Compulsory training for care home workers to be introduced

Staff working in care homes will now have to complete compulsory training as part of a new plan by the Government to protect the elderly from neglect and abuse.

The Minister for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, said that pensioners were being left in the hands of people with “no idea what they are doing” due to a lack of training.

The Liberal Democrat also said it was unacceptable that there hasn’t been any “clear standards of the training that must happen in a care home”.

Mr Lamb explained how “fundamental” a course to teach care workers the basic skills should be. In the coming weeks, proposals will suggest national minimum standards for preparing new employees to work in care homes. 

Campaigners want all care workers to have training in dispensing medication and helping to maintain dignity, as well as knowledge of nutrition and how to use required equipment.

This extends to carers who visit people within their own homes and they will also be required to undertake basic training.

Mr. Lamb said “I would not want a loved one of mine – or indeed myself – to be cared for by someone who has no training”.

These reforms follow numerous scandals regarding the treatment of elderly people. Mr. Lamb added that the “most outrageous” cases of abuse will be followed with criminal prosecutions but wider issues needed to be addressed to improve the quality of care to the elderly, both in their own homes and in nursing homes. 

Molly Kersey