The Care Certificate: a step in the right direction?

An evaluation has found that the Care Certificate is a step in the right direction for training front-line carers, but that organisational size, leadership and resources determine its effectiveness
Nurses have often been identified as central to concerns about care standards for older people in hospital and community settings. However, unregistered front-line carers are an increasingly important section of this workforce, delivering around twice as much direct and indirect patient care as registered nurses.
Skills gap
Despite this, unregistered carers’ training needs have often been neglected. This is often attributed to a skills gap in the front-line care workforce with absent or inadequate training and a tendency to focus on tasks and mandatory competencies. For example, in 2017, Skills for Care found that less than half (48%) of the adult social care workforce had a relevant qualification.
Want to read more?
Unlock full access to RCNi Plus today
Save over 50% on your first three months:
- Customisable clinical dashboard featuring 200+ topics
- Unlimited online access to all 10 RCNi Journals including Nursing Older People
- RCNi Learning featuring 180+ RCN accredited learning modules
- NMC-compliant RCNi Portfolio to build evidence for revalidation
- Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests

This article is not available as part of an institutional subscription. Why is this?
