You may have received many emails from various organisations entitled Oliver McGowan ‘Mandatory’ Training.

Oliver McGowan training is not mandatory, alternative training may be provided for your staff

A requirement exists under the Health and Social Care Act 2020 (181, (2), 5Za), “that requires service providers to ensure that each person working for the purpose of the regulated activities carried on by them receives training on learning disability and autism which is appropriate to the person’s role”. There is no requirement for this training to be the Oliver McGowan training. To satisfy the requirements of the act the practices must ensure staff have training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role.

CQC response to training requirement

CQC have confirmed this approach on their website, GP mythbuster 53: Care of people with a learning disability in GP practices, “We do not tell you specifically how to meet your legal requirements in relation to training. You are responsible for ensuring your staff are appropriately trained to meet the requirements of the regulations”.

Code of guidance

As set out in the Health and Care Act 2022, the government is also required to publish a Code of Practice to provide guidance about how to meet this new legal requirement for training on learning disability and autism. The government has now closed the consultation on the draft Oliver McGowan Code of Practice. The consultation feedback is now being analysed. We await the code being published.

Oliver McGowan Training Tiers

Some practices may still wish to use the Oliver McGowan training but should be aware of the different tiers that apply to staff groups.

Part 1

Tier 1 and 2        Access elearning with handbook here (all staff)

Followed by Part 2

• Tier 1 – Book 1 hour online interactive session here (non-care and support staff)
• Tier 2 – 1 day face to face training TBC (care and support staff)

Part 2 should ideally be completed within 6 months of part 1, if this time is exceeded it is recommended that the staff member refreshes themselves on the content of tier 1.

As soon as the code of guidance around this training is published we will send a further update to practices.