Government consultation on mandatory learning disability and autism training

The mandatory requirement to complete training on learning disability and autism was included in the Health and Care Act 2022. The Government is consulting on the Oliver McGowan draft code of practice and the extent to which it provides CQC registered health and social care providers with the necessary guidance to ensure all staff working at all levels across health and social care settings receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role to meet the requirement in the Health and Care Act 2022. 

The draft code says that CQC-registered providers must ensure that all staff, regardless of role or level of seniority, have “the right attitude and skills to support people with a learning disability and autistic people” and will need to demonstrate to the CQC how their training meets or exceeds the standards set out in the code. 

The code is named after Oliver McGowan, a young man with a mild learning disability and autism, who died in an NHS hospital. His 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. 

In 2019 the Government committed to develop and test a learning disability and autism training package to be made available to all health and social care staff. The Oliver McGowan mandatory training was trialled with 8300 health and care staff and independently evaluated. It has been designed in two tiers so all health and care staff will undertake one of the 2 tiers of the training package, whichever tier being most appropriate to their role. 

The views and feedback gathered from this consultation will inform the final version of the code to be laid in Parliament.  

Read the Oliver McGowan draft code of practice on statutory learning disability and autism training and contribute to the RCSLT’s response to the consultation by completing the consultation form (Word) and returning this to claire.moser@rcslt.org by 30 August 2023.