Name: Care Certificate
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Care Certificate eLearning course

The Care Certificate is an agreed set of standards that define the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of specific job roles in the health and social care sectors.

The Care Certificate is made up of 15 standards that should be covered if you are 'new to care' and should form part of a robust induction programme. It was developed jointly by Skills for Care, Health Education England and Skills for Health.

Who should complete the Care Certificate?

The certificate is aimed at workers joining a health or adult social care organisation who have no previous experience. Some employers may ask current staff members to complete some of the Care Certificate standards.

The Care Certificate for Social Care

Social care workers provide direct care to people in a variety of settings. They include residential, nursing homes, hospices, domiciliary care and supported living services.Roles include the likes of:

Care Assistant
Care Support Worker
Care Worker
Homecare Worker

Do temporary workers need to complete the certificate?

CQC-regulated providers must assess the training needs of all staff new to their organisation. This includes temporary workers. The responsibility for training and quality of care delivered by temporary staff rests with the employer.

What are the 15 Standards of the Care Certificate?

The 15 standards of the Care Certificate involve knowledge learning, practical skills, and workplace assessments.The 15 standards are:

Understand your role
Your personal development
Duty of care
Equality and diversity
Work in a person-centred way
Communication
Privacy and dignity
Fluids and nutrition
Awareness of mental health, dementia and learning disabilities
Safeguarding adults
Safeguarding children
Basic life support
Health & Safety
Handling information
Infection prevention and control.

Learners can complete a Skills for Care Workbook with the Care Certificate Answers guide, or complete an online course.

How long does the Care Certificate take to complete?

On average it will take a full-time member of staff around 12 weeks to complete all 15 standards. The amount of time it takes to complete the certificate will vary. It depends on things such as, how many hours they work, previous education, teaching methods and availability of the assessors.

Does the Care Certificate replace staff inductions?

The Care Certificate does not replace staff inductions. It should be used as part of the induction process, alongside other aspects of training. In addition to the certificate, staff should receive training that is specific to the working environment. This includes things like fire regulations and accident reporting.

The additional training workers receive during their induction will depend on the employer.

What is the difference between mandatory training and the Care Certificate?

For each new worker employers will run a series of training sessions. Some of these sessions are known as ‘mandatory training’.
Mandatory training may cover some of the content in the Care Certificate but should be completed alongside the certificate.

How is the Care Certificate assessed?

To achieve all 15 standards of the certificate, workers must acquire the knowledge and demonstrate competence. Knowledge and understanding are assessed by asking workers to describe, explain, define, list, or identify. This can be based on written or verbal evidence, including workbooks, written questions, case studies or sound files.

To demonstrate competence, workers will be observed by assessors in a real-life environment. This allows to assessor to see if the individual can put the knowledge they have learnt into practice.

Who assesses the Care Certificate?

The assessment and observations are done by someone who is ‘occupationally competent’. This means they have the experience to judge whether the learning has demonstrated the required competencies. It is the employer’s responsibility to identify the right person to assess the certificates competencies.

The assessor would usually have completed training like Assessing Competence for the Care Certificate eLearning course.

How is the Care Certificate signed off?

Once a new member of staff has completed all 15 of the standards, the employer can award them the certificate. The final sign-off of the certificate is the responsibility of the employer. In Click eLearning platform for Health and Social Care, managers can complete observations and sign off learning for the learner.

How do I access the Care Certificate online course?

You can access all of the Care Certificate online courses as part of the Unlimited Care Package, which includes 130+ courses and certificates, on the Click eLearning platform.

To start learning, click here.

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Care Certificate eLearning course - Grey Matter Learning

Aims of the Care Certificate course

The Care Certificate is an agreed set of standards that define the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of specific job roles in the health and social care sectors. It is made up of the 15 minimum standards that should be covered if you are ‘new to care’ and should form part of a robust induction programme.

Competence for new care workers
Basic care skills and safeguarding
Part of an induction for new care staff
Refreshes core skill knowledge for carers

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Here are example screenshots of our interactive learning in action. If you would like to see more of the course features before you subscribe, feel free to book a demo with the team, who would be delighted to show you how our online courses help support meaningful training.

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Accessibility

As a leading eLearning platform provider, Grey Matter Learning recognises the importance of accessibility in learning. We are proud to have integrated Recite, an innovative tool that enables learners to access eLearning content more easily, regardless of their abilities. With Recite, learners can benefit from text-to-speech in over 65 languages, colour contrast adjustments, and translation of over 100 languages, to enhance their learning experience.

These tools can help to make learning more inclusive and accessible for learners with visual or hearing impairments, as well as those who speak different languages. By incorporating Recite into our website and Click eLearning platform, we are able to provide our carers with a comprehensive and accessible training solution that helps to promote learning outcomes for all learners.