By Baroness Wall of New Barnet - 24th October 2011
Baroness Wall of New Barnet argues that regulation can act as a 'kite mark' of quality for healthcare assistants.
Come down to one of the busy wards at Barnet or Chase Farm hospitals and you will see healthcare workers in clinical uniforms attending to the needs of
patients. They will be delivering very hands-on care: feeding, washing and providing fundamental nursing care. You would be forgiven for thinking that these
healthcare staff were regulated and had received standardised and approved training.
In fact they are health care assistants, not registered nurses, and as such have no common training requirements, have no professional regulatory framework,
and if dismissed from one organisation, have no restriction on joining another hospital or care home.
The healthcare assistants we have in hospitals generally provide an excellent service. They now provide much of the fundamental care that used to be provided
by student nurses or state enrolled nurses. As nursing has moved to be a more academic and technically skilled function, it is healthcare assistants who have
filled the gap in providing much of the hands-on care to patients on the ward. It's estimated there are as many as 300,000 HCAs in the NHS.
I feel, as do many nurse leaders, that the time has come to recognise the role of HCAs by requiring them to be on a national register. There are two reasons
for this: firstly, they are in a responsible role, often dealing with vulnerable people. Regulation would be a safeguard against rogue or incompetent HCAs
moving from job to job. The HCA would be subject to the same controls as other regulated healthcare professionals – if they lost their registered status they
could not work elsewhere. Secondly, the time has come to lift the status of HCAs. They are taking on increasingly extended roles. We need to show they are
valued and we are prepared to invest in them and recognise that investment.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council agrees with me. Their chief executive, Professor Weir-Hughes, has spoken of his frustration with receiving complaints about
HCAs he can do nothing about; and of nurses, struck off for misconduct, returning to work as HCAs.
Regulation would act as a 'kite mark' of quality. The public would know that healthcare assistants are required to meet certain standards, and that there are
safeguards to ensure they meet those standards. We put the delivery of care to our relatives in the hands of HCAs, it is only fair to them, and the patients
they serve, to move to regulation now.
Margaret Wallis a former national secretary and head of policy of AMICUS. She was raised to the peerage in 2004 and sits on the Labour benches.
Article Comments
I do not understand why this is taking so long in this country.I worked in the US in 2000-02 and HAD to be certified by the state and was regulated.Just as in Canada and many other countries.....get your act together.....make us REGISTERED NURSING ASSISTANTS and accountable for our work to protect the patients in our care and give them the confidence that we are trained to carry out the care we provide.See a lot of patients do not have confidence in nursing assistants and would rather have the RN do the clinical task,because they seem to think as they are the NURSE only the NURSE can do it.WRONG!So i hope this is sorted quickly.
Anon
25th Oct 2011 at 4:37 pm
Please remember that many of these care assistants are paid on or near the minimum wage for their duties. It is important to see that the training you suggest is available FREE to ensure that these lowly paid workers are able to take advantage of the traing and skills you would require them to have!
Terence S Rickards
24th Oct 2011 at 8:04 pm
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