The health care assistant: professional supporter or budget necessity?
The budgets of NHS Trust Hospitals are continually under scrutiny
in an endeavour to reduce operating costs. Skill mix, the balance of
professional staff to non-professional staff, is a part of this process
and the NHS has introduced a new level of staff called "health
care assistants" (HCA). Examines the role and training of the HCA,
and the reaction of professional nurses to their introduction into the
area of patient care. Highlights areas of concern in relation to HCA
training, selection techniques, and the absence of national guidelines
which would ensure the quality level of HCAs produced. There is evidence
of some managements leaning towards "cheaper" staffing, i.e.
using HCAs to replace professional nurses, and the conclusions give rise
to some concern in quality of patient care and in the falling morale of
professional nurses.
Keywords: Health Care; National Health Service; Qualifications; Skills
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 May 1995
- Merged with Journal of Management in Medicine in 1999
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