Mandatory care courses – important information
First thing’s first; when it comes to mandatory training for care organisations, it’s really not so black and white.
The specific mandatory training requirements differ for each organisation, as it depends on the services that each organisation provides. Therefore, there is no set list of mandatory care courses that applies for all care organisations. However, all care organisations have a legal responsibility to provide staff with training on Health and Safety Awareness, as well as Fire Safety training. Another mandatory training course that each organisation must provide is Moving and Handling. Further training will become mandatory if staff are required to carry out more specific tasks, such as Food Safety and Hygiene training if staff are assisting at meal times and preparing food.
Care worker industry standards and requirements
If training meets any of these criteria, it is classed as mandatory:
- It is a legal requirement, like the Health and Safety at Work Act, for example.
- It is a requirement of the CQC or an organisation’s local authority.
- Staff across the organisation require the training to perform their job.
The Care Certificate standards
Regarding the Care Certificate Standards, it is key to know how to differentiate between which courses may be mandatory for a particular organisation, and the courses an organisation has to provide to award a Care Certificate to an individual. It sounds complicated, but read carefully and you’ll soon get your head around it.
If someone is training to receive a Care Certificate, they must train and pass all of the 15 Care Certificate courses. Whilst only the Care Certificate courses relating to the services the organisation provides shall be mandatory for the organisation as a whole.
Mandatory training courses for care staff
This is a full list of all Core and Mandatory courses for care workers – which, to reiterate, won’t necessarily be mandatory for all organisations and all members of staff – and a brief summary of each. It’s also worth remembering that mandatory training requirements can change, such as when a care organisation starts to offer new services or starts dealing with patients with new specific conditions.
Sticking to the Skills for Care recommended guidelines, each course links to the relevant CQC Fundamental Standards and Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs).
For more information about each course and the KLOEs and CQC Fundamental Standards they link to, browse this page: Core and Mandatory training.
Assisting and Moving People
This course is designed to provide care workers with a solid understanding of the current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures when it comes to positioning and moving people they’re caring for, as well as the anatomy and physiology involved with moving patients.
The training should ultimately enable the worker to be confident in moving and positioning people safely and use any equipment that might be needed in such scenarios.
Basic Life Support and First Aid
The main goal of this course is to ensure that the worker knows how to follow crucial procedures for responding to accidents and sudden illness that may occur in the care home, and they must learn how to provide basic life support. This course also equips learners with the knowledge of what their own responsibilities are, as well as those of the organisation.
Communication
It should never be overlooked how important communication is at work, especially in a care worker’s environment, so that’s what this course aims to teach them. More specifically, they should be able to reduce barriers to communication and meet the communication and language needs of their patients, keeping confidentiality in mind at the same time.
This course links to 10 of the CQC KLOEs.
Dignity
Linking to the CQC Fundamental Standard of Dignity and Respect, this course is designed to ensure the worker understands the principles behind dignity in care, and teaches them how to maintain the dignity, respect, and privacy of all people they are caring for.
Equality and Diversity
Not only will this course enable care workers to understand how important equality and diversity are in the workplace and show them how to work inclusively, but also how to access advice and support relating to these important elements.
Furthermore, this course gives learners knowledge about the relevant legislation surrounding the subject, as well as organisational policies and processes to help them understand how to act appropriately in regard to equality and diversity.
Fire Safety
This is one of the mandatory courses that all care organisations have to provide, and the aim of this course is to give workers a good understanding of how to promote fire safety in the workplace. The course will cover basic fire safety, local fire safety protocols, as well as fire prevention. Furthermore, users will learn about the various types of fire hazards in the workplace and the importance of fire risk assessments.
Food Hygiene
It’s vital that care workers know how to meet the safety requirements when preparing food and drink for people, and how to clear them away too.
They will learn how to maintain hygiene when handling food and drink, as well as the correct ways to store food and drink safely.
Health and Safety Awareness
Another mandatory training course for care staff that all organisations must provide, this vital course will ensure that workers understand their own responsibilities when it comes to health and safety in the work setting, as well as the responsibilities of others.
Within this health and safety-focused course, care workers will also obtain a strong understanding of things like risk assessments, managing stress, and how to handle hazardous substances.
Infection Prevention and Control
Giving care workers the knowledge surrounding the legislation and policies relating to prevention and control of infections, and the importance of risk assessments when it comes to controlling and preventing infections.
They will get to grips with their own responsibilities – and the responsibilities of others – in the prevention and controlling of infections, as well as how to use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in such situations, amongst other things.
Medication management
Learn about the common types of medication and their differing uses, the law and policies around administering medication, how to administer and monitor medication safely and effectively, and many other crucial factors to understand during the training course.
Mental Capacity and Liberty Safeguards
This is crucial in ensuring care workers understand what ‘mental capacity’ means in the context of providing care, as well as the legal frameworks and policies around the topic.
Moving and Handling Objects
This is also a mandatory care course that all organisations must provide, and will give care workers the ability to move and handle objects in a safe manner, preventing and minimising the risk of injury. It will also teach users about the relevance of taking an ergonomic approach to manual handling, as well as tips on maintaining proper back care.
Nutrition and Hydration
This is a vital course in understanding the principles of hydration and nutrition and ensuring that workers have the ability to support individuals to have access to fluids, food, and nutrition in accordance with their plan of care.
Oral Health
This course will equip care workers with an understanding of the importance of oral health and how it can affect an individual’s general health, wellbeing, and dignity.
It will also ensure that workers have the knowledge of how and when to reassess oral health and how to deliver daily mouth care. Furthermore, the course will cover how to respond when someone’s needs and circumstances change.
Person-centred Care
People working in care homes need to understand person-centred approaches when it comes to providing care for individuals, as every person is different and has different needs. Therefore, this course will teach them how to work in such a way, including how to establish consent when providing care, how to encourage participation, and how to support people’s wellbeing and right to make choices.
Positive behaviour Support and Non-Restrictive Practice
Skills for Care recommend that you reference the PBS Competency Framework for commissioning PBS training programmes.
Recording and Reporting
Care workers will learn how to access support for handling information and how to handle this information in accordance with the agreed ways of working. They will also gain an overall understanding of why it’s so important to know how to handle information securely.
Safeguarding Adults
This course covers many aspects, including knowing how to recognise different types of abuse and how to respond to potential abuse, understanding methods of reducing the likelihood of abuse, understanding the principles of online safety, and much more.
Safeguarding Children
Care workers will learn how to safeguard children and recognise, respond to, and reduce any abuse or potential signs of abuse that may be showing.
Specific Conditions
Understand both the needs and the experiences of people with specific conditions and how to support these people. This course will also ensure that the care worker understands the legal frameworks and guidelines that are related to specific conditions, as well as the importance of promoting positive health and wellbeing of people with specific conditions.
Our e-learning platform, iLearn (Other care), offers all these Core and Mandatory courses – as well as all 15 Care Certificate courses – as we aim to equip your staff with the required knowledge and skills to carry out their duties safely and with compassion, and ensure that your practice remains CQC compliant.