3 May 2014
Last updated at 06:02
The Cavendish Review found care workers were doing tasks usually performed by doctors or nurses
New care workers will have to earn a training certificate within 12 weeks of starting a job in a hospital or care home, the BBC has learned.
The certificate will be introduced in England in March next year for workers, including hospital healthcare assistants.
Topics will include infection control, dementia care and patient dignity.
It comes after an independent review, by Camilla Cavendish, highlighted inconsistencies in training.
Across England, there are more than a million care workers, many of whom look after vulnerable and elderly people in their own homes or in residential care.
The Cavendish review, which was published last year, was established following the Stafford Hospital Scandal.
It looked at training and support given to care workers and healthcare assistants and found there was no minimum standard of training for healthcare assistants.
It found some care workers were doing tasks usually performed by doctors or nurses, such as taking blood, despite no “compulsory or consistent†training.
Individual employers
The review called for workers in England to be given at least two weeks’ training to prepare them for providing basic care in hospitals, care homes and for patients in their homes.
Ms Cavendish said healthcare assistants should have to earn a “certificate of fundamental careâ€.
She called for all new recruits to obtain the certificate and for existing healthcare assistants to prove they had the equivalent training.
The government also promised to establish “minimum training standards†for healthcare assistants by spring this year.
As part of the new proposals, training and assessment will remain the responsibility of individual employers, the BBC has learned.
Are you a care worker or training to be a care worker? What do you think of the idea to introduce a certificate? You can email your experiences to [email protected] using the subject line ‘Care worker certificate’.
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