Although there are no specific national requirements for becoming an HCA or HCSW, recommended training requirements include:
Basic training comprising fundamental nursing skills appropriate to the employment setting plus…
The Care Certificate
Flowchart for starting and finishing points on the Care Certificate for Healthcare and Social Care Support Workers.
- Working towards Care Certificate which has been jointly developed by Skills for Care, Skills for Health and Health Education England to meet the 16 standards required by the Care Quality Commission as set out in the Care Certificate.
- The Care Certificate is aimed at equipping health and social care support workers with the knowledge and skills which they need to provide safe and compassionate care.
- It can be taken as part of a Level 2 or Level 3 Health and Social Care Programme (Apprenticeship) or as part of a robust induction when starting your career in Health and Social Care.
- It is free to access through e-Learning for Health,
- Additional modules may also be completed depending on local needs i.e. integrated care working.
e-LfH: Care Certificate Programme: Care Certificate Programme
Skills for Health: Care Certificate: Care Certificate e-Learning Bundle (paid e-learning package with employer oversight)
Information for Care Certificate Assessors:
Support worker learning and development roadmap
This support worker learning and development roadmap has been designed to be a useful resource for support workers, educators, clinical leads, managers and HR colleagues.
- The roadmap has been designed to be used alongside workplace-specific training and tools.
- This roadmap covers five key areas – career progression, wellbeing and resilience, skills for life (functional skills), personal skills and technical skills. You can use the buttons below to explore these areas in more detail.
- If you’re a support worker, this resource can support you to identify your learning and development goals and how to improve your skills to deliver the best possible patient care.
- It brings together sources of information to help you explore your own skills and support you with your ongoing learning and development.
- The information in this roadmap can help you to discuss your development and career needs with different people in your organisation.
You might want to discuss these needs with:
- Your line manager or team leader
- Your organisation’s education team
- Your practice/professional development nurse.
Statutory and Mandatory Skills
Check mandatory and statutory training requirements with your employer, the information below may be helpful:
Core Skills Training Framework
- The UK core skills training framework has been developed by Skills for Health (National Skills Academy).
- This tool identifies minimum learning outcomes for the main subjects that frequently feature within statutory and mandatory training in the NHS.
Statutory and Mandatory Training
NHS England have designed an SMT training programme available via e-Learning for Health to meet the learning outcomes in the UK Core Skills Training Framework.
Courses and Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships:
Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeship (Level 3)
- Senior Healthcare Support Workers/Health Care Assistants work alongside registered healthcare professionals to deliver high quality and compassionate health and care services.
- A Senior Healthcare Support Worker will provide clinical, therapeutic, or diagnostic care under the direct or indirect supervision of a registered healthcare professional.
- There are a number of courses and apprenticeships available across Devon, please see individual websites for further details
- Please note, you must be employed in a related role and have the support of your employer to be an apprentice.
National Centre for Leadership & Management: Future Leaders Programme Apprenticeship (Level 3)
- Comprising three dynamic modules and a curated set of 20 world-class business tools, the Future Leaders Programme goes beyond traditional training, providing you with the foundational knowledge and practical skills needed to flourish as a leader early in your career.
- Please note, you must be employed in a related role and have the support of your employer to be an apprentice.
Level 3 Apprenticeships
Please note, you must be employed in a related role and have the support of your employer to be an apprentice.
- South Devon College Senior Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeship
- City College Plymouth Healthcare Support Worker Apprentice – City College Plymouth
- Royal Devon University Healthcare/ City and Guilds – Clinical Healthcare Support apprenticeship -contact rduh.apprenticeships@nhs.net
Non apprenticeship courses
- South Devon College Access to Higher Education Diploma (Nursing and Midwifery) Part-time
- South Devon College Healthcare Support Diploma
Health Care Assistants can progress to become Nursing Associates – please see our Nursing Associate webpages for further information