Mandatory care worker courses and training: CQC requirements

The Mandatory Training Group receives many enquiries regarding the Care Quality Commission's (CQC's) requirements for mandatory and statutory training for care workers in England.

In this article, Lewis Normoyle outlines the courses considered mandatory for care workers and how they relate to the regulatory requirements of the CQC in England.

What is mandatory care worker training?

Mandatory training for care workers includes subjects that assist care providers in meeting legislative and regulatory requirements. Health and social care providers in England are required to provide mandatory and statutory training to their staff to comply with CQC requirements.

What is the role of the Care Quality Commission?

As England's independent health and social care regulator, the CQC ensures high-quality care for all service users. Providers are equipped with extensive guidance to assist them in complying with regulatory requirements.

Health and social care providers are required to comply with the following requirements by the CQC:

• Ensure that sufficient workers possess the necessary skills and experience to meet the needs of individuals receiving assistance.
• Provide care staff with the support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisals necessary to fulfil their duties.
• Support care staff in obtaining additional qualifications and providing evidence, where necessary, to the appropriate regulatory body to demonstrate compliance with professional standards.

Without these elements, or if social care providers fail to provide satisfactory evidence that they will continue to adhere to the regulations, the CQC can refuse registration.

Mandatory training requirements for care staff

Induction and annual refresher training are essential for health and social care workers to remain up-to-date with recommended practices and regulatory requirements.

For training to be considered mandatory, the following criteria must be met:

• A statutory requirement (such as the Health and Safety at Work Act) requires it
• Training is required for all employees throughout the organisation
• It is a requirement of the CQC or the local authority.

Care worker mandatory training courses

Care providers are required to conduct mandatory training on the following subjects:

• Health and Safety at Work
• Fire Safety Awareness
• Equality, Diversity and Human Rights
• Infection Prevention and Control
• Manual Handling of Objects
• People Moving and Handling
• Food Hygiene/Food Safety Awareness
• Safeguarding Adults at Risk
• Safeguarding Children.

The mandatory training requirements of an organisation depend on the services it provides. All care organisations must provide their staff with health and safety awareness training, including fire safety training.

Moving and handling training is mandatory, and food safety and hygiene training is required if your staff prepares or serves food. Mandatory training may include data protection/information governance and complaints handling.

Care certificate training for care workers

To acquire a Care Certificate, certain courses must be accomplished. Staff must complete training and achieve minimum pass marks in ALL 15 standards. Only topics in the 15 Standards that pertain to the organisation's service provision are mandatory. See our Care Certificate Bundle for health and social care support workers here.

The Mandatory Training Group provides mandatory training bundles at a discounted rate for the homecare and care home sectors.

Conclusion

Providing safe, effective and high-quality care to service users is the responsibility of the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Health and social care providers in England are required to provide mandatory and statutory training to their staff to ensure compliance with CQC requirements. A comprehensive set of guidance is available to assist provideers and care workers in complying with regulatory requirements and remaining up-to-date with recommended practices.

Click here to see online courses and resources that will help you and your organisation to comply with your CQC training requirements.

About the Mandatory Training Group

The Mandatory Training Group is one of the leading UK providers of CPDUK-accredited statutory and mandatory training, continuing professional development (CPD) courses, eLearning software and workforce development solutions for all sectors.

By making things simple and designing interactive e-learning content, we can provide meaningful training programs at all levels and enhance the capacity and resilience of individuals and organisations.

Click here to see our wide range of accredited mandatory care worker courses and training programmes.

Related blog articles

Click on the links below to read more articles from our team:

• What is the role of Care Quality Commission?
  
• What is statutory and mandatory training for care homes?
  
• What is mandatory training in health and social care?
  
• What is statutory training in health and social care?
  
• What is CQC single assessment framework?
  
• Are you ready for the CQC single assessment framework?
  

References and resources

CQC (2023) - Care Quality Commission.

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