HCA Seminar 2013 Liverpool
Location: Crowne Plaza, Liverpool
The Presentations and their speakers:
‘The HCA Role Across The Country: Challenges Ahead’
Speaker: Pauline Watts, Dept of Health & Director of Nursing
The presentation reviewed the recommendations that have been laid out by both the ‘Francis’ and ‘Cavendish’ reports. Pauline mainly discussed the need for an HCA code of conduct and further training. The problem was; who would regulate it and what would it require?
The reports were expected to review the 12 hour shift patterns and the affect they have on health, as well as the HCA job title. The Cavendish report feels that the name Nursing Assistant (NA) would be better. Pauline also said that thetraining, discussed in the review, would emphasise the need to provide a progression pathway leading to a professional career.
‘Regulations/Registration – The Debate’
Speaker: Gail Adams
Primary questions on this topic asked the room
1)Should HCAs register?
2)Howshould be carried out (phased/non-phased)?
Majority voted in favour of compulsive registration and that this should not be a phased action. We were also asked to form our own ideological ideas about an NHS HCA induction and training programme. There were a few suggestions surrounding the ideas of mentors, a set time period and a competency test within it. Gail took these ideas to contribute to the development of the programme.
‘Developing The Care Assistant Workforce’
Speaker: Stephen Welfare, Managing Director of Health Education East of England
HEE is Health Education East of England, the organisers who provide and fund the training within the health sector for this region. Stephen, the Managing Director, was unsurprised that no one in the room knew who or what HEE was. It emphasised a need for a career pathway for HCAs, supported by sufficient training. He has been attending several focus groups, such as the HCA seminar, to discuss and develop education and training.
A rough plan of this training that had been put together over 3 months has been suggested, and can be seen below. However many questions and concerns arose including; why hadn’t this happened before? How will they release staff? And is there enough in the budget as the budget reduces every year?
Spring 2014 / Autumn 2014 / 2014/2015Establish the training / Plan a progression for HCA's into Nursing / Increase amount of support workers / Improve HCA training standards / Increase number of health care apprentice’s / Implementation of Cavendish report
PROBLEM: Nursing viewed as too much paper work / Will need to go into schools / NHS will need to provide pledges
Stephen Welfare encouraged any questions, suggestions or concerns to be put to him or his team. Contact details are:
or to the manager
‘Dementia: Key Issues for HCAs’
Speaker: Dr Sam Murphy
Dr Sam Murphy highlighted the prevalence of dementia, the various forms and symptoms and that it is becoming progressively common. However, there seems to be a lack of understanding or awareness for the illness.Dr Sam emphasised an onus on health care workers to help educate the public and family carers and their need to be trained in dementia care;there is a short online course on the Open University website.
‘End Of Life: Communication Skills’
Speakers: Lisa Gallagher, Janet Cummins and Annemarie Joyce from Willowbrook Hospice
This was a presentation to emphasise good communication skills, and how front line staff often use them. Using a role-play, Lisa and Annemarie demonstrated the non verbal blocking styles compared to the open forms that we as staff could consider in work. They also presented various questions that can be used to enquire how a patient is coping near the end of life.
‘The Cavendish Report’
Speaker: Camilla Cavendish
Camilla Cavendish, The Times Editor,showed her support for UNISON in her discussion of her review. While informing us that the Department of Health has no record of an unqualified workers training and acquired qualifications; she then agreed that training and skills are actually fundamental to the Health Service and the care of its patients;thus identifying that HCAs are not unqualified; therefore calling for a progressive pathway towards a more professional role within the service.
She reports that her investigation found that front line healthcare staff is often badly portrayed in the media, making their work more challenging and that good quality care takes time.
Her recommendations showed the need for a ‘Skills Passport’ thereby preventing staff from repeating the same courses; especially when moving to different parts of the health sector; as well as the need for an HCA Code of Conduct. A motion to change to inconsistencies between qualification and training in relation to pay band was also mentioned; identifying large amounts of down-banding and increasing number of band 2s.
Camilla concluded by stating ‘the NHS relies on HCAs and they deserve a bigger voice’. This talk was ended by Christina McNea informing us that UNISON has submitted their recommendations to the Francis report and the PRB are to come back with an answer relating to the pay increase in February.
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Master classes attended:
‘Violence, Conflict And Resolution’
A mini workshop that encapsulated the hostility and violence across various health sectors; using a video of someone becoming quite irate, we looked at various forms of de-escalation. From the exercise risk assessingthe situation, protecting yourself as well as other important people skills were mentioned. The discussion was very useful and informative as it allowed people to learn from others; from their experiences of handling difficult situations from their own world of work.
‘Be Safe Training’
This session discussed the changes UNISON was hoping to make to the whistle blowing policies and the need to build confidence in reporting incidents. UNISONhas submitted recommendations after the Francis report and is currently working on the Be Safe Training. They look to roll this out in small groups in the near future. The training plans to increase confidence and understanding in incident report writing in the workplace. Similar to previous programmes, Unison members will be asked to become care guardians. These people will be trained and will then train others in the health environment, regardless of trade union.