HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION FOR HCAs: An RCN Perspective Presentation by Mark Platt, Policy and International Department Open University, Milton Keynes, 30th October 2013

The Policy Background  Waiting for Govt’s response to Francis & Cavendish reviews  Currently looking at pilots for ‘1 year HCA training’ for nurses  Care Bill amendment an important step

‘Our House’  Opened membership to HCSW 2001  13.5k in membership  2 HCA Council seats  Formal Governance Committee

Training  Career framework good, but shouldn’t recreate nurse education  Must embed education in the workplace  Knowledge AND skills should be assessed  Employers need clear guidance on their role in ensuring their HCAs are competent

Competence  Need clarity of differentiation from nursing roles  Nurses need to know HCAs:  Accountable  ‘Standardised’  Not expected to make ‘clinical judgments’

Regulation  Largest healthcare workforce  Needs to be regulated workforce  Francis: voluntary regulation not enough  Supported by the Willis Commission  NMC regulator of choice (Francis/HSC)  Supported amend to Care Bill giving legal foundation to Cavendish

EU Perspective  EU-wide healthcare workforce shortages  Need for equity of competence  EU health workforce work-stream aiming to:  Develop a mobile and flexible European-wide workforce  Promote and support ‘lifelong learning’  Facilitate moving between EU countries  Enable comparisons between qualifications

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