Oliver McGowan

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Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training background

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is named after Oliver McGowan, whose death shone a light on the need for health and social care staff to have better training. The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced a statutory requirement that regulated service providers must ensure their staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role.     

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is the standardised training that was developed for this purpose and is the government's preferred and recommended training for health and social care staff. 

Oliver's Training also supports the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan ambition by upskilling the wider health and care workforce to provide appropriately adjusted care for people with a learning disability and autistic people to reduce health inequality.

Together we can prevent the many avoidable deaths like Oliver’s from happening again. The animation below aims to help staff and employers across health and social care to understand Oliver's Training and why it is so vitally important.

Which training do I need?

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism comes in two tiers of training. Staff will undertake Tier 1 or Tier 2, depending on their role.

• Tier 1 of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is for people who require general awareness of the support autistic people or people with a learning disability may need.  
• Tier 2 of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is for people who may need to provide care and support for autistic people or people with a learning disability.  

The tier guidance will help employers determine which tier their staff will need.

There is also an e-learning package – everyone will have to complete the e-learning no matter where they work and what tier they need to complete.

Employees who require Tier 1 training need to:

• Complete the e-learning and
• The 1 hour online interactive session

Employees who require Tier 2 training need to:

• Complete the e-learning and
• The one day face-to-face training

The diagram below may help:

Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in West Yorkshire

We are currently developing our Oliver McGowan mandatory training offers in West Yorkshire and will update this area with details of how to access training once it is live. In the meantime, if you have any queries or need further information please email wy.ldneurodiversity@nhs.net and we will aim to response within three working days.