Written question asked by Sandra Gidley (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 24 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 January 2006. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Monday, 27 February 2006 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Elder Abuse

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department are taking to ensure that NHS and social care staff are adequately trained to detect and address elder abuse.

Answer: For training of health and social care professionals, it is the responsibility of the appropriate regulatory bodies to set standards for the pre-registration training of doctors, nurses, social workers and other healthcare professionals and approve the education institutions that provide the training and determine the curricula.Post-registration training needs for national health service staff are determined against local NHS priorities, through appraisal processes and training needs analyses informed by local delivery plans and the needs of the service. The post-qualification framework for social workers has been reviewed by the General Social Care Council and new arrangements for post qualification awards will come into force in September 2007.For health and social care workers, national occupational standards set out the skills, knowledge and values required and are used as benchmarks for national vocational qualifications. It is the responsibility of social care service providers and NHS trusts to ensure that their employees are suitably qualified and competent.

Secondary information