Background
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is named after Oliver McGowan, whose death shone a light on the need for health and social care staff to have better skills, knowledge and understanding of the needs for people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. You can learn more about Oliver’s story here and watch a video from Oliver’s mum, Paula McGowan here.
The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced a statutory requirement that Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered service providers must ensure their staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role. This is to ensure that the health and social care workforce has the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate, and informed care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is the standardised training developed for this purpose and is the government’s preferred and recommended training for health and social care staff.
About the training
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training has been developed to capture the most important skills needed by all staff working across health and social care. It was co-produced and trialled with over 8,000 health and care staff and independently evaluated by the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi).
The training is co-delivered by trainers with learning disability and autistic people and is delivered in a standardised way – so everyone gets the same level of training and outcomes.
The training has been developed with reference to tier 1 and tier 2 capabilities contained within the Core Capabilities Framework for Supporting People with a Learning Disability and the Core Capabilities Framework for Supporting Autistic People. The content provides Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered service employees with learning disability and autism training that is appropriate to their role.
Depending on their role, staff may require further capabilities in addition to those covered in the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training. It is the responsibility of employers to determine any further capabilities their staff need and to put in place the appropriate provisions.
Roll Out
Each of the 42 Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) across England are co-ordinating the roll out of Oliver’s training within their locality. If you are interested in being involved with delivering this training in Norfolk and Waveney, please contact nwicb.ommtenquiries@nhs.net