Whether you’re new to the care sector, you may be thinking, do I need qualifications to work in a care home? Or maybe you’re looking to improve your knowledge and skills to climb the career ladder or maybe change what area of care you specialise in.
On the other hand, you may be an employer and want to ensure you know exactly what training and qualifications new staff should have.
Whatever it may be, we have put together this article that summarises care worker qualifications needed in the UK alongside care and mandatory care training.
Do You Need Qualifications to Be a Care Worker?
The short answer is no, you don’t necessarily need to have any qualifications or previous work experience to apply to work in health and social care. What matters is your attitude and values towards working with people who require additional care and support.
It’s also recommended that you have an open mind towards certain training, such as becoming a first aid provider. Also, most care services will favour those who have some health and social care knowledge, experience and qualifications.
What Qualifications Do Care Workers Need?
You don’t need any particular GCSEs, A-Levels or degrees to work in care. While you may not need any formal qualifications to become a care worker, it’s always recommended to have official qualifications before embarking on your career. You should also gain experience working with patience in a care home setting through voluntary work.
Some qualifications you should consider gaining before working in care include First Aid training and an NVQ in Health and Social Care (Levels 2 and 3). These courses are exceptionally advantageous for those planning to go into health and social care. They teach you valuable information about how to best support vulnerable with medical conditions or learning difficulties.
Once you start a job as a care worker, you should expect to embark on training courses. A 12-week induction scheme is carried out in all care services.
This ensures care staff meet the minimum UK standards of care, which include safeguarding, equality, inclusion, health and safety.
What Skills Make a Good Care Worker?
There are many desirable skills you need to be a successful care worker. You should have the desire to help people and have the patience to do so. To communicate as best as you can with your service users and your team, you need to have strong communication skills. Organisation is key, as you have to keep and update records daily. Some days will be harder than others and you may get frustrated, at times but you should always be sensitive, respectful and tactful towards others. Attributes that can make you a good care worker include:
- Being friendly and approachable
- Having a good sense of humour
- The ability to build trust and strong relationships
- A limitless amount of patience
- Strong problem-solving skills
- Sensitivity towards medical conditions that may be embarrassing or severe
- Remaining calm when you’re under pressure
- Good organisation and time management
- An open mind when it comes to learning and embracing change
Core and Mandatory Training
Once you are fully qualified, the training doesn’t stop when you’re providing care. When working in care, refreshing your skills and knowledge in a variety of topic areas is essential. There are different reasons why care workers should refresh their learning, such as:
- Introduction of new legislation or new best practice – It’s crucial that care providers are kept up-to-date with current legislation and best practice, and they must be trained on how to provide this in their everyday work.
- Timeframe – For some care workers, refreshing their training may be required or recommended after specific time intervals.
- Introduction of a new risk – This can include a change to the care or work environment, policies and procedures, or the use of new equipment and software. Or how to support new service users who may have specialised, additional or different needs.
- Worker competency – This should always be closely monitored and feedback should be collected to ensure that your care team continue to exhibit the skills required for their role.
How to Become a Care Worker
If you’ve decided that working in care sounds like a good career path for you, there are several steps you should follow to reach your goal. The main step is to check you have the skills. This can include qualifications, training and your natural abilities. Do they fit the needs and requirements to become a good care worker?
If you don’t possess the skills and training you need, then you will have to commit to obtaining them. So you should apply for voluntary work alongside finding and enrolling in the course that will help you reach your goal. As well as an NVQ in Health and Social Care, you may want to consider courses in other areas, such as Positive Dementia Care, Social Care with Families and End of Life Care.
Once you’ve thought about the career and you’ve got the skills and attributes that will make you successful, the next step is to consider specialisations. Is there an area you would like to work in, or specific groups of people you want to work with? This can include the elderly, the terminally ill or adults with learning disabilities. And are there additional qualifications you need to work with these groups?
Now you’ve got the skills you need and you know what area you want to progress in, you will need to find a position and apply. You can either work full or part-time for a care service on a contract or permanent basis, go freelance on a contract-to-contract basis, or work with an agency that will find you placements in different services.
Finally, once you’ve chosen your position, you will need to work on building a good reputation when it comes to excellence in the care industry. To do so, you should acquire written referrals and letters from your service users recommending your care. If you choose to go freelance, word of mouth can make or break your career. You can use social media to advertise online, find work and build a network.
Grow Your Team’s Skills with Access
As a care service manager, there will be many qualifications that your care workers need to provide care in the UK, as well as core and mandatory training to keep their skills sharp and up to date. It's no secret that it can be difficult to stay on top of training in care, and that it comes with its fair share of challenges. We have put together a guide on learning and development for care providers to help you familiarise yourself with common problems you may face and how to successfully overcome them.
While training may feel overwhelming for everyone, including management, and can be expensive for care services, digitising your care service can help you and your care staff keep on top of your learning, training and development while saving both time and money. The Access Group can help you make the right choice.
With over 30 years of experience digitising businesses big and small, we at Access have the knowledge you need to run your care service smoothly. With our Access Learning for Care software, you can make training more manageable, engaging and cost-effective. Our eLearning for health and social care software is endorsed by Skills for Care and is complete with engaging course content that replaces expensive face-to-face learning. It can be accessed anytime, anywhere and progress is easy to monitor.
Discover the range of eLearning for health and social care courses available. To learn more and get a feel for the software, contact us today and book a demo.