In a recent update
from Skills for Health regarding Care Certificate training, 5 key issues were
raised in regard to how training providers are marketing their courses. At
Embrace-learning we pride ourselves on the quality of our e-learning solutions
and we would like to use these pointers to explain how our Care Certificate
course has been developed in order to provide a high quality blended learning
solution to help support the induction process for health and social care
staff.
In a statement from Skills
for Health, Skills for Care and Health Education England:
- No provider has been ‘licenced’ to award the Care Certificate. Such
a licence does not exist.
- No providers are accredited to deliver the Care Certificate. Some
organisations may have had their training externally quality assured by a
third party and we would encourage providers to explore this option but no
provider has been ‘accredited’ to deliver the Care Certificate.
Embrace-learning’s
response: We do not claim that our course is
accredited or licenced by Skills for Care,
Skills for Health or Health Education England, it has however been developed
directly in line with the Skills for Care course specification. Any concerns
over the fact that the Care Certificate is not accredited are outweighed by the
flexibility that care providers and managers now have in delivering their staff
induction training in a way that best suits their particular requirements. Many
providers are choosing to incorporate e-learning into their Care Certificate
training as it means that staff can learn at a time, pace and place that suits
them.
- It is not possible to achieve the Care Certificate through
completion of e-learning alone. Whilst e-learning can certainly support
the acquisition of knowledge and the assessment of knowledge, the
assessment of the required skills must be undertaken in the workplace
unless simulation is explicitly allowed.
Embrace-learning’s response: We agree that a standalone e-learning course does not provide the sufficient level of induction training to achieve the Care Certificate which is why our course provides a wide range of additional resources for each of the 15 units, including workbooks which can be completed on-line or printed out and filled in by hand. These workbooks contain questions and exercises covering all of the learning outcomes and assessment criteria, including practical elements to be carried out within the work place setting. The e-learning course provides an assessment of the theory of the Care Certificate while the workbooks are used by the manager/supervisor to sign off the practical assessments.
The manager/supervisor has the responsibility of ensuring that the learner has a thorough understanding of each unit and has demonstrated their competence in the workplace before workbooks can be signed off. This allows for evidence of best practice to be gathered and underpinning knowledge to be acquired by the learner.
- The Care Certificate is not a mandatory requirement. However, the
Care Quality Commission will expect that appropriate staff who are new to
services which they regulate will achieve the competences required by the Care
Certificate as part of their induction.
Embrace-learning’s
response: The Care Certificate is regarded as ‘best practice’ rather than a
mandatory or legal requirement. New
health and social care staff are, however, expected to achieve the advised
competences set out in the Care Certificate to contribute towards meeting CQC
regulations. It also offers existing
staff the opportunity to refresh or improve their knowledge. Embrace-learning’s
Care Certificate e-learning course covers all 15 standards and outlines the key
competences, values and behaviours essential for
providing high quality compassionate care.
- It is not a requirement that the Care Certificate is achieved
within 12 weeks. 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.
Embrace-learning’s response: Our e-learning course can be used to compliment work-based learning and the average time for new full-time health and social care staff to have gained the expected competences and knowledge from this training is 12 weeks, however there is no legal requirement for the certificate to be achieved in this time. Access to our e-learning course is for 12 months which gives the learner plenty of time to complete the course and revisit or repeat units again if necessary to refresh their knowledge.
For more information please give us a call today on 0161 928
9987 or visit our website to see our full course list.
To read the full shared statement from Skills for Health click here.
