Care (EUS) - 1
• Endoscopy - 3
• General Healthcare (GEN) - 29
• Health informatics (HI) - 2
• Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) - 2
• Perioperative Care Support (PCS) - 14