Elderly People: Abuse

Lord Willis of Knaresborough Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Willis of Knaresborough (LD)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Cumberlege on this debate and on not only highlighting the issue of abuse but putting forward a raft of suggestions as to how the Government can take a positive stance. That is important. My contribution is unashamedly a return to the question of how we train those staff who are caring for the vulnerable elderly. Unless we create a culture where those working with vulnerable patients see it as part of their caring role to protect and care for those people, and they are properly trained and empowered to deal with abuse, we will not get much further.

Is it not ironic that, in the heath and care sector, the personnel with the greatest levels of contact with the most vulnerable patients, particularly the elderly, receive the lowest levels of training? Medics are not only well trained at the start of their careers but are required to engage in continuous training in order to continue practising with high levels of safe professional care. However, the thousands of health and social care assistants, who are often left to deal with the most challenging needs of elderly and confused patients, receive little training and have no test of fitness to practise or opportunity to engage in continuous upskilling—nor, of course, are they registered and regulated.

Fortunately, thanks to Members on all sides of the House and, in particular, the efforts of my noble friend Lord Howe during the passage of the Care Bill, we now have the opportunity to address this. The promise of basic training and certification of healthcare support workers, as recommended by Francis, Cavendish and, indeed, my own report, are already under way, with the new care certificate being piloted.

Tomorrow, Health Education England and the Nursing and Midwifery Council launch a major review of the training of the whole of the caring workforce, from healthcare support workers to postgraduate nurses. The review, entitled the “Shape of Caring”, brings together key professional groups—including Health Education England, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Council of Deans of Health, the Royal College of Nursing, Unison, employers, the Department of Health, NHS England and, crucially, a wide range of patient forums—with the sole aim of creating an integrated training pathway for all who, day to day, care for patients, in whatever setting they are in. The aim is to ensure that patient care is the golden thread that runs through the whole of training and that continuous professional development is guaranteed for everyone who comes into contact with patients or clients.

All staff should have a grounding in what good care looks like; all should have an understanding of other people’s skills and competences; and all should recognise that care is dependent on a team, no matter how important an individual member might be at a particular time. I am enormously privileged, and declare an interest, that I have been asked to chair the review and to report at the end of February to Health Education England. It is my hope that, if we could get the framework and standards right, and if we could get agreement across this House and the other place that those proposals should be taken forward, we would have for the very first time an integrated pathway of training, qualifications and care right throughout the profession. That would be something that was worth striving for.