Care Certificate

The Care Certificate was introduced in April 2015. All those working as healthcare assistants and adult social care workers are expected to undertake this learning as part of their induction programme. The Care Certificate was created as a result of the Cavendish Review which was published in July 2013.

This review was part of the response to the Francis Inquiry into the failings of care at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust. The Cavendish Review found that the training and development of healthcare assistants and adult social care workers was often inconsistent or good enough. Cavendish proposed that a new ‘Certificate of Fundamental Care’ be created to improve this and that led to the ‘Care Certificate’. The Care Certificate covers the learning outcomes, competencies and standards of behaviour that must be expected of support workers in the health and social care sectors. It aims to ensure that you are compassionate and provide quality care in your work. The certificate builds on and replaces the earlier induction programmes: social care’s Common Induction Standards (CIS) and health’s
National Minimum Training Standards (NMTS).