Healthcare Assistants call for regulation
Published: 02 March 2009
A new survey of RCN member Healthcare Assistants (HCAs), conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), shows that 85% of HCAs feel that all Healthcare Assistants (HCAs) should be regulated, and that 89% are prepared to pay towards professional regulation.
Dr Peter Carter, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary said:
“This research gives new impetus to our calls for all Healthcare Assistants to be professionally regulated. The Healthcare Assistant members in the survey were keen to be professionally regulated alongside registered nurses and almost all saw official recognition of their role and protecting the good name of HCAs as benefits of professional regulation, alongside increased trust and confidence from registered nurses and the public (1). This would also mean that a code of conduct would apply to their work, and would ensure patient safety, public protection, and confidence in the valuable work of HCAs.
“It is clear from the survey and previous research that HCAs want to be professionally regulated and recognised as deliverers of high quality care. We believe that a pragmatic first step would be for Assistant Practitioners, the most senior Healthcare Assistants who work with nurses in the delivery of nursing care, to be regulated by the body that professionally regulates nursing. This should then lead to professional regulation for all Healthcare Assistants.
Notes to editors
(1) RCN member HCAs were prompted with a list of possible benefits of regulation; 95% stated the response ‘official recognition of the importance/responsibilities of the role of Healthcare Assistants; 93% stated ‘protect the good name/reputation of Healthcare Assistants; 89% stated ‘increased trust and confidence from registered nurses’; and 88% stated ‘increased trust and confidence from patients and the public’.
The survey was carried out by Ipsos MORI by telephone among a regionally stratified sample of 350 RCN Health Care Assistant members, between 19 August and 5 September 2008. Quotas were set proportionately by UK country and English region and 15% of interviews were conducted amongst RCN HCA members of black or minority ethnic (BME) background. Data have not been weighted as the achieved profile by UK country/region was very close to the universe profile and the proportion of interviews amongst BME members was deemed to be representative.
Some of the key findings were-
Understanding of Regulation
The most common interpretation of the phrase ‘professional regulation’, mentioned spontaneously by 36% of RCN HCA members, relates to having consistency across the profession and for all professionals, namely ‘having standards and practices that all professionals work to’ and ‘having a code of conduct’, mentioned by 32%.
Views on Regulation
Of the RCN HCA members surveyed, 85% feel that all HCAs should be regulated. Just over one in ten (11%) feel that only HCAs working at the higher levels 3 and 4 on the National Career Framework should be regulated, whilst 3% feel that only HCAs working on Level (4) on the Framework should be regulated.
The RCN’s current policy position is that all HCAs should be regulated in the interests of public protection and that regulation of those working at Levels 3 and 4 on the National Career Framework should be regulated first as a pragmatic step in this direction.
Responsibility for Regulation and Willingness to Pay
Fifty-one per cent of RCN HCA members favour a combined model approach of the NMC and their local employer with regards to who should act as the regulator of HCAs. Eighteen per cent feel the NMC on its own should regulate HCAs. These were the top two options chosen by RCN HCA members from a list of options put to them.
Eighty-nine per cent of RCN HCA members surveyed are prepared to pay something in terms of an annual fee to the regulating body.
Training and Education
Almost all RCN HCA members who took part in the survey have received some training in their current role, whether in house (94%), on the job (90%) or externally (75%).
When prompted with a list of categories, 95% of RCN HCA members surveyed felt that better training and education opportunities were among the benefits that might accompany regulation.
For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on 0207 647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/newsevents/media
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.