Hi JohnA,
Your question about how the patients/carers are trained or their competency assessed, is a very genuine question and people seem to shy away from it. I have been looking into this area for some time and found that the practices vary across the NHS. What I can say for sure is that trusts do train patients/carers before a medical device is issued to them, however, I have not come across any example where the patients'/carers' competency have been assessed. Again, regarding training, I don't think there is any 'systematic' approach. People have to resort to 'common sense' method such as demonstration. And I am also not aware of any standards or guidance either from the DH or from the MHRA which depict how the patients/carers should be trained or their competency assessed. I hope other experienced people out there may put more light on this matter.
