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by Peter Lazenby
HEALTHCARE assistants in the NHS are being used as “cheap nurses” and “skivvies,” doing jobs for which they are not qualified, a union revealed yesterday.
Public-sector union Unison surveyed members who work as healthcare assistants and published the findings in a report entitled Care on the Cheap.
It found that less than half (45 per cent) feel that the tasks they are asked to do including giving patients medication, doing heart checks and inserting medical tubes, are appropriate to their level of competence.
Two in five (39 per cent) say they have not received the training necessary to provide the care expected of them, such as looking after dementia patients.
The survey involved nearly 2,300 healthcare assistants across Britain, working in primary and secondary care including GP practices, emergency departments and the community.
The report says they are being treated as “glorified skivvies” and are often left unsupervised to plug gaps in NHS care because of nursing shortages.
Unison deputy head of health Sara Gorton said: “Healthcare assistants are undervalued, increasingly overworked and not getting the support they need at work.
“Their responsibilities have increased massively, from feeding patients to now carrying out skilled medical procedures.
“They are essentially doing jobs previously done by nurses, yet this is neither reflected in their pay nor in their career opportunities, so they’re struggling to make ends meet.
“Many could earn more stacking supermarket shelves than they can looking after patients. It’s nursing on the cheap and patients ultimately suffer as a result.”
