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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| RCN: NHS healthcare assistants' training 'unacceptable' | RCN: NHS healthcare assistants' training 'unacceptable' |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| The NHS is too reliant on untrained healthcare assistants who are asked to pick up nursing skills as they go along, says the head of the Royal College of Nursing. | The NHS is too reliant on untrained healthcare assistants who are asked to pick up nursing skills as they go along, says the head of the Royal College of Nursing. |
| Peter Carter said healthcare assistants were employed to help nurses with basic tasks like washing and feeding, but ended up doing much more. | Peter Carter said healthcare assistants were employed to help nurses with basic tasks like washing and feeding, but ended up doing much more. |
| They should be subject to regulation and mandatory training, Dr Carter said. | They should be subject to regulation and mandatory training, Dr Carter said. |
| He also warned that some nursing degree courses focus too much on theory. | He also warned that some nursing degree courses focus too much on theory. |
| Dr Carter said healthcare assistants were essential to the NHS and wanted to do a good job, but they needed to be properly trained. | Dr Carter said healthcare assistants were essential to the NHS and wanted to do a good job, but they needed to be properly trained. |
| "Many hospitals employ healthcare assistants as opposed to registered nurses, and many of them don't give them as much as an hour's training. | "Many hospitals employ healthcare assistants as opposed to registered nurses, and many of them don't give them as much as an hour's training. |
| "This happens in some care homes and domiciliary care too. | "This happens in some care homes and domiciliary care too. |
| "It is wholly unacceptable that the elderly should be cared for by people who are not given the rudimentary training." | "It is wholly unacceptable that the elderly should be cared for by people who are not given the rudimentary training." |
| He said spending on regulation and proper training would prove a wise investment. | He said spending on regulation and proper training would prove a wise investment. |
| "Cheap care is poor care. Poor care ends up being more expensive. We must invest properly in the workforce and then we will get fewer problems and complications." | "Cheap care is poor care. Poor care ends up being more expensive. We must invest properly in the workforce and then we will get fewer problems and complications." |
| He said he was not trying to alarm patients by questioning the training given to healthcare workers. | He said he was not trying to alarm patients by questioning the training given to healthcare workers. |
| "There are plenty of examples where healthcare assistants are properly trained, but there are huge variations in training across the board. | "There are plenty of examples where healthcare assistants are properly trained, but there are huge variations in training across the board. |
| "People are given a tunic which looks like a nurse's uniform and they are asked to pick it up as they go along. I can't think of any other sector where that would be acceptable." | "People are given a tunic which looks like a nurse's uniform and they are asked to pick it up as they go along. I can't think of any other sector where that would be acceptable." |
| "It wouldn't happen with tyre fitters or at John Lewis or Marks and Spencer... but it is seen to be acceptable in some of our healthcare settings in the NHS." | "It wouldn't happen with tyre fitters or at John Lewis or Marks and Spencer... but it is seen to be acceptable in some of our healthcare settings in the NHS." |
| Hands-on training | Hands-on training |
| Dr Carter added: "Mobilising people, catheterising people, dealing with nutrition and hygiene - these are techniques that should be taught properly. This would have avoided many of the problems we've been reading about in recent months." | Dr Carter added: "Mobilising people, catheterising people, dealing with nutrition and hygiene - these are techniques that should be taught properly. This would have avoided many of the problems we've been reading about in recent months." |
| A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said the government was not in favour of national statutory regulation for healthcare assistants. | A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said the government was not in favour of national statutory regulation for healthcare assistants. |
| "The government's view is that national statutory regulation must be proportionate and targeted - and we do not believe that this is the case for healthcare assistants. | "The government's view is that national statutory regulation must be proportionate and targeted - and we do not believe that this is the case for healthcare assistants. |
| "The government intends to establish the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (currently the CHRE) as the national accrediting body for a system of assured voluntary registers for groups that are currently not subject to statutory professional regulation, which includes healthcare assistants." | "The government intends to establish the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (currently the CHRE) as the national accrediting body for a system of assured voluntary registers for groups that are currently not subject to statutory professional regulation, which includes healthcare assistants." |
| Dr Carter was also critical of the amount of money spent on the new IT system for the NHS, calling it a "national disgrace". | Dr Carter was also critical of the amount of money spent on the new IT system for the NHS, calling it a "national disgrace". |
| "Eleven billion pounds is a huge amount of money. If more of that had been spent on the workforce instead, lots of problems with standards of care in some hospitals would have been avoided." | "Eleven billion pounds is a huge amount of money. If more of that had been spent on the workforce instead, lots of problems with standards of care in some hospitals would have been avoided." |
| Dr Carter went on to say that some institutions running nursing degree courses were not providing students with the necessary balance between classroom learning and hands-on training. | Dr Carter went on to say that some institutions running nursing degree courses were not providing students with the necessary balance between classroom learning and hands-on training. |
| "While the vast majority of student nurses are well trained, there are a few cases where this training is not of the level it should be. | "While the vast majority of student nurses are well trained, there are a few cases where this training is not of the level it should be. |
| "It is vital that we do not see a variation in standards across the country, for whatever reason; be it inadequate courses or cutbacks on wards which prevent staff from teaching students as they'd wish." | "It is vital that we do not see a variation in standards across the country, for whatever reason; be it inadequate courses or cutbacks on wards which prevent staff from teaching students as they'd wish." |
| He added: "Universities and NHS Trusts have a responsibility to their students and future patients to ensure that training fully equips nurses for the demands of this complex and skilled profession." | He added: "Universities and NHS Trusts have a responsibility to their students and future patients to ensure that training fully equips nurses for the demands of this complex and skilled profession." |
| The Royal College of Nursing has long been supportive of the move to ensure all new nurses have a degree by 2013. | The Royal College of Nursing has long been supportive of the move to ensure all new nurses have a degree by 2013. |
| The Nursing and Midwifery Council, which vets university training courses, said: "The balance between theory and practice in these courses hasn't changed. It's 50-50 and it has been that way for many years." | The Nursing and Midwifery Council, which vets university training courses, said: "The balance between theory and practice in these courses hasn't changed. It's 50-50 and it has been that way for many years." |