Moving and Handling Training for Care Staff

An online course is a good way to give every carer the same grounding, at their own pace and around their shifts. But it can’t watch someone use a hoist. HSE’s guidance on manual handling training says training won’t ensure safe handling on its own, and that it should include practical work so the trainer can spot anything the trainee isn’t doing safely and put it right.

Skills for Care’s statutory and mandatory training guide says assisting and moving people training should cover moving and positioning people safely and with dignity, using equipment where needed, and knowing what is within your own responsibilities. It also expects employers to check competence, for example by observing staff doing key tasks such as assisting and moving.

So use the online course for the knowledge, then add practical instruction on your own equipment: the hoists, slings and slide sheets in each person’s care plan. Tell us about your team and we’ll recommend how to cover both. For the wider picture of what CQC expects, read our guide to care home training and CQC.

HSE says care settings usually need two kinds of assessment: a generic one for the setting (the tasks, equipment, staffing, environment and emergencies such as fire evacuation or falls) and an individual one for each person, which forms part of their care plan.

The individual assessment should be person-centred and, where possible, involve the person or their family. For hoisting, HSE says the care plan should specify which hoist to use for which task, the type and size of sling and its loop configuration, any extra safety devices, and the number of carers needed. People’s needs and abilities can change during the day, so staff need to understand how that affects the way they help someone move.

The course’s assessment module explains how these documents work, so carers know what to look for and when to raise a concern.