Report unveils risks to hospital patients of treatment by untrained staff

A BBC investigation has uncovered how shocking risks are being taken in hospitals due to a lack of trained staff. During the course of the investigation, the team found untrained healthcare assistants looking after wards full of patients unsupervised and staff being asked to carry out tasks that they have had no training for, such as  lifting patients, taking blood samples, and inserting IV drips, roles that are above their pay grade and beyond their experience and training. Healthcare assistants’ duties normally involve basic care such as washing and dressing patients, serving and feeding them food, toileting and bed making, and taking measurements such as temperature, height and weight.  NICE guidelines on healthcare assistants state that they should only be given tasks within the scope of their …