From April 2015 New starters in the care and health sector will be required to meet the care certificate standards in order to complete their induction. The initial pilot of the Care Certificate suggests that the average care worker would need 12 weeks in order to complete the process.

Those workers who have already completed the common induction standards will not need to complete the care standards although it would be good practice for them to complete the extra standards not included in the common induction standards.

The care standards contain elements of assessment in the workplace as well as knowledge based evidence. The assessments in the workplace should ideally be carried out by relevant people working in the workplace. It is not necessary for all assessments to be carried out by one person. We are putting together a booklet to support workplace assessors in their role.

Some of the knowledge required can be evidenced in our manuals. This is currently being referenced

We are also putting together a manual to help with evidencing the care standards. This will replace the common induction standards and will be emailed to all current induction customers as soon as it is available.

Below are some of the frequently asked questions we have received relating to the Care Certificate.

Q:  How long will it be before Redcrier update the induction to incorporate the 15 standards?

A: We are currently working on the updates to our Induction package to bring it in line with the Care Certificate and aim to have this completed and available for April – if not sooner. If you already have the induction with us, then you will be issued an automatic update free of charge.

Q: Will you be issuing a certificate when candidates have completed this document?

A: We won’t issue a certificate as Skills for Care have produced the certificate that can be downloaded for free from the Skills for Care website.

However how you are evidencing and justifying why a member of staff has been awarded the Care Certificate will be up to you, you can use the Skills for Care documents, or documents from any other training provider, however we obviously like to think that you will want to use ours.

Q: Will your company be marking the new induction, or us?

A: Similar to the answer to the previous question, the allocation of the Care Certificate will be entirely up to you, however you will need to justify and evidence why you have issued the Care Certificate. The onus will be placed on the managers and assessors within your organisation and will directly be linked to the standards within your care setting.

Q: Do you know if all care staff have to complete this or is it for only new staff, ie, we have experienced staff who have completed their level 2 and or 3 NVQ.

A: The Care Certificate will come into force as of the 1 April 2015 and is applicable to new members of staff that have not completed Common Induction Standards. Having said that, best practise and good practise would suggest that you may want your more experienced staff to complete the new standards that they have not previously covered.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.