The role of the healthcare assistant in tissue viability has been changing over the past few years. This review discusses the five main themes found within the literature regarding the extended role of HCAs: patient and wound assessment; competencies and education; accountability; task-orientated care; and skill-mix/role perception/role threat. It then considers how these findings have informed an HCA training initiative at the author’s NHS trust. It concludes that there appears to be a lack of national consensus on the role a healthcare assistant should have in tissue viability and this needs further investigation.
