I have recently carried out audits on some assisted reproduction units and the question of whether they needed staff with HSE first aid qualifications was raised as I recommended that they got some staff with qualifications.

They argued against this on the basis of "we already have qualified people".
I would be very interested to know if others have come up against this issue and what the outcomes were.

Andy

Yes they are all registered nurses and they are generally happy to deal with minor injuries, an issue is whether their knowledge is up to date as they often have qualified some time ago and may well not have covered CPR etc for a considerable length of time, certainly more than 3 years.

just because somebody is a nurse or doctor does not make them automatically a first aider irrespective so I would go down the line of evaluating the situation and move on from there - which probably means that a 'proper' first aider is needed

Hi Andy

From the First Aid @ Work Regs:

Which health professionals are exempt from a qualification in first aid?

70 Provided they can demonstrate current knowledge and skills in first aid, the training and experience of the following qualify them to administer first aid in the workplace without the need to hold a FAW or EFAW or equivalent qualification:

- doctors registered and licensed with the General Medical Council;

- nurses registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council;

- paramedics registered with the Health and Care Professions Council

"As of 1 October 2013, the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 have been amended, removing the requirement for HSE to approve first aid training and qualifications. This means that businesses now have more flexibility in how they manage their provision of first aid in the workplace.

For training providers currently approved by HSE, regardless of the date of expiry that appears on their approval certificate, their approval to undertake first training will expire and will no longer be valid.

An employer will still need to make an assessment of their first-aid needs to establish what provision for first aid is required. This will depend upon the workplace, taking into account, among other things, the number of employees, size, location and work activity." - HSE

Just another amusing story:

I was on a large CoMAH site with our own nurse and doctor
An inspector looking at first aid requested that our Nurse should undertake a FAW to ensure she understood application in the workplace... she agreed (a few days on a course with lunch ain't so bad)

He then decided the old doctor (a specialist in Occ Health, involved in high level research into ill occupational ill health) should also go on a first aid course.

We suggested he discuss this in person with our Doctor... about ten minutes later he emerged from the Doctors room looking very sheepish and suggested we never talk about it again :)