What Is The Care Certificate And Who Needs It?

"even though it’s been designed for new care staff, the Care Certificate can also be a useful refresher for existing staff"

If you work in health and social care as a Support Worker or Care Assistant then you may be expected to undertake the Care Certificate. This article explains what you can expect to learn.

Who Needs The Care Certificate?

The Care Certificate is not limited to Support Workers and Care Assistants.

It applies to any of the following job roles who work in care:

●  Those new to care work

●  Those employed as an adult Social Care Worker

●  Those providing direct care in a residential or a nursing home, a hospice

● Those working as a Home Care Worker

Normally the Care Certificate is carried out as part of your induction as it sets out the fundamental skills that you will need to work competently in health and social care settings.

You are required to complete the Care Certificate within 12 weeks of starting your role.

However, even though it’s been designed for new care staff, the Care Certificate can also be a useful refresher for existing staff.

What Will You Learn In The Care Certificate?

There are 15 standards set out in the Care Certificate.

You will be required to build a portfolio of evidence from “real work activity” to support each standard.

This will be observed by a competent assessor who can be anyone at the organisation you work for, who is proficient both in the skills and the knowledge of the competencies being assessed.

Once completed, you will be signed off. Here is a brief overview of each standard in the Care Certificate:

1. Understand Your Role

This standard focuses on ensuring that you fully understand your duties and responsibilities in the workplace. In addition, it goes into detail about relationships in the workplace and how to work effectively in a team or partnership.

2. Your Personal Development

Working in health and social care requires you to focus a lot on the people receiving care. However, it’s also important to think about your own development. In this section, you will create a personal development plan and learn about the importance of continuing personal development.

3. Duty Of Care

Duty of care is your legal obligation as a health and social care worker to provide a reasonable standard of care. In this section, you will learn about your professional duty of care. You will also learn about how potential dilemmas and how difficult situations can arise.

4. Equality And Diversity

In this section, you will learn about the importance of equality and inclusion and how to work in an inclusive way. This includes reducing the likelihood of discrimination in the workplace. You will also get access to advice and support about equality, diversion and inclusion.

5. Work In A Person-Centred Way

If you work in health and social care, you are most likely a ‘people person’. However, there are all sorts of ways you can improve your approach to work in a person-centred way. This section focuses on how to work with an individual, promote dignity and reduce causes of distress. It also looks at how to minimise pain and discomfort and maintain self-esteem.

6. Communication

One of the key aspects of high-quality care is clear communication. This standard is designed to teach you about both verbal and non-verbal communication in a health and social care setting. You will learn how to promote positive communication and learn about the appropriate legislation surrounding communication.

7. Privacy And Dignity

Privacy and dignity are absolutely essential in health and social care. As a caregiver, it is your responsibility to promote dignity and respect the privacy of the person receiving care. To complete this standard, you will be required to fully understand privacy and care and talk about it in various situations.

8. Fluids And Nutrition

As a caregiver, preparing food and drink is likely to be an everyday part of your job. During this section, you will learn about the principles of hydration, nutrition and food safety. In addition, you will be expected to support the individual receiving care to have access to fluid, food and nutrition in accordance with their care plan.

9. Awareness Of Mental Health, Dementia And Learning Disability

It’s important to be aware of mental health, dementia and learning disability in a health and social care setting. In this section, you will be expected to understand and describe the needs and experiences of people with mental health conditions, dementia and learning disabilities. You will also learn about positive attitudes, legislation, and the meaning of mental capacity.

10. Safeguarding Adults

As a caregiver, it’s important to understand the principles of safeguarding adults. In this section, you will learn about harm and abuse of adults at risk. Plus, you will learn how to reduce the likelihood of abuse and respond to suspected or disclosed abuse. There is also a section on the local and national legislation regarding safeguarding adults.

11. Safeguarding Children

This section isn’t as in-depth as most of the standards. The reason for this is that carers working with children have to meet a separate set of training standards for safeguarding children. However, if you work in social care, you will be expected to explain what you must do if you suspect a child/ young person is being abused or neglected.

12. Basic Life Support

As a health and social care worker, you are required to be able to carry out basic life support. In this section, you will undertake training in adult, paediatric or newborn life support, depending on the area of care you are working in.

13. Health And Safety

Health and safety is an important part of delivering quality care. This is one of the most detailed standards because it covers a lot of ground. You will learn about risk assessments, accidents and sudden illness, fire safety, hazardous substances and more.

14. Handling Information

In a health and social care environment, there are agreed ways of working and legislation surrounding the recording, storing and sharing of information. You will learn how to keep up-to-date, accurate, complete and legible records and store them safely. You will also learn the reasons behind the legislation.

15. Infection Prevention And Control

In this section, you will learn how to prevent and control infection. This includes understanding the different ways an infection can get into the body, effective hand hygiene, protective clothing and safe handling. It also covers personal health and hygiene and how it can affect a work environment.