Health : Typical employers

There are around 62,000 healthcare establishments in the UK. Although only 2% of these establishments employ more than 200 staff, they account for 58% of the total workforce (Sector Skills Assessment, Skills for Health , 2009/10).

A large number of recruitment agencies specialise in health sector recruitment. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) is the representative body for private agencies and provides details of member agencies.

Big players

• The National Health Service (NHS) employs staff across more than 300 careers and recruits graduates onto management training schemes in the four specialisms of finance, HR, IT and general management.
• BUPA - includes health insurance, hospitals, cosmetic surgery, care homes, home care, health assessments and fitness centres. The company recruits graduates into four programmes (finance, marketing, information systems and general management) and also directly recruits for a range of functions.
• General Healthcare Group - provider of independent healthcare. Divisions include BMI Healthcare and Care Fertility and specialities include acute hospital care and fertility management. They employ dentists, pharmacists, allied health professionals, scientific and technical staff, as well as a range of non-clinical staff.
• Nestor Healthcare - consists of a number of smaller companies covering optical services, disability assessment, primary care treatment centres, home and nursing care, personal injury assessment, occupational health, care homes and telephone health advice.
• AXA PPP Healthcare - includes health insurance, dental and cancer care and telephone health advice. The company operates sandwich year placements and summer internships for undergraduate students, and graduate schemes in business, actuarial, IT and marketing.
• The Armed Forces - recruit dentists, doctors, nurses and other medical staff.
• Private hospitals - employers include Cygnet Health Care, Nuffield Health and Ramsay Health Care. These organisations provide a range of services, including neurological, psychiatric, routine operations and eye treatments. They recruit staff into a range of roles, including nursing, psychiatry, psychology, occupational therapy and social work.
• Professional bodies - recruit into a variety of roles in areas such as education, research and regulatory affairs.

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

SMEs are organisations with fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover of no more than £26million. Working for a smaller company can be rewarding because you are more likely to forge a path for yourself within the company, although opportunities to try other departments may be limited.

SMEs are unlikely to use the testing and assessment techniques of larger companies, or follow lengthy recruitment procedures. SMEs are more likely to advertise their vacancies through the local press, university careers service bulletins, local graduate vacancy listings, jobcentres, and word of mouth, rather than rely on their reputation and a presence at graduate recruitment fairs.

Your university careers service should have listings of jobs with small firms. See also the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) .

The health sector is dominated by micro-businesses, with 66% of all health establishments, mostly independent and voluntary healthcare providers, employing fewer than ten people (Sector Skills Assessment, Skills for Health, 2009/10). These private and voluntary organisations provide an essential and increasing role in the health sector.

Self-employment

This is an option for many healthcare professionals, particularly locum clinical staff. The majority of practitioners in complementary medicine are self-employed. 
 
Find out more about self-employment.