Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered whether it is appropriate that the requirement for an NVQ1 Care Qualification would prevent an experienced teacher with special needs training from working with elderly dementia patients if a back problem prevented that individual from demonstrating making a bed.

The Department does not set the standards/criteria for attainment of NVQ qualifications. This is the responsibility of the appropriate awarding bodies working in partnership with employers, employer representative bodies and sector skills council in the relevant sector. Any proposed revision to NVQ qualifications would be a matter for consideration by the awarding bodies with relevant employers, employer representative bodies and sector skills council.

There is no requirement in adult social care currently for a care worker to hold a specific qualification in order to work in this role. However, under the Care Quality Commission’s registration system, it is the responsibility of the social care employer to determine the range of duties undertaken by the care worker and to ensure they have the necessary training and skills for those duties.