Department of Health
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Care Certificate launching on 1 April
All new healthcare assistants and social care support workers will be expected to get a Care Certificate within 12 weeks of employment.
The Care Certificate assesses the fundamental skills, knowledge and behaviours that are required to provide safe, effective and compassionate care. It will be awarded to staff in health and care roles who can demonstrate that they meet each of the 15 Care Certificate standards, including:
- caring with privacy and dignity
- awareness of mental health (including dementia and learning difficulties)
- safeguarding
- communication
- infection control
The Care Certificate is referred to in the CQC’s guidance as a benchmark of how providers can meet the staffing regulations, and may be actively looked for by CQC inspection teams.
The Care Certificate was a recommendation from the Cavendish review, which made suggestions on how to improve the quality of care provided by health and care support workers in the wake of the failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
It is expected that the Care Certificate requirement will be extended to NHS funded student nurses in 2016.
More information for social care providers is available from Skills For Care. Healthcare providers can get information from Health Education England or Skills for Health.
