More than half of adult social care staff begin caring for patients without receiving any dementia training, according to new research.
The Alzheimer’s Society is now demanding that such training be made mandatory, highlighting concerns that "baristas can receive more training to make great coffee" compared with the preparation given to care workers looking after vulnerable adults.
The charity commissioned analysis from the Centre for Dementia Research at Leeds Beckett University and the IFF Research agency.
Their study reviewed 119 training packages across 53 social care providers in England and surveyed 184 care staff.
The findings revealed that fewer than half (47 per cent) of social care staff received dementia training as part of their induction.
This leads to the conclusion that over half of staff commence caring for individuals with dementia without any prior instruction.
Furthermore, half of the existing dementia training packages were found to include only one or two hours of dementia-specific content, while just over a third (39 per cent) of the training met the recommended level for staff who regularly support people living with dementia.
Just 52 per cent of staff surveyed said they felt very competent in the care they were providing, the charity added.
The organisation said most dementia care is provided through social care rather than the NHS, but that while it would be up to Government how to respond to its call for training to be mandatory, it is possible this could be done through the health service.
Around a million people in the UK have dementia, the society said, with this figure expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040.
Michelle Dyson, chief executive at the Alzheimer’s Society, said gaps in training can put people with dementia at risk of “inadequate care”.
She said: “One hour of dementia training doesn’t even scratch the surface. Anything less than comprehensive training leaves care workers unprepared, coping with situations they haven’t been equipped for, which can put people with dementia at risk of inadequate care.
“Baristas can receive more training to make great coffee than care workers receive to provide dementia care. Care staff want and deserve better; they need dementia training which gives them the skills and confidence to deliver the best possible care.
“Without high quality dementia training, social care will remain dangerously inconsistent, leaving families unsure whether loved ones will be supported with dignity and expertise.
“We need to close the training gap, with better dementia care, everyone benefits. It’s crucial that the UK Government includes a requirement for all relevant adult social care workers in its dementia plan.”
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services said it welcomes “any call for upskilling and providing adequate training for care staff as part of improving the lives of those living with dementia”.
Its president Jess McGregor said: “Our social care system is vastly underfunded and we need a proper plan and funding to support the provision of training, and to ensure that all care workers have access to comprehensive professional training and are reimbursed to attend.
“This is a high priority given the hugely valuable role care workers play in the lives of those people in our communities who draw on care and support, and their families.”
In a speech last month, Baroness Louise Casey, who is leading a major review into adult social care in England, suggested dementia is not given the necessary focus in healthcare because it generally affects retired elderly people.
She called for investment in dementia trials to be urgently scaled up and for a new full-time dementia tsar to be appointed.
The Department of Health and Social Care said at the time that it was “accelerating work to transform dementia care and research, including by creating a dementia leadership role to drive forward action”.
The Government has been contacted for comment regarding mandatory training.
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