Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the recommendations made the Leonard Cheshire charity, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a national registration and accreditation system for care workers to improve the (a) recruitment and retention of care workers and (b) the quality of care provided.

Care workers in England are subject to employer checks and controls including a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Since 2015, we have introduced the care certificate which all healthcare assistants and care support workers are expected to achieve before working unsupervised. The care certificate covers 15 standards setting out a common set of skills, knowledge and behaviours that are needed in order to provide safe, high quality and compassionate care.

The Government is committed to a proportionate system of safeguards for the professionals who work in the health and care system. We are very clear that statutory professional regulation should only be used in cases where the risks to the public cannot be mitigated in other ways. We have no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of a national registration and accreditation system for care workers in England at this time.