Code of practice launched for staff training on learning disability and autism

A new code of practice setting out clear standards for how GP practice staff in England should be trained on learning disability and autism has been published.

The code, released last week by the Department of Health and Social Care, supports a legal requirement put in place in 2022 for all CQC-registered providers to ensure their staff receive training ‘appropriate to their role’.

It offers practical guidance on what that actually means for different teams, and how health providers can be compliant with the law and CQC inspections.

The code, promised since 2022, further recommends that organisations use The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism to meet legal requirements.

The programme is named after a young autistic teenager with a mild learning disability, who died in 2016 after having a severe reaction to medication which he and his family had asked for him not to receive.

Oliver’s family have since been campaigning for better training for healthcare staff, leading to the set up of the training package in 2021 that has already been trialled among 8,000 participants.

It has now been used to inform and set the standards outlined in last weeks new code of practice, which aims to improve outcomes and tackle health inequalities for people with learning disability and autistic people.

In 2022, 42% of deaths of people with a learning disability were rated as avoidable in comparison to 22% for the general population, according to data.

The code sets out four minimum standards that all staff should receive training that ‘covers a minimum curriculum of essential capabilities’; staff should be able to put their ‘learning into practice’ via, for example, problem solving; training should have an element of being live and interactive with a person with a learning disability and an autistic person; and training should be evidence-based and quality assured.

The training curriculum is broken down into tiers, each covering the most important skills and capabilities needed in different roles (see box below), and as provided by the Oliver McGowan training.

The code sets out that in primary care, clinicians such as GPs, practice nurses and phlebotomists are likely to need Tier 2 capabilities.

Reception staff or others that speak with patients on the phone are also likely to need Tier 2 capabilities, ‘as they need to recognise when reasonable adjustments are required and know how to put them in place’.

Meanwhile, members of the team not involved in direct patient contact or making decisions that affect them may only need Tier 1 capabilities, the code has said.

GPs with a special interest in learning disability and learning disability nurses will likely need additional capabilities (Tier 3), that practices will have to arrange as required.

Practices will need to be prepared to demonstrate to CQC how they meet the code of practice and ‘that staff receive training appropriate to their role in order to comply with the law’ and that their chosen training meets the code’s four standards.

‘The CQC may use their enforcement powers or take other action where they decide that a registered provider is not meeting its legal obligations,’ the guidance warns.

Stephen Kinnock, minister of state for care said: ‘Our ambition is for the code to guide our health and adult social care services and staff to have the right attitudes, skills and culture to deliver care and support that is safe, appropriate and tailored to people with a learning disability and autistic people. While we have seen progress, we still have a long way to go to achieve our objectives.’