"What training do my staff actually have to have?" is probably the question we are asked most by registered managers – usually followed by "and how often does it need refreshing?" The honest answer is that very little training is named in law; instead, legislation requires staff to be competent and safe, regulators expect providers to evidence that, and the sector has settled on a well-recognised core of subjects that inspectors look for. This checklist sets out that core, the typical refresher cycles, and the role-specific extras.
Where the requirement actually comes from
The Health and Social Care Act regulations require staff to receive "appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal" to do their jobs – the CQC inspects against this. Underneath that sit specific laws that make certain subjects unavoidable: health and safety law (including moving and handling and fire safety), food hygiene law where staff handle food, the Care Act's safeguarding duties, and – since the Health and Care Act 2022 – learning disability and autism training appropriate to role, met through the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training. The frequencies below are the sector's accepted practice rather than fixed statutory intervals, so always follow your own policies and commissioners' contracts where they are stricter.
The core checklist
| Subject | Who needs it | Typical refresher |
|---|
| Moving and handling (practical) | All staff who assist people to move | Annually |
| Basic life support | All care staff | Annually |
| Fire safety | All staff | Annually |
| Safeguarding adults (and children where relevant) | All staff | Annually to 3-yearly by level |
| Infection prevention and control | All staff | Annually |
| Health and safety awareness | All staff | Annually to 3-yearly |
| Food hygiene | Staff handling or preparing food | 3-yearly (or per policy) |
| Medication awareness / safe administration | Staff supporting medication | Annually, with competency checks |
| Mental Capacity Act & DoLS | All care staff | 3-yearly or on change of guidance |
| Equality, diversity and human rights | All staff | 3-yearly |
| Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training (Tier 1 or 2) | All staff, tier by role | Per national guidance |
Role-specific additions
- New starters – the Care Certificate as structured induction, ideally within 12 weeks.
- Services supporting people who may become distressed – PMVA or equivalent de-escalation and safe intervention training.
- Dementia services – dementia awareness beyond the induction level.
- Catheter, PEG, diabetes or epilepsy care – clinical task training with competency sign-off.
- First aiders – a designated number of staff with fuller emergency first aid, beyond basic life support.
The training matrix: your single most useful document
Inspectors rarely ask "do you do training?" – they ask to see the matrix. A good one is a single grid: staff down the side, subjects across the top, dates in the cells, colour-coded for in-date, due soon and overdue. It shows compliance at a glance, drives your booking calendar, and turns inspection questions into thirty-second answers. Keep certificates filed behind it and record who delivered each course and how (webinar, face-to-face, e-learning) – our guide to choosing delivery modes covers which subjects genuinely need a room.
Common gaps we see
Three patterns come up repeatedly: refreshers slipping for night staff and part-timers because they are hard to rota; practical subjects "refreshed" by e-learning alone, which does not stand up for moving and handling or life support; and new mandatory subjects – most recently the Oliver McGowan training – bolted on late because no one owned the matrix. A named training lead, even in a small service, prevents all three.
Key takeaways
- The law requires competent staff; the recognised core list is how you evidence it.
- Practical subjects (moving and handling, life support) need hands-on refreshers, typically annual.
- The Oliver McGowan training is now part of the mandatory core, tiered by role.
- A colour-coded training matrix is the document inspectors actually ask for.
Cover the whole checklist with one provider
KCP delivers the full mandatory core – webinar and face-to-face – plus online CPD for refreshers, with group bookings for whole teams.