Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training FAQs

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism © Part 1 of 2’ is now available to complete on all eLearning and Management platforms via AICC link.

This is the official Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training created by NHS England, so will link to e-lfh, however, the certificate will be held on our system as proof of completion.

Organisations will need to add this module to their staff profiles – as they would do a normal Blue Stream Academy eLearning module – however when they click on the link from the dashboard – they will be redirected to an external page which will load the e-lfh module.

After completing the eLearning, a certificate will be automatically generated and made accessible in the Training Records > Training Passport section. The certificate includes the Oliver McGowan Copyright Logo.

What is the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism?​

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 government’s preferred and recommended autism and learning disability training for health and social care staff.​

The following animation aims to help staff and employers across health and social care to understand Oliver’s Training and why it is so vitally important – https://youtu.be/ouhKSOGm49g.​

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is developed alongside the Code of Practice and so you can be confident it meets the requirements of the code of practice which the CQC should consider when understanding how the GP surgery is meeting this legal training requirement.  The code of practice outlines how this statutory training should be developed and delivered and includes the principles of co-production and co-delivery of training by people with lived experience.  It also specifies the requirement for live training.  If you are considering exploring options other than the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training you need to be sure that any training selected meets the requirements outlined in the code of practice.  

The code of practice is expected to be published soon – this is the draft version and we are not expecting significant changes –  https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/oliver-mcgowan-draft-code-of-practice/oliver-mcgowan-draft-code-of-practice-on-statutory-learning-disability-and-autism-training#standards-for-training-and-related-guidance ​

How can you complete your Oliver McGowan eLearning?

You can complete your Oliver McGowan eLearning on the NWL Learning Hub or eLearning for Healthcare.  It is important to complete all the elements of the eLearning to get the certificate.  Indicative completion time is 90 minutes.  We’d recommend GP surgery staff complete the training via the NW Learning Hub if you don’t have a preference.

NWL Learning Hub
Linked here is a guide to help you find the Oliver McGowan eLearning on the NWL Learning Hub if you are not using the NWL Learning Hub for all your mandatory training – if you use it for all your mandatory training, the Oliver McGowan training will automatically appear in your list of required training.  If you haven’t registered before, you can also find a guide on how to register for an account.  Important – if you don’t want to use the NW Learning Hub for all your mandatory training – select a role with ‘nm’ after it.

eLearning for Healthcare
If you don’t already have an account, you can find information on how to register here – https://support.e-lfh.org.uk/get-started/registration/#1601.  We have also attached a quick start guide for eLearning for Healthcare.  Once you are logged into eLearning for Healthcare, you can search ‘Oliver McGowan’, or use this URL to go straight to the course where you can select ‘enrol’ – https://portal.e-lfh.org.uk/Component/Details/781480.

Locums can complete The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism on e-lfh. If you don’t locum for a regular practice, when you register on e-lfh select unknown location as your place of work/employer.

Where can I find more information about the training?

You can find the latest information and FAQs on Oliver McGowan training on the Health Education England website – https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/learning-disability/current-projects/oliver-mcgowan-mandatory-training-learning-disability-autism

What is the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2?

If you come into contact with patients or the public in your job, then you will be Tier 2. Please note that the eLearning is required as part one of the training, regardless of which Tier you are in.

Part 2 training for Tier 2 will be a 1 day (or two half days) face to face training and Part 2 training for Tier 1 (who have no patient or public contact) will be a one-hour interactive webinar.

Your employer is responsible for defining which Tier you come under and you can find more guidance here: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/The%20Oliver%20McGowan%20Mandatory%20Training%20-%20Tier%20guidance%20for%20employers%20FINAL%20%281%29.pdf

When will part 2 be available? 

(Update from NWL ICB Central Workforce Team)
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is delivered in two parts – eLearning followed by an interactive training.  It is also split into two tiers – Tier 1 and Tier 2.  Nearly all of General Practice Staff will fall under Tier 2, unless they do not come into contact with patients e.g. a finance person or back office administrator.  This means that for most of General Practice Staff, Part 2 will be a full day in-person training with trainers who have lived experience of Learning Disability and Autism – this training may also be delivered in two half days, one focussed on Learning Disability and one on Autism. 

In NWL, our immediate priority so far has been to get providers and their staff engaged, so more people are completing the eLearning component – this webinar is part of that work to engage colleagues in GP surgery and PCN teams. 

We are currently focussing on how to make Part 2 available to GP surgery and PCN teams, both to meet the immediate need and create sustainability for this training.  As GP surgery and PCN colleagues will largely fall under Tier 2, we are prioritising the one day (or two half day) interactive, face-to-face training.  By March 2025, the minimum target for NWL (and other ICBs) is to have 30% of staff trained on both Part 1 and Part 2.

We know some colleagues are eager to complete the second part of the training and we will update you as soon as possible as to when you can access this training.  In the meantime, if you have any queries regarding the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism, please send these to [email protected] and the team will continue to collate and forward queries relating to Part 2 for the NWL ICB Central Workforce Team.

Do you have any posters we can put up in our staff areas to raise awareness? 

Yes!  Please complete this form and we will send you some – https://form.jotform.com/241181411757352