In the online survey of 385 healthcare workers, 93% agreed there should be a code of conduct and compulsory registration for healthcare support workers and compulsory registration for healthcare support workers - with many prepared to pay for it.
Nearly all of the respondents (97%) agreed there should be some kind of common standards among workers.
Unite, the UK's largest union, claims health secretary Jeremy Hunt is completely "out of touch" in his refusal to introduce regulation of healthcare assistants.
The recent Francis report into the scandal was firmly in favour of regulation for support workers, but Hunt has reportedly said this would not be introduced because it would create "a bureaucratic quagmire".
Unite's head of health, Rachael Maskell, said: "Once again, Jeremy Hunt has demonstrated that he is completely out of touch with what the NHS requires to meet today's challenges.
"The BJHCA survey shows what healthcare assistants, who are at the frontline in delivering care, want to happen: statutory regulation to reassure the public on patient safety and to reinforce the status of this vital profession."
Maskell added: "The fact that two-thirds of those surveyed would be prepared to pay a registration fee shows that healthcare assistants are willing to put their money where their mouth is - and it should be remembered that they are lowly paid."
Other key findings in the report show 76% believe healthcare support should be regulated and that healthcare support workers should be renamed 'nursing assistants'.
Beyond the Francis report, respondents gave their opinion on patient care. Some 85% described the care given to patients in their workplace as 'good' or 'excellent'. And 47% said 'shortage of staff' was the number one threat to patient care; 12% said it was 'focus on targets'; 9% spoke of 'negative work culture', 8% 'financial pressures' and 7% 'lack of care standards'.
BJHCA editor, Peter Bradley, said: "The survey represents the voice of the support worker, and it is a voice that comes across loud and clear. It overwhelmingly backs the relevant recommendations of the Francis Report. While the Government refuses to honour one of the main Francis proposals, support workers emphatically want regulation."
Bradley added: "The BJHCA Survey indicates that far from the ignorant and uncaring image so often attributed to them, support workers are knowledgeable, engaged and caring."
Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, which represents healthcare assistants, said: "It is clear that healthcare assistants themselves take delivering safe care to patients very seriously."
BJHCA is a sister publication to HR.
