NEWS
Healthcare support worker scheme aims to boost status and standards By Kat Keogh Patients could be asked their views on whether healthcare support workers are fit to work unsupervised as part of a care certificate being launched this summer. Training provider Health Education England (HEE) is piloting a scheme aimed at driving up standards and improving the status of healthcare assistants (HCAs) in England. The scheme follows a government review of HCA training last year by Times journalist Camilla Cavendish, which found the quality of training for new starters was ‘inconsistent’. Every new HCA will have to complete the certificate within 12 weeks of starting work, and cannot work unsupervised without it. Candidates need to prove they meet 15 key standards (see box). They will be assessed on the job and through face-to-face interviews. Candidates can also gather feedback from colleagues, supervisors and patients about their work to be used in their assessment. An HEE spokesperson said: ‘The care certificate should ensure that the healthcare support worker has
The 15 standards covered in the new care certificate Understanding your role Personal development Duty of care Equality and diversity Work in a person-centred way Communication Privacy and dignity Fluids and nutrition Dementia and cognitive issues Safeguarding adults Safeguarding children Basic life support Health and safety Handling information Infection prevention and control the required values, behaviours, competencies and skills to provide high quality, compassionate care, which will directly benefit patients.’ The care certificate needs to be completed only once, regardless of whether the staff member moves to a new employer. All certificates must be recorded and made available on a national system, such as the electronic staff record used by NHS trusts.
YOUR CHANCE TO TAKE PAY ACTION RCN members have their final opportunity to say whether they would consider industrial action on the government’s decision to deny the majority of nurses in England a pay rise. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected a recommendation for all UK nurses to get a 1 per cent pay rise in March, claiming it was ‘unaffordable’. Instead only those at the top of their band, and therefore not due an incremental rise, will get a 1 per cent increase.
NURSING STANDARD
Unions describe the announcement as ‘divisive’ because nurses in Scotland have been awarded the increase. RCN head of employment relations Josie Irwin said: ‘England should follow the example of Scotland rather than punishing hard working staff.’ To complete the RCN’s pay consultation go to tiny.cc/pay_consultation before May 8. To sign Nursing Standard’s petition on nurses’ pay, go to epetitions.direct. gov.uk/petitions/62422
RCN HCA adviser Tanis Hand welcomed the new certificate, but said employers should also ensure they recruit the right type of person for the role in the first place. ‘The role is more than just the practical things, such as moving and handling and health and safety.’ n A national test to assess the values of candidates for nursing courses will be introduced in England by March. A mandate for HEE says the organisation should oversee the development of a test for all people wanting to undertake an NHS-funded training course. The document, published by the Department of Health, also says employers should ensure they recruit staff with the right values, adding that tools for recruitment will be delivered by HEE by October. NHS Employers director of employment services Sue Covill said: ‘It is great to see a focus on values, as well as skills, for our staff.’ The mandate also says all NHS staff will have received dementia training by 2018. So far, 110,000 staff have been trained in how to spot the early symptoms of dementia and signpost people to appropriate care and support.
Understaffed NHS trust faces special measures England’s chief inspector of hospitals Sir Mike Richards has recommended that a trust with unsafe staffing levels should be placed in special measures. He said staff at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust could no longer go on ‘firefighting’. Care Quality Commission inspectors concluded in a report published last week that its services are inadequate. A trust spokesperson said it is increasing the number of nurse posts. may 7 :: vol 28 no 36 :: 2014 9
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02/05/2014 16:43
Healthcare support worker scheme aims to boost status and standards By Kat Keogh Patients could be asked their views on whether healthcare support workers are fit to work unsupervised as part of a care certificate being launched this summer. Training provider Health Education England (HEE) is piloting a scheme aimed at driving up standards and improving the status of healthcare assistants (HCAs) in England. The scheme follows a government review of HCA training last year by Times journalist Camilla Cavendish, which found the quality of training for new starters was ‘inconsistent’. Every new HCA will have to complete the certificate within 12 weeks of starting work, and cannot work unsupervised without it. Candidates need to prove they meet 15 key standards (see box). They will be assessed on the job and through face-to-face interviews. Candidates can also gather feedback from colleagues, supervisors and patients about their work to be used in their assessment. An HEE spokesperson said: ‘The care certificate should ensure that the healthcare support worker has
The 15 standards covered in the new care certificate Understanding your role Personal development Duty of care Equality and diversity Work in a person-centred way Communication Privacy and dignity Fluids and nutrition Dementia and cognitive issues Safeguarding adults Safeguarding children Basic life support Health and safety Handling information Infection prevention and control the required values, behaviours, competencies and skills to provide high quality, compassionate care, which will directly benefit patients.’ The care certificate needs to be completed only once, regardless of whether the staff member moves to a new employer. All certificates must be recorded and made available on a national system, such as the electronic staff record used by NHS trusts.
YOUR CHANCE TO TAKE PAY ACTION RCN members have their final opportunity to say whether they would consider industrial action on the government’s decision to deny the majority of nurses in England a pay rise. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected a recommendation for all UK nurses to get a 1 per cent pay rise in March, claiming it was ‘unaffordable’. Instead only those at the top of their band, and therefore not due an incremental rise, will get a 1 per cent increase.
NURSING STANDARD
Unions describe the announcement as ‘divisive’ because nurses in Scotland have been awarded the increase. RCN head of employment relations Josie Irwin said: ‘England should follow the example of Scotland rather than punishing hard working staff.’ To complete the RCN’s pay consultation go to tiny.cc/pay_consultation before May 8. To sign Nursing Standard’s petition on nurses’ pay, go to epetitions.direct. gov.uk/petitions/62422
RCN HCA adviser Tanis Hand welcomed the new certificate, but said employers should also ensure they recruit the right type of person for the role in the first place. ‘The role is more than just the practical things, such as moving and handling and health and safety.’ n A national test to assess the values of candidates for nursing courses will be introduced in England by March. A mandate for HEE says the organisation should oversee the development of a test for all people wanting to undertake an NHS-funded training course. The document, published by the Department of Health, also says employers should ensure they recruit staff with the right values, adding that tools for recruitment will be delivered by HEE by October. NHS Employers director of employment services Sue Covill said: ‘It is great to see a focus on values, as well as skills, for our staff.’ The mandate also says all NHS staff will have received dementia training by 2018. So far, 110,000 staff have been trained in how to spot the early symptoms of dementia and signpost people to appropriate care and support.
Understaffed NHS trust faces special measures England’s chief inspector of hospitals Sir Mike Richards has recommended that a trust with unsafe staffing levels should be placed in special measures. He said staff at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust could no longer go on ‘firefighting’. Care Quality Commission inspectors concluded in a report published last week that its services are inadequate. A trust spokesperson said it is increasing the number of nurse posts. may 7 :: vol 28 no 36 :: 2014 9
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02/05/2014 16:43
