Changes to HCA roles

debrag

So I know that NVQ's are no more and that the HCA title is being changed to nursing assistant etc but someone told me yesterday that band 3's are going to be changed to band 2's all depending on your qualifications etc.

Now I only have NVQ level 2 and was told I could be affected, the guy telling me this has NVQ 3 and could be in the same boat.

I can't find anything about this on the internet and was wondering if he was correct or misinformed.

piglet25

Tis true Alot of the HCA jobs within the NHS are being advertised as NA's now, which to my mind is a backward step, as is the downgrading. I am of the opinion that alot of this has come off the back of the Stafford hospital issues, and the talk of regulating HCA's which I fully support. They should by rights keep the pay level the same for two years after the down grading, but the job will alter in that some of the jobs you can carry out at present will no longer be performed by HCA's. I am in no mans land with all this, I hold a Level four which you would think would be an advantage but I am either over or under qualified, depending on the role I apply for! The problem with this downgrading is that people will lose their skills and the nurses will have more work to do, even ob's are set to be a nurses responsibility and that need not be the case if there are adequately trained HCA's able to read and compare the findings. There will be no more ECG's, venepuncture or admission history taking either - it will simply be a case of hygiene and nutrition when the changes are fully rolled out. It won't affect everyone straight away, it could be a couple of years for some but thats the plan.
I think that all HA's within a hospital setting should be band 3 as it is totally different to community working, or clinics, and requires a far wider knowledge base and skill set, but hey ho, let the NHS eat itself.

debrag

Well we no longer do neuro obs or suctioning. We still do obs, ECG's (some), admissions and VT monitoring for seizures.

I can understand it being band 2 on say an elderly ward, on the one I worked on all we did was washers, feeding and changing pads. I now work on a neuro/ent word and we do much more. Most of our patients are independent so staff levels will prob drop even further.

I have noticed more band 2 jobs advertised but I still see band 3's too.

I will be moving area's and trusts next year so will be back as a band 2 then anyways.

Maybe I shouldn't have changed my degree from health & social care.

Will there be progress routes from a band 2 though? Maybe I'll get out of healthcare all together. I've already said I'm not staying as a band 3 forever so my plan to train as an ODP/nurse looks more likely

Mrs_Ryan

I've not heard this? I work on an elderly mental health ward but we do other things as well as feeding, changing pads etc - some can do bloods and some can do ECG's, one of our HCA's is hand hygiene liason etc. Our titles are being changed - interestingly most of the older staff still refer to their job title as NA, I use HCA as I've only been there five years but our job titles are changing I'm told to HCSW (healthcare support workers) I'm currently working towards the Advanced Apprenticeship in adult social care (NVQ3 to you and me) but I'm re-applying to uni in October to do my training. Our little corner of a community hospital in rural East Mids doesn't change much so I doubt tbh our roles will change that massively.

debrag

Miss Ryan you have a good role on your ward, no HCA or HCSW as I was then, did those tasks. We don't even do venepunture when I am now. I've tried but failed to get on the training your doing. I'm told they want more training in community hospitals and for nurses.

They can't take obs away from us, the skills list in the RCN site includes that and even veneputure as band 2 skills. I can't find any of this 'news' on their site by the way.

Will they reduce our wages? In currently at the bottom of band 3 so not on more than band 2 yet. When you move trusts will you start at bottom of.band 2 again.