← UK Occupations
🇬🇧 UKSOC 6131· Caring Personal Service Occupations

Nursing auxiliaries and assistants

Nursing auxiliaries and assistants assist doctors, nurses and other health professionals in caring for the sick and injured within hospitals, homes, clinics and the wider community.

Auxiliary nurseHealth care assistant (hospital service)Health care support workerNursing assistantNursing auxiliary
£24,761
median salary
£16,283 – £29,264
343,600
currently employed
330,547
projected 2035
Strong growth
5 tasks scored5 Human-Led

Task Bundle Breakdown

How AI interacts with this occupation's task bundle

100%
0%
AI automates
0%
AI assists
100%
Human-led

Task-by-Task Breakdown

Every task scored individually — sorted highest to lowest AI exposure

33

performs basic clinical tasks such as taking patients’ temperature and pulse, weighing and measuring, performing urine tests and extracting blood samples

Human-Led

AI-powered wearables (e.g. continuous monitoring patches) can automate some readings, but a human must still physically attach devices, extract blood, and respond to patient needs in real time.

22

prepares patient for examination and treatment

Human-Led

AI can surface patient notes and flag preparation checklists via systems like Epic or Cerner, but the physical act of positioning, reassuring, and preparing a patient requires hands-on human presence.

22

distributes and serves food, assists patients in feeding and prepares snacks and hot drinks

Human-Led

AI dietary tools can help plan nutritionally appropriate meals, but physically distributing food, assisting patients with feeding, and responding to individual needs in the moment is inherently human work.

11

assists patients in washing, dressing, toiletry activities and general mobility

Human-Led

Robotic assist devices exist in research settings but are not widely deployed; hands-on personal care, dignity, and emotional reassurance during intimate tasks remain firmly human responsibilities.

11

changes bed linen, makes beds and tidies wards

Human-Led

Robotic bed-making prototypes exist but are not in mainstream clinical use; this task is almost entirely physical and requires human presence on the ward.

ROI Calculator

Nursing auxiliaries and assistants

1.9hrs
saved per week
90hrs
per year ≈ 2.4 weeks
£1,238
salary-equivalent capacity freed per year

This is not a pay rise — it's 90 hours of productive capacity that AI could return to you, valued at your current rate.

£0
value at risk — 0% of role exposed to AI

The portion of your current salary tied to tasks AI can automate or augment. Not a prediction of job loss — a signal of where your role is changing fastest.

How is this calculated?▾

Task weights — each task is weighted by its O*NET frequency rating. Where frequency data is absent, equal weighting is applied.

AI time reduction — tasks scored as "AI Automates" assume 80% time saving; "AI Assists" assumes 40%; "Human-Led" assumes 5%.

Salary equivalent — annual hours saved × (salary ÷ 1,800 working hours/year).

Value at risk — salary × share of role time in AI-automate or AI-assist tasks.

Figures are indicative estimates for planning purposes, not guarantees of productivity gain or job loss risk.