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Health and Social Care Bill

My Lords, first, I apologise for missing the first five minutes of the noble Baroness, Lady Emerson, moving the amendment. With the House's permission, I shall briefly speak to the issues that she raised, to which I have referred in the House on many occasions, as many noble Lords and certainly the Minister will be aware. I understand the arguments that have been made by my noble friend, but healthcare assistants—and they are mostly in clinical areas—have a strong desire to be recognised and accredited for the work that they do. They take a pride in what they do, as the noble Baroness, Lady Emerton, said, but patients do not understand what they do and therefore cannot have the discussion with them that says, ““You are qualified, so I have confidence in you””. I have had this discussion with the Minister on a number of occasions, and I am not sure why there is hesitancy in this area. I do not think there is an issue for trusts in being able to get healthcare workers who are qualified. We have a sector skills council for health, most of whose work is encouraging healthcare assistants and other people who work in hospitals to reach levels 1 and 2, so there is an equivalent provider out there that can do that, working with the hospitals. The important thing is that the patient understands exactly what the healthcare worker does. The amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Emerton, describes a healthcare support worker as an individual whose work is ““routinely delegated to them””. That is crucial. It is not someone who does something off their own bat. My hospital employs many hundreds of healthcare workers, most of whom do a very good job. It is very important that the noble Earl knows that they are very conscientious when working with other practitioners, clinical or otherwise, who do not do what they are supposed to do. We have many healthcare workers who check that consultants' arms are bare to the elbow. They are very conscientious and they want recognition that they are people who care about patients. They want to know that the value that they bring is recognised. It is no threat to the health service; speaking as a provider chair, I can say that it is a total advantage.