Introduction

Caring for others is a work of heart. You never know how much your support matters to those in need. It’s a rewarding chance to connect, care for and empathise with those seeking your support. Eventually, you can help people live happier and more independent lives. A care certificate will help you showcase your skills, knowledge and experience for job roles in the health and social care sector. Read on to know what a care certificate is, its components and how long does the care certificate take to complete.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Similar Job Roles

What is a Care Certificate?

Why was the Care Certificate Introduced?

How Long Does the Care Certificate Take to Complete?

What are the Care Certificate Standards?

How to Complete the Care Certificate?

Why Take a Course From Apex Learning?

Who Needs to Complete the Care Certificate?

Conclusion

Similar Job Roles

• Care Coordinator

• Healthcare Assistant

• Support Worker

• Care Manager

• Residential Care Officer

• Community Outreach Worker

• Healthcare Administrator

What is a Care Certificate?

The care certificate is a set of standards that health and social care workers must follow at work. It ensures all support workers have the required skills and experience to provide high-quality care. It’s designed collaboratively with Skills for Care, Skills for Health and Health Education England. Completing the care certificate will ensure support workers can provide compassionate care. Also, it will add value to their job application.

Why was the Care Certificate Introduced?

The Cavendish Review found that all support workers needed better and consistent training. Then, the care certificate was created in April 2015 to ensure workers receive the same training to provide care of the highest standards. Overall, it’s made up of 15 standards that cover the skills, knowledge and behaviours that healthcare workers must have. The certification will help carers improve the quality and consistency of their work.

How Long Does the Care Certificate Take to Complete?

How long does the care certificate take to complete? Generally, it takes around 12 weeks for a full-time worker to complete the care certificate in the UK. Yet, the duration varies depending on your progress, training needs and experience.

Below, we’ve listed the factors that affect the time it takes to complete the care certificate:

• Knowledge background of the individual

• Past experiences

• Company’s policy

• Availability of instructors

• Teaching method and resources

• The amount of time available for studying purposes by the employer.

What are the Care Certificate Standards?

At present, there are 15 Care standards crucial for adequate care. The standards were introduced in 2015 by the UK Department of Health.

Here are the care certificate standards health and social care workers adhere to in their everyday working lives:

Care Certificate Standard One: Understand your role

This standard requires individuals to understand their duties and areas of accountability as a carer. They must go through the job description, understand company policies and procedures, and the ethos and values of the role.

Care Certificate Standard Two: Your Personal Development

Health and social care workers must take ownership of their personal development. By creating a PDP, they can assess their current abilities for relevant jobs. The plan should include accurate records of their goals and progress. Meanwhile, it should outline who will support workers in their role.  

Care Certificate Standard Three: Duty of Care

The third care certificate standard encompasses the services expected for those receiving care. Besides, the standard includes risk assessment and mitigation and managing confrontation.

Care Certificate Standard Four: Equality and Diversity

This standard clarifies that everyone should be equally treated. Indeed, diversity includes visible and invisible differences. By all means, these differences need to be recognised and respected.

Care Certificate Standard Five: Work in a Person-centred Way

This standard encompasses caring for people using person-centred values. The values include independence, dignity, choice, privacy, partnership, respect and rights.

Care Certificate Standard Six: Effective Communication

Good communication with patients, colleagues, and the care team is essential. On the whole, it leads to positive health outcomes and improved care services. This standard outlines the different forms of communication, including verbal and non-verbal communication. Moreover, it discusses the importance of confidentiality.

Care Certificate Standard Seven: Privacy and Dignity

Privacy and dignity are basic human needs. This standard requires promoting these values to avoid lower self-esteem in patients. As a result, care workers should identify solutions where a person’s privacy and dignity could be compromised. Again, they must know how to deal with such situations so that people can maintain their dignity.

Care Certificate Standard Eight: Fluids and Nutrition

This standard explores the principles of nutrition, hydration and food safety. In the first place, workers should understand their client’s nutritional needs and preferences. Then, they should help patients have access to fluids and nutritious food according to their care plan provisions.

Care Certificate Standard Nine: Awareness of Mental Health, Dementia, and Learning Disability

Many people suffer from mental health issues, dementia and other disabilities. This standard is about understanding how health problems affect people. Again, workers must know how to prevent, assess and manage those conditions.

Care Certificate Standard Ten: Safeguarding Adults

The tenth standard of the care certificate explores the principles of adult safeguarding. Individuals should be able to explain what to do whenever abuse is suspected. Again, they should know how to create a safe environment free from harm and abuse.

Care Certificate Standard Eleven: Safeguarding Children

This standard outlines the principles of child safeguarding. Care workers should know how to identify the signs and symptoms of abuse in children. On top of that, they should be aware of the various approaches to preventing child abuse.

Care Certificate Standard Twelve: Basic Life Support

The twelfth standard requires care workers to complete training in basic life support that meets the UK Resuscitation Council Guidelines.

Care Certificate Standard Thirteen: Health and Safety

This standard explores the various health and safety tasks healthcare workers should perform. It includes risk assessment and procedures to be followed if accidents and illnesses occur. Moreover, it involves handling hazardous substances and administering medications. To sum up, workers must be able to protect and maintain the health and safety of all patients and employees.

Care Certificate Standard Fourteen: Handling Information

The fourteenth standard sets out the procedures for handling client information. It involves receiving, recording and storing official and legal documentation.

Care Certificate Standard Fifteen: Infection Prevention and Control

This standard explains the various ways infections travel through the body. Moreover, it discusses how a carer’s own health and hygiene can pose a risk to those under their care. Furthermore, it describes the methods to handle clinical waste safely.

How to Complete the Care Certificate?

The care certificate is completed within two parts: the knowledge and theoretical components and the practical assessment. Then, you’ll be awarded a certificate by a proficient assessor in your workplace.

By and large, it’s an assessor’s duty to decide whether the staff members have met the required standards for the certificate. But, the employer has to hire a suitable certificate assessor. Again, assessors must have experience in all the standards of the care certificate which are being assessed.

In the knowledge component, you’ll understand the theoretical concepts of each standard. Suppose, in standard 6 (Effective Communication), you’ll identify the importance of communication. Moreover, the standard requires you to communicate effectively with patients under your care. The significance of confidentiality is also discussed in this standard. Then, assessors will test your knowledge of working in a care setting. They will ask you to explain what you have learned. So, you can do a presentation or record simulation activities. Likewise, you can provide written and oral answers to questions. Your responses will be recorded in a set of 15 booklets, with one for each standard.

For the practical part, you have to prove the skills and knowledge you’ve learned from the program. For instance, standard 6 involves all forms of communication in a health and social care setting. So, assessors will observe if you can match the method of communication to the patient’s needs. Moreover, they’ll watch if you can maintain confidentiality. You may also have to show verbal and non-verbal communication to contextualise a message.

Certainly, many individuals wonder how long does the care certificate take to complete. So, remember that you’ll only receive the care certificate if you meet each standard’s requirements. Evidence should be:

• Valid- It should be relevant to the specific standard.

• Authentic- Must be produced by the learner.

• Current- Assessors must be confident that the student has the same knowledge and skills.

• Reliable- It should reflect a learner’s skills and knowledge.

• Sufficient- It must meet or satisfy all the requirements of the standard.

Even after understanding what is a care certificate and how long does the care certificate take to complete, many questions come to mind. For instance, how much evidence is enough to meet the care certificate standards? Generally, the evidence is enough when the assessor is confident that the person has met the requirements of the standards. Sometimes, employers may choose a group of assessors to review the evidence to make fair judgment decisions.

Why Take a Course From Apex Learning?

By taking a care certificate course, you can gain essential skills and knowledge to excel in the healthcare industry. Again, you’ll learn about the 15 standards of the care certificate and regulations. It will improve your ability to provide high-quality and compassionate care. Afterwards, you can test your knowledge through exercises and assessment activities. As the courses are flexible, you can learn at your own pace and have complete control over your studies. Moreover, students can assess course materials from anywhere and have 24/7 support.

Another advantage of joining Apex Learning is that there are no entry requirements. Again, the course materials are accessible from anywhere in the world. So, you can avail all the benefits the course has to offer. Furthermore, you’ll get a CPD-accredited certificate upon successful course completion. This certification will help you emphasise your valuable skills and boost your resume.

CTA: The Care Certificate Preparation Standards (1 to 15)

Who Needs to Complete the Care Certificate?

There are no statutory requirements for health or social care workers to earn the care certificate. Yet, every non-regulated health and social care worker should complete the care certificate. According to the CQC – the independent regulator for health and social care services in England – individuals who need the care certificate include:

• A new carer

• Healthcare Assistant

• Assistant Practitioner

• Care Support worker

• Adult Social Care Worker

• Home Care Worker

• Volunteer

• Porter

• Those offering care services at residential homes, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities.

But, the care certificate is for unregulated job roles. So, doctors, social workers and occupational therapists don’t need a care certificate. Ultimately, they will achieve similar skills and knowledge during their professional training.

Conclusion

A care certificate is not mandatory to work in health and social care. But, it can equip those who are ‘new to care’ with the fundamental skills to start off their careers. With consistent training, workers can operate more effectively on the job. Meanwhile, they can take on more responsibilities and excel in their profession. In this blog, we have explained what a care certificate is and the 15 standards that make up this certificate. Moreover, we have discussed how long does the care certificate take to complete. We have also covered the skills and experiences individuals need to work in care roles.

So, join Apex Learning and work your way towards transforming lives.