Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has unveiled plans to support the training standards of healthcare assistants. The scheme will develop a code of conduct and minimum training standards for healthcare support workers and adult social care workers in England.

The project will be taken forward jointly by Skills for Health and Skills for Care – in partnership with unions, employers, regulators, educators and others. It will focus on areas like communication, confidentiality, nutrition and hydration, and basic observations,

It will help nurses know which tasks they can delegate and which they shouldn’t. And it will bring clarity to the training assistants need where they deliver more advanced tasks.

Skills for Health and Skills for Care will present their recommendations to the Department by September next year.

Andrew Lansley said: “Every day in England, hundreds of thousands of healthcare assistants aim to give the very highest quality of care to patients. The job they do can be rewarding but it can often be demanding too. It is essential they are supported to deliver the best care possible.

“Good local supervision offers support everyday. Distant national regulation can often only react after the event.

“Employers must always take responsibility and be accountable for the staff they employ. But , we recognise that more can be done to support employers in this and a code of conduct and clear minimum training standards will provide important clarity in this area.

“These measures will help employers to better consider the skills profile of potential employees and ensure that patients and service users get the care and support they need.”

For more information
www.mediacentre.dh.gov.uk