The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism aims to provide the social care and health workforce with the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate, and informed care to autistic people and people with a learning disability.
Research has shown that on average, people with a learning disability and autistic people die earlier than the general public, and do not receive the same quality of care as other people. Evidence suggests that effective training can bring about changes in the way people work and drastically reduce these inequalities.
The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced a requirement that all CQC registered service providers must ensure their staff have training on learning disability and autism that is appropriate to their role. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is the Government’s preferred and recommended training for health and social care staff to undertake.
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training has been co-produced, trialled with over 8300 health and care staff and independently evaluated by the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi).
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training comes in two parts. The first part is an elearning module, and the second part is either an online interactive session (Tier 1) or a face-to-face session (Tier 2). All of the training includes delivery by people with lived experience of a learning disability or of being autistic.
View this diagram to learn about the two tiers of the training.
Both parts of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training have been added to Skills for Care’s Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) so that employers can record and report on completion rates.
Code of practice
The draft Oliver McGowan code of practice outlines how health and care providers who are registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) can meet the legislative requirement introduced by the Health and Care Act 2022 to ensure staff receive training on learning disability and autism, appropriate to their role.
The public consultation on the draft code of practice closed on Tuesday 19 September 2023. The government are considering all consultation responses to inform any final changes to the draft code of practice.
Find out more about the code of practice
Useful links
Enquiries on The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism should be directed to ommtprogramme@hee.nhs.uk.
Video: Social care engagement in the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training capacity building
Watch a recorded presentation outlining how social care can engage in the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism capacity building.
Video and guide: How social care providers can access the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training elearning
Download a guide outlining the process for social care to access the elearning element of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism via the elearning for healthcare portal.
Access to The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training for social care
NHS England (NHSE) has funded initial work to build capacity for the delivery of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training. This is led by individual Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and there is a current focus on train the trainer training that will prepare trainers including people with a learning disability and autistic people, to deliver the online interactive and face-to-face sessions. This capacity building started in November 2022 and will continue into 2023/24. Each ICB will make its own decisions about how it organises and prioritises its activity to create capacity across health and social care.
If you would like to be involved in the work that is being led by ICBs, whether as an expert by experience, employer or education provider, please complete this expression of interest form. This will be shared by NHSE with the team who is arranging The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism in your region.
Skills for Care continue to work with the Department for Health and Social Care to inform their plans to increase the availability of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training to social care. We will keep this webpage updated with developments on this area.
We are aware that some employers are reporting an expectation for their staff to have accessed the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training from CQC inspectors and some local authorities. As capacity building for delivery of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is still taking place, this means that access to the interactive and face-to-face parts of the training is still limited, with access determined by individual ICBs.
It may be helpful for employers to refer to the CQC’s current advice for employers regarding the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training and compliance with the Health and Care Act (2022) requirement for appropriate training.
Skills for Care recognise the following as good practice in terms of learning disability and autism training:
- Training should meet staff needs identified against the learning disability and autism core competency frameworks.
- Training should be co-produced and co-delivered by people who have a learning disability and autistic people.
- Training should enable the learning to be applied to the individual staff member's role in practice.
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism meets each of these good practice criteria.
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