Training & Professional Development
The quality of home care depends entirely on the people who deliver it. Every SW Care carer completes the Care Certificate — 15 mandatory training standards — before their first solo visit. After that, training never stops. Here is how we invest in our team’s development.
When you choose home care for someone you love, you need to know that every carer walking through the door is properly trained. At SW Care, training is not a box-ticking exercise. It is how we make sure our care workers have the skills, confidence and knowledge to support your family member safely and with genuine warmth.
This policy is part of our governance and compliance framework, which ensures every aspect of our care meets the highest standards.
Every Carer Completes the Care Certificate Before Working Alone
Before any care worker supports a client independently, they must complete the Care Certificate. This is a nationally recognised set of 16 standards that covers everything a carer needs to deliver safe, person-centred care. It is not optional — it is the foundation that every member of our team is built on.
The 16 Care Certificate standards are:
- Understand your role
- Personal development
- Duty of care
- Equality and diversity
- Person-centred working
- Communication
- Privacy and dignity
- Fluids and nutrition
- Mental health, dementia and learning disabilities awareness
- Safeguarding adults
- Safeguarding children
- Basic life support
- Health and safety
- Handling information
- Infection prevention and control
- Learning disability and autism awareness
New carers also complete mandatory induction training before the Care Certificate begins. This covers the essentials — moving and handling, safeguarding, medication awareness and infection control — so that from day one, every carer understands their responsibilities.
Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Ensures Every Carer Understands Learning Disabilities and Autism
All SW Care staff complete the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in Learning Disability and Autism. This training was introduced following the tragic death of Oliver McGowan, whose care was affected by a lack of understanding about his autism and epilepsy. It is now a legal requirement for all health and social care staff in England.
This training helps our care workers recognise the specific needs of people with learning disabilities or autism. It builds awareness, challenges assumptions and teaches carers how to adapt their communication and approach. For families, it means you can be confident that your loved one will be understood and treated with respect, regardless of their condition.
Training Does Not Stop After Induction
Completing the Care Certificate is only the beginning. Our care workers continue developing their skills throughout their career with SW Care. We provide ongoing training and development through a combination of in-house sessions, external courses and our e-learning platform, Flourish.
Role-specific training means that carers working with particular conditions — such as dementia, Parkinson’s or diabetes — receive targeted learning to help them provide better support. This is not about ticking boxes. It is about making sure the carer who visits your mum at 8am genuinely understands her condition and knows how to help.
Some of our care workers also pursue NVQ qualifications in Health and Social Care. These are government-funded qualifications that demonstrate a deeper level of competence and commitment to the profession.
Our Registered Manager Reviews Training Needs Every Year
Stacey Cole, our Registered Manager, conducts an annual training needs analysis for every member of staff. This is a structured review that looks at each carer’s skills, identifies any gaps and plans the training needed for the year ahead.
This means training is not random or reactive. It is planned, tracked and matched to the actual needs of the people we support. If we start caring for a new client with a condition our team has less experience with, we arrange the right training before the care begins — not afterwards.
The Legal Framework Behind Our Training Standards
Our training programme is built around clear legal requirements. CQC Regulation 18 (Staffing) requires that care providers deploy enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience. The Care Act 2014 and the Health and Social Care Act 2008 set out the broader duties we must meet.
Our training policies are managed by QCS (Quality Compliance Systems), which provides regularly updated policy frameworks used by care providers across England. This means our training standards stay current with changes in legislation and best practice.
What This Means for Your Family
When an SW Care worker arrives at your home, they have completed comprehensive induction training, all 16 Care Certificate standards, Oliver McGowan training and any condition-specific learning relevant to your family member’s needs. Their training is reviewed annually and updated continuously.
We believe well-trained carers deliver better care. Not because a regulation says so, but because the person receiving care deserves someone who knows what they are doing and cares about doing it well.
Read about all of our governance policies or view our CQC rating.
Browse our full governance and compliance policies to understand how we maintain high standards across every area of our service.
Our Governance & Compliance Policies
Every policy below is reviewed regularly and available for families to read in full.
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