Examination of Witnesses (Questions 640-641)
PROFESSOR DAME
JILL MACLEOD
CLARK, PROFESSOR
SIR ANDREW
HAINES AND
PROFESSOR TONY
BUTTERWORTH
29 JUNE 2006
Q640 Dr Taylor: Is it common for
healthcare assistants to want to go on and train as nurses or
is it unusual?
Professor Macleod Clark: Common.
But, again, it is one of the areas that has suffered because of
this cost saving exercise because again they are more expensive—it
comes back to the part-time route. They need support because they
have been on salaries before and that money has been radically
cut this year.
Q641 Dr Taylor: So that would be
an example of a part-time course, the healthcare assistant going
up to registering.
Professor Macleod Clark: Some
of them will do a part-time course, some of them will do a full-time
course, and the Open University runs a part-time version, which
many healthcare assistants take.
Chairman: Could I thank you all very
much indeed. Could I say, Professor Clark, that the statistics
that Sandra used earlier were given to us by the National Union
of Students and not by the NHS! I do not know if that is relevant
or not, you are a better judge of that than me! Thank you very
much indeed for coming along.
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