Standard 3: Training, skills and competences
Training has a direct impact on service delivery supporting organisations with their productivity and performance. Training gives employees a better understanding of their responsibilities and the knowledge and skills they need to do their job. Improving confidence and competencies can positively impact performance. Staff competencies need to be continuously assessed.
It is paramount that the workforce is trained to the right standard with the right skills for the needs of the service.
3a. Do all staff receive mandatory safeguarding training within six weeks of their employment?
Staff should receive mandatory safeguarding training within six weeks of starting employment.
Nice guidance: Recommendations for items to be covered in mandatory training
As a minimum, mandatory safeguarding training should include:
- Safeguarding and legal principles under the Care Act 2014.
- The six core principles of safeguarding and the Making Safeguarding Personal framework.
- Specific responsibilities and accountabilities for safeguarding in the care home.
- How to recognise different forms of abuse and neglect, including organisational abuse and neglect.
- How to understand the differences between poor practice and abuse and neglect.
- The care homes whistleblowing policy and procedure, including what support and information is available in this situation.
- How to act on and report suspected abuse or neglect.
- How to deal with and preserve evidence.
- How to raise safeguarding concerns within the care home and how the care home should respond.
- How to escalate concerns (for example, to appropriate helplines or the local authority) if staff feel that the response taken was not appropriate or effective, or if the concern relates to the actions of the care home manager.
- Confidentiality and data protection.
- The importance of being open and honest when things go wrong (the duty of candour).
- Duties under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.
- Other training that is needed, based on the staff member's role and their specific safeguarding responsibilities.
- Reflective learning at the individual, team and organisational level, and include opportunities for problem-solving.
- An explanation of safeguarding concepts and terminology, including translations of specific terminology if needed (to ensure that training is accessible to all staff).
It would also be considered good practice to ensure that staff have a basic understanding of safeguarding children as many individuals receiving care would have visits from children.
3b. Is your mandatory safeguarding training face to face (either in person or remotely)?
Mandatory safeguarding training should be provided face-to-face whenever possible. This can be delivered either in person or remotely. It should be live and interactive, and e-learning should only be used when face-to-face training is not possible.
Training should:
- include case studies and reflective practice in training and learning at the team and organisational level (for example, at team meetings and handovers).
- use case studies and examples to teach staff how safeguarding relates to personalised care and the human rights of individuals.
- incorporate recommendations and other learning from Safeguarding Adults Reviews into training as quickly as possible after they are available.
- be directly applicable to the responsibilities and daily practices of the person being trained, and to the care and support needs of the individuals they are working with.
- be tailored to reflect the safeguarding responsibilities of each member of staff, so staff with more responsibilities receive more comprehensive training.
If using e-learning, be aware of the limitations (for example, the lack of opportunity for discussion and asking questions, and the difficulty in ensuring that people have understood the training).
3c. Do staff receive annual safeguarding refresher training?
It is good practice for all managers to evaluate changes in understanding and confidence before and after any safeguarding training. Therefore, it is important that staff knowledge is reviewed annuallyusing evaluation as part of supervision sessions.
3d. What percentage of your staff are up to date with their safeguarding training?
3di. Does this meet your compliancy standards, for safeguarding training?
3dii. If this does not met your compliancy standards, what is your plan to address this?
All providers should set their own compliancy figures in relation to Safeguarding Training. In healthcare settings, we ask our providers to aim for 85%.
3e. Have all staff read and understood the safeguarding policy and procedure during their induction?
Care homes and providers must have a safeguarding policy and procedure in place. This should meet the requirements of the Care Act 2014 and must also include the local safeguarding arrangements. It must be accessible for everyone and easy to find.
Best practice suggests that part of the staff induction process should require you to read and sign to say that you have understood the content of the policy, before you start on shift.
3f. Does the safeguarding lead carry out competency assessments to ensure that safeguarding learning has been embedded?
The Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board have developed a competency framework and guidance to support providers to identify the training needs of their staff (including volunteers and agency).
The framework provides a standardised approach to identify the training and skills staff should have in different roles, giving a level of consistency.
The standard asks staff to follow the Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England.
Skills for health Code of conduct or Skills for care Code of conduct
The Code of Conduct states that workers must:
Always make sure that your actions or omissions do not harm an individual’s health or wellbeing. You must never abuse, neglect, harm or exploit those who use health and care services, their carers or your colleagues.
Evaluation of training
NICE guidance recommends that Care home managers and safeguarding leads should ensure that staff are learning from training and using it to improve their practice.
3g. Are managers assured that any agency staff employed have in date safeguarding training?
The care service must ensure that they have a process to check that all agency staff have completed Safeguarding training and that it is up to date.
Agency staff must also be fully aware of local procedures.
3h. Are managers assured that agency staff are fully aware of local procedures?
The care service must ensure that they have a process to check that all agency staff have completed Safeguarding training and that it is up to date.
Agency staff must also be fully aware of local procedures.
3i. Do staff understand how to report anything that causes them concern?
Sometimes people get confused about the difference between poor practice and safeguarding concerns where there is abuse and/or neglect. There can be uncertainty about when to make a referral. If in doubt, they should speak to the relevant professional and/or make the referral.
Safeguarding concerns are everyone’s business therefore it is essential that all staff in your care home know how to make a safeguarding referral to both Surrey Children's Single Point of Access (C-SPA) and for Adult to Surrey Adult MASH.
3j. Do staff have the opportunity to undertake additional safeguarding training?
NICE guidance for Safeguarding in Care Homes suggests that further training could cover:
- How to ask about abuse and neglect in a sensitive and non-judgemental manner.
- How frequently to assess and ask about abuse and neglect.
- The wide range of situations and circumstances in which abuse and neglect can potentially occur.
- Less obvious indicators of abuse and neglect, and more complex safeguarding concerns (for example organisational abuse and neglect).
- Risk assessments and their relationship to safeguarding.
- The skills needed to support a resident through a safeguarding enquiry.
3k. If you have registered health professionals (e.g. qualified nurses, physiotherapists etc) are they trained to the appropriate level according to the intercollegiate documents in line with their roles and responsibilities?
The intercollegiate document highlights levels of safeguarding training depending on the role and responsibility of the staff member. For example, those staff working in a registered nurse role will need to ensure they are undertaking the correct level of training.
Training needs analysis (TNA) is a process for identifying training and development needs of staff. The TNA is the starting point for all safeguarding training.
The results of a TNA provide answers to the following questions:
- What is needed and why?
- Where is it needed?
- Who needs it?
- How will it be provided?
Adult Safeguarding: Roles and Competencies for Health Care Staff
Safeguarding Children and Young People: Roles and Competencies for Healthcare Staff
3l. Are senior staff, such as the nominated individual / proprietor undertaking appropriate safeguarding training / refresher training?
It is essential that all the workforce, including the nominated individual / proprietor, undertake appropriate safeguarding training / refresher training. This ensures that the nominated individual(s) can lead and support their service(s) to embed the skills, knowledge and values that are required for continuous improvement.