§ Mr. StevensTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when the distance learning training material for district health authority and local authority staff employed on registration and inspection duties under the Registered Homes Act 1984 is to be issued.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Government attach great importance to achieving high standards of care in residential and nursing homes. I am therefore pleased to announce the issue today of a training package for inspection staff—"Making Sense of Inspection: Registered Homes Act 1984: Training Course for Registration and Inspection Staff". We hope that all authorities will make full use of it.
The aim of the training package is to:
Provide officers undertaking work under the Registered Homes Act 1984 with a comprehensive knowledge and information base;Provide a general model of regulation work applicable to all types of registered facilities and client groupings;Provide a guide to the practice of registration and inspection work;Enable staff in health authorities and social services departments to understand each other's role as well as their own;Point to the range of individuals and organisations with whom registration and inspection staff need to react and the skills necessary to carry out their work professionally.The training package contributes towards carrying forward the proposals for achieving high standards of care in the community care White Paper "Caring for People". For example, it emphasises the importance of assessing and promoting the quality of care provided and the quality of life to residents. The package will complement the guidance to be produced on what to look for in a good home, as foreshadowed in chapter 5 of the White Paper.
While aimed at the registration of independent sector homes, the package will also be relevant to monitoring standards in local authorities' own homes.