The Care Certificate SolutionIn Partnership with City & Guilds

Release Date 1 April 2015st

This document outlines the Affinity Care Certificate to be launched in April 2015

In line with the UK Government Legislation.

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The Care Certificate Solution

The Problem

From April, all UK CQC / SCI registered health and social care providers will have to provide the Care Certificate. This must be delivered to all new care staff employed that have no previous experience of working within the Industry, delivering Personal Care.

The Care Certificate covers 15 standards and only allows the employee to work unsupervised once deemed competent and assessed against the standard they are working in.

Skills for Care&Skills for Health estimate that timeframe of 12 weeks could be needed to complete the Care Certificate. This places an obvious strain on budgets and cash flow, not to mention recruitment policies.

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There are many other issues.

How do I assess that they are competent?

Who is going to teach the standards?

How and where do I evidence this?

How do I prove to CQC that my new staff

member has completed the Care Certificate

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Providing the Solution

How It Works

At eLearning for you we have been working with our sister company Affinity Training to bring about a blended package that provides the solution. Our aim has always been to offer a cost effective and time considered process that allowed you to confidently train your new starter to the highest standard, delivering a Certificate that could withstand scrutiny.

This is why we are delighted to announce our partnership with City & Guilds, a UK based, and world leading education accreditation board.

Our design & development stage has involved rigorous processes of testing, ensuring that our solution is leading the way in the market and we are confident along with City & Guilds to say we are!

eLearning for you has designed and developed a state of the art e-learning course that not only covers all knowledge base within the Care Certificate but checks that knowledge of the learner partaking in end of module assessments.

We have created an e-portfolio to host all your evidence, this includes the ability to upload documents, complete on-line competency checks using our module competency templates and through our fully established LMS have the ability to issues reports on progress or completion rates of your employee at the touch of a button.

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How It Works

Bringing all Three Together, How it Works

To equip you with the confidence to assess and familiarise yourself with using the system, a member/s of your team will become a Care Certificate Assessor at one of our Face to Face Workshops hosted all over the UK. The Workshop will consist of Two Days and on successful completion award you a certificate valid for three years.

To complete a standard, three pieces of evidence must be produced. As a Mandatory requirement the learner will have to complete the e-learning course and have their physical competencies checked by the Care Certificate Assessor. This leaves an optional choice for the employee for each unit.

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You’re Options

Using our Case Study Headers, you could write an assignment that covers the full range of a standard.

We will even show you how to cover several standards by writting an Holistic assignment.

Attend a Face to Face Training course and upload your certificate. There is also the opportunity for you to

evidence a recent supervision or a one to one meeting you had with your assessor.

Case Study

Written Questions

Face to Face

Within the e-portfolio are a set of 12 written questions for each module. Complete these questions covering the set criteria and your assessor will be more than

happy to tick the module off.

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Our On-Line Systems will map all three of your pieces of evidence provided for each module. Once all 15 Standards have been complete, we will even issue you with a City & Guilds Certificate that you will have FOREVER!

Better Still all your types of evidence are recognised within the QCF framework so will immediately cross-reference when you’re moving on to complete your apprenticeship. This means Less Work for YOU.

1. High standard of learning 2. Fully qualified assessor/s3. Reporting System4. E-portfolio lifetime storage solution 5. Competency Questions & Practical Competency Check lists for

each of the 15 Standards.6. The sound knowledge that your certificate is Fully Accredited by

a World Leader in its Field.7. Links Direct to the QCF

So what do you get with the eLearning for you Care Certificate?

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Period of Time to Complete the Care Certificate

Trial runs have indicated that 12 weeks should be the time it takes to complete the certificate. This however is dependent on a number of factors;

• How many hours per week the person will have to complete the modules.

We estimate that an average of 5 hours completion time for each module should be awarded. In total therefore it is predicted that 75 hours is needed to complete.

• The availability of the CC Assessor to check and input Data to the LMS.

The Assessor must be available to Coach and Mentor the learner. This will include writing up Direct Observations, asking Verbal Questions of the learner, marking Written Questions completed by the learner and checking Practical Competencies. This could potentially be 1 hour per module thus 15 hours per learner, per certificate.

• The academic capabilities of the Learner.As is common with learners in many qualifications, the academic capabilities and self motivation impact on the length of time it takes to complete. Self Motivation will need to become a crucial element at the recruitment stage ensuring that you have an employee who completes the certificate within a set time-frame allowing them the ability to work un-supervised.

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Moving & Handling Practical must be delivered as a Face to Face Session before any Moving and Handling activities can be undertaken as is required under the Manual Handling Operation guidelines 1992.

The Care Certificate Assessor courses will commence in April 2015. These will be conducted over a two day session and cover all knowledge and competencies needed to assess. To be eligible for the Training, Assessors must hold at least level 3 NVQ/QCF and have at least 2 years experience in the field of Care. Each session will have a maximum of 20 learners.

Notes

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Appendix 1Frequently Asked Questions about the Care Certificate

1. Why is the Care Certificate being developed?

2. When is the Care Certificate being introduced?

Following the report of the Francis Inquiry which identified serious challenges in some health and social care settings in 2013, Camilla Cavendish was asked by the Secretary of State to review and make recommendations on: the recruitment, learning and development, management and support of healthcare assistants and social care support workers, to ensure that this workforce provides compassionate care.

The resulting report, The Cavendish Review: An Independent Review into Healthcare Assistants and Support Workers in the NHS and Social Care Settings (July 2013) found that preparation of healthcare assistants and social care support workers for their roles within care settings was inconsistent. The report recommended development of a Certificate of Fundamental Care – the “Care Certificate”.

It is planned that the Care Certificate will be introduced in March 2015. Initially, draft Care Certificate documents are being field tested with employers and staff across health and social care environments between April and September 2014.

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3. Who is the Care Certificate for?

4. What does the Care Certificate cover?

Staff with no previous experience who are employed as Health Care Assistants, Assistant Practitioners, Care Support Workers and those giving support to clinical roles in the NHS where there is any direct contact with patients. “Care Support Workers” includes the following: Adult Social Care workers giving direct care in residential, nursing homes and hospices, home care workers, domiciliary care staff. These staff are referred to collectively as Healthcare Support Workers (HCSW) or Adult Social Care Workers (ASCW). Other roles in health and social care such as caring volunteers, porters, cooks or drivers that have direct contact with patients and/or service users could also undertake all or some of the Care Certificate, but in order for the Care Certificate to be awarded the person must demonstrate that they have achieved all of the required competences.

The Care Certificate is the start of the career journey for these staff groups and is only one element of the training and education that will make them ready to practice within their specific sector. The Care Certificate builds on the Common Induction Standards (CIS) and National Minimum Training Standards (NMTS) and sets out explicitly the learning outcomes, competences and standards of behaviour that must be expected of a HCSW/ASCW in both sectors, ensuring that the HCSW/ASCW is caring, compassionate and provides quality care. The Certificate also reflects how these behaviours are underpinned by the Chief Nursing Officer’s 6Cs (care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment). The Care Certificate standards are listed below.

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The Care Certificate standards

1. Understand Your Role2. Your Personal Development3. Duty of Care4. Equality and Diversity5. Work in a Person Centred Way6. Communication7. Privacy and Dignity8. Fluids and Nutrition9. Mental health awareness, dementia and learning disabilities10. Safeguarding Adults11. Safeguarding Children12. Basic Life Support13. Health and Safety14. Handling Information15. Infection Prevention and Control

5. Who can award the Care Certificate?

The Care Certificate can only be awarded by providers who are registered with the Care Quality Commission.

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6. Is the award of the Care Certificate based only on knowledge?

7. Can my organisation still be involved in the field testing of the Care Certificate?

No, to be awarded the Care Certificate the person must acquire knowledge and demonstrate competences.

Assessment of knowledge and understanding is prefixed with verbs such as ‘describe,’ ‘explain,’ define,’ ‘list,’ or ‘identify’ and can be undertaken using written or verbal evidence such as a workbook, written questions, case studies or sound files.

Evidence of performance prefixed with words such as ‘demonstrate,’ ‘take steps to,’ ‘use’ or ‘show’ must be undertaken in the workplace during learners’ real work activity and observed by the assessor (unless the use of simulation is expressly allowed). Learners can practice and develop their skills in a classroom or similar setting but the assessment evidence must be collected during real work activity.

No. The field tests are now coming to an end in a number of environments across health and social care, ranging from nursing homes to primary care and hospices. We have encouraged individual organisations outside of this programme to become involved by testing the documentation which is available here. We are grateful for the large amount of detailed feedback already received on the content and practical application of the draft proposals. We have received all feedback and will publish the final version early in 2015.

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8. Have health or social care providers tested all the standards of the draft Care Certificate?

Not always. We have welcomed any feedback that providers could give us on any aspect of the draft proposals. For example, some trialled only the “Healthcare Support Worker and Adult Social Care Worker Document” to find out whether it meets the needs of their staff.

What was the outcome of the testing of the Care Certificate?

Across Health and Social Care there have been 29 pilots testing the Care Certificate with an accumulative of 530 participants in the pilots. In Adult Social Care we recruited 16 pilots with 230 individual participants. Ekosgen the Individual Evaluators have now submitted the final report including recommendations for consideration to the Governance Assurance Board. In general it was felt that the Care Certificate in terms of content and process was about right. The Care Certificate will be a robust response to ensure that organisations establish that their staff are competent and safe to deliver care. The report will be made publically available soon.

Will Skills for Care be developing any learning resources?

Following the submission Evaluation of the Care Certificate report there has been an overwhelming request for learning resources to address the implications for the learning and development needs of the health and social care workers. The SFC, SFH and HEE are seeking contractors to produce an integrated suite of learning and development materials to meet the learning and development needs of staff who are expected to hold the Care Certificate. Materials should include an open learning workbook and we are particularly keen to explore the possibility of digital and eLearning resources. All learning and development materials will be made freely available to both health and social care sectors

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9. Does assessment of some of the competences required by the draft proposals have to be carried out in the workplace?

10. Will personal assistants who do not provide personal care be required to hold the Care Certificate?

Assessment will differ depending upon which part of the Care Certificate is being assessed. The draft document sets out what must be assessed and how it should be assessed. Most assessment should be within a setting where care is being provided to service users/ patients, and should be completed face to face. More information is contained in the draft “Care Certificate Framework Assessor Document”. Learners can practice and develop their new skills in a classroom/skills lab or similar setting but the assessment evidence must be collected during real work activity. This answer is based on our draft proposals and may change as we evaluate the extensive feedback, comments and queries that have been sent to our mailbox: care.certificate@nhs.net.

No. Only those workers who are providing some aspect of personal care will be expected to hold the Care Certificate.

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11. Who can assess whether a worker has achieved the required competences?

Currently the proposals do not specify that someone delivering the training needs a certain qualification. The employer, as now, will have to be satisfied that trainer is competent to deliver the training. However, the assessment (including observing someone and assessing their competence) must be undertaken by someone who is ‘occupationally competent’, which means someone who has the necessary experience to judge whether the learner has demonstrated the required competences. We would expect assessors normally to have two years’ experience in a health or care setting. The employer must be satisfied assessors are knowledgeable about the standards being assessed.

12. Will staff receive a paper certificate?

13. Is the Certificate Accredited?

What form the certificate will take will be informed by consultation with staff and employers as part of the field testing. We will consider how it should be issued so the ‘holder’ of the Certificate can prove they have gained the level of competence required. These issues will be finalised before the first Care Certificates are awarded in March 2015.

No, but some health and social are providers have reached agreement that their programme of learning is accredited by a local higher education institution.

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15. How is the quality of the Care Certificate assured?

All staff awarded the certificate will work in an environment which is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The way in which the learning programme is delivered and its effectiveness in ensuring staff have developed the appropriate competences will be considered as part of the normal inspection procedure which forms one aspect of independent regulation of health and social care.Employers must still satisfy themselves that a new employee providing care has the necessary knowledge and competence to provide care safely and effectively. Possession of the Care Certificate will be one part of the evidence that they may need to make that decision.

14. Does the Care Certificate have an awarding body?

No. The Care Certificate is awarded by the provider of healthcare who must be registered with the Care Quality Commission.

16. Will the Care Certificate replace staff induction?

The Care Certificate does not replace all areas of staff induction. Some knowledge and competences that new staff will be expected to have will be specific to the environment where care will be provided. For example, new staff may receive induction on how to report accidents, and what to do in case of fire. The Care Certificate programme will not focus on the skills and knowledge needed to work safely and effectively in a particular location which remains the employer’s responsibility.

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17. How long does it take to complete the Care Certificate?

18. Have patients, carers or their families been involved in the development of the Care Certificate?

The field-tests have 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, previous educational achievement, assessment opportunities, the availability of assessors.

The competences and standards in the draft Care certificate were based on the Skills for Care Common Induction Standards and Skills for Health National Minimum Training Standards and Code of Conduct. Both of these standards benefited from extensive public and patient engagement. Members of the public, patients and carers have been given the opportunity to comment upon the draft proposals for the Care Certificate through the Health Education England website.

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19. What will the award of the Care Certificate allow new staff to do?

20. Can existing care workers be credited with the certificate if they have been trained according to the Common Induction/Minimum Training Standards?

New staff will only be able to provide care unsupervised when they have been awarded the Care Certificate. However, they can provide care unsupervised if they have achieved the knowledge and competences required by that part of the standard. For example, the employee may not provide care associated with drinks or food unless they have demonstrated they have the competences and knowledge required by Standard 8. Staff who have not demonstrated the required knowledge and competences appropriate to a particular task must be supervised when providing care.

These staff will already have completed the mandatory training required for induction. Individual employers are responsible for judging whether the jobs of individual staff require a need to meet the additional standards in the Care Certificate.

The results of field-testing will indicate what steps an employer will need to take to award the certificate to those staff who have been trained according to previous standards (Common Induction Standards and National Minimum Training Standards).

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21. If a member of staff moves to a new role or new employer do they have to study for the Care Certificate again?

23. How should employers provide induction training while the Care Certificate is being developed?

22. Will there be a central register of staff who have been awarded the Care Certificate?

No – the certificate is designed to be portable. An employer will wish to be sure that new staff have retained the competences required by the Care Certificate, and carry out induction with regard to all the areas of safe and effective working which are outside the requirements of the Care Certificate, such as fire safety and the reporting of accidents specific to the workplace.

Employers should ensure that staff receive induction training as normal based upon existing standards for health and social care, as well as other topics relevant to induction which are specific to their particular working environment.

No – individual employers are responsible for maintaining such records, which may be required for inspection purposes by the CQC.

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24. Do personal assistants employed by individuals have to complete the Care Certificate?

25. When will employers be expected to train new staff according to the standards in the Care Certificate?

No – the care received by individuals employing personal assistants are not regulated by the CQC, so their staff are not required to complete the Care Certificate. However, individuals employing staff may wish to consider whether possession of the Care Certificate should influence their decision to employ a particular person.

There will be a soft launch in January, and then the official launch in March 2015 for employers to start using the Care Certificate as of April 2015. A further period of 6-months will be permitted to enable existing regulated providers to adapt their induction programmes to include the Care Certificate focus.

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