Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of dementia training provided to (a) homecare workers and (b) NHS practitioners who deliver care to people with dementia.

The level of spending on dementia training for National Health Service workers is for individual NHS organisations to determine based on their local needs.

Responsibility for ensuring that the homecare and NHS workforces have the necessary skills and training lies with their employers. The Dementia Core Skills Education and Training Framework, published in October 2015, sets out the essential skills and knowledge needed for all staff working with people with dementia in health and social care settings.

Since April 2015, newly appointed health care assistants and social care support workers, including those providing care and support to people with dementia and their carers, have been undergoing training as part of the national implementation of the Care Certificate. The Department estimates that over 100,000 social care workers have already received dementia awareness training.

Tier 1 training on dementia enables NHS staff to spot the signs and symptoms of dementia and equips them to work effectively with people with the condition and their carers, and to signpost people to support and care. Almost 800,000 NHS staff have received Tier 1 training and Tier 1 tools and training opportunities will be made available to all NHS staff by the end of 2018.

The 2020 Dementia Challenge published in February 2015 made clear that, by 2020, we expect social care providers to provide appropriate training on dementia to all relevant staff and for all NHS staff to receive training on dementia appropriate to their role.