Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is named after Oliver McGowan, whose story and death shone a light on the need for health and social care staff to have better training in understanding, communicating with and treating people with a learning disability and autistic people.

This innovative training has been developed with expertise from people with a learning disability and autistic people as well as their families and carers. The training also aims to ensure the health and social care workforce have the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate and informed care to autistic people and people with a learning disability.

Greater knowledge of learning disability and autism will ensure that care can be better tailored to suit people’s needs and it is expected to lead to better interactions and outcomes and fewer incidents of inequality and avoidable deaths for people with a learning disability and autistic people when they need to receive care.

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is the government’s recommended training for health and care staff to undertake and is a standardised package that is co-produced and co-delivered by trained and approved trainers. These trainers include a facilitator, a person with a learning disability and an autistic person, known as a training trio.

What training is required, and how does it need to be delivered?:
NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) is seeking to engage potential suppliers who could support delivery of Part 2 of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training. This includes:
• Tier 1 – a 60 minute online interactive webinar session for staff that require general awareness of people with a learning disability or autistic people, and the support they may need, and;
• Tier 2 – a full day face to face (in person) training session for staff with responsibility for providing care and support for people with a learning disability or autistic people. The full day training can be split over two days, if appropriate.

Both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 training is required to be delivered by a trio of trainers, including a person with a learning disability and an autistic person, supported by a facilitator.

Who needs to receive the training?:
The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced a requirement for Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered service providers to ensure their employees receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is the standardised training that was developed for this purpose.

The training is therefore required to be delivered to all health and social care staff working in CQC registered service providers within the BOB region, including NHS Providers, Social Care Providers and Primary Care.

It is estimated that there are approximately 90,000 health and care staff across the BOB region who would need to receive the training. NHS England’s current working assumption is that 10% of staff would be classed as Tier 1, and 90% of staff would be classed as Tier 2. National guidance suggests there should be no more than 30 participants per training session.

The current requirement set out in the draft code of practice is that health and social care staff should receive training every three years. It is therefore intended that a third of the workforce will need to be trained each year.