Care Certificate FAQ's

What is the Care Certificate?

From 1st April 2015 the Care Certificate replaced the Common Induction Standard.

The Government commissioned an inquiry because of problems in the Mid Stafford NHS Foundation. The report from this is called the Francis Inquiry which highlights issues that still exist. Camilla Cavendish was recruited to review the document and to make recommendations to ensure that a workforce provides compassionate care. She recommended a Care Certificate be used to standardise the provision of care.

The Care Certificate is the outcome of the recommendations for change.

Who should do the Care Certificate?

The Care Certificate has been introduced to be the induction for your new staff* who are also new to care. The Care Certificate standards can be used to assess other staff if so required but it is not mandatory.

*Healthcare Assistants, Assistant Practitioners, Care Support Workers, Adult Social Care Workers giving direct care in Residential and Nursing Homes and Hospices, Home Care Workers and Domiciliary Care Staff. Collectively known in the standards as Healthcare Support Workers (HCSW)/Adult Social Care Workers (ASCW).

What about my new recruits that are experienced or have an NVQ?

Experienced: They do not need to undertake the new Care Certificate. If you wish to you can support them to complete the Certificate but this is not mandatory.

NVQ: They do not need to undertake the new Care Certificate but if desired QCF Diploma units (pre Jan 2018) will map across to many of the Certificate units and avoid duplication. Where appropriate, the same evidence from the Certificate may be used towards achievement of Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) (after Jan 2018) qualifications and Apprenticeships.

All new recruits: Individual employers are responsible for judging whether the jobs of individual staff require them to meet the additional standards in the Care Certificate.

An employer is required to assess the skills and training needs of new staff, and based on this assessment should choose if any training is needed to satisfy the needs of the job role.

How long do I have to complete the Certificate Training?

There is no time limit on the Care Certificate, however, guidance from Skills for Care says the following:

'The Care Certificate FAQ states: The experience of the pilot sites has shown that for full time staff the average amount of time taken for an employee new to health or social care to demonstrate the expected competences and knowledge is 12 weeks. This will vary from organisation to organisation, and may depend upon a range of factors: the hours worked by the learner, teaching methods chosen, previous educational achievement, resources and opportunities for assessment, the availability of assessors.'

Also bear in mind that new staff members should not work unsupervised until they have received the correct and relevant training to undertake their job role.

Will a training course be sufficient?

No, there are two components to the Care Certificate; Knowledge and Competence. Training courses will only provide the knowledge. An in-work-assessor will need to observe the worker and confirm that they are competent.

Does the assessor need to hold a qualification?

No, the manager of the service will either act as the assessor or appoint someone who is occupationally competent (someone who has the necessary experience to judge whether the learner has demonstrated the required competences) to provide them with the information. You can use a qualified assessor if you wish as long as all the observations are carried out in the workplace.

The observations do need to be as rigorous as you would expect of a Diploma and all evidence needs to be recorded as proof.

Do all of my staff need to undertake the Care Certificate?

No, but you may feel it appropriate to provide training in all or some of the areas, which will ensure all workers are working to the same standards. You can allow them to undertake the Care Certificate if they wish to.

How can Aspect Training help?

Aspect Training offer 2 packages:

1. A 3 day training package to supply workers with the required knowledge.

2. An assessment programme looking at the skills of the experienced workers and judging their existing knowledge with a 1 day training package to refresh/update them