Resources
The practical resources below can help you to strengthen this area of CQC inspection.
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Resource creator: Skills for Care
Maintaining healthy skin is essential to a person’s comfort, wellbeing and overall health. Care staff play a key role in identifying early signs of skin damage and taking preventative action, particularly for people who may be at risk of developing pressure ulcers.
Skills for Care’s Skin Integrity course is a practical, 30-minute introduction to skin health and pressure ulcer prevention. Learners explore skin anatomy, areas most at risk of damage, pressure ulcer categories and risk factors, as well as proactive steps that can be taken to prevent skin breakdown. The course helps frontline care workers build the knowledge and confidence to recognise risks early, support people effectively and reduce avoidable harm.
Date published: July 2026
Resource creator: Care England
This paper helps adult social care providers reduce the risk of choking among people with learning disabilities by bringing together national learning, regulatory expectations and best practice guidance. It offers practical recommendations for providers, commissioners, managers and frontline staff on recognising risks early, improving staff training and embedding safe eating and drinking practices into everyday care.
The resource highlights the need to balance safety with dignity, choice and quality of life, ensuring people can enjoy positive mealtime experiences without unnecessary restrictions. It also supports organisations to strengthen governance, risk management and collaborative working, helping create safer, more responsive services and prevent avoidable harm.
Date published: July 2026
Resource creator: Skills for Care
A practical 30-minute eLearning module introducing mental health awareness in adult social care. Through self-paced digital learning, it helps frontline staff recognise signs of mental health difficulties, respond with compassion, and take appropriate action to support both people receiving care and colleagues.
Using realistic scenarios and interactive activities, the module explores common mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, trauma responses, and basic awareness of psychosis. Learners build confidence in identifying changes from a person’s usual baseline and understanding how mental health can affect behaviour, communication, and wellbeing.
The module emphasises supportive, person-centred communication, helping learners respond sensitively and reduce stigma in day-to-day practice. It also guides staff on when and how to escalate concerns or seek additional support within care settings. Reflective prompts highlight the importance of self-care and maintaining personal wellbeing when working in emotionally demanding environments.
The eLearning format ensures flexible access, consistent delivery, and the opportunity to revisit key concepts, supporting confident, compassionate practice in real-world care situations.
Date published: June 2026
Resource creator: Skills for Care
A clear and compassionate 20-minute eLearning module introducing how to understand and support people living with frailty. Through self-paced digital learning, learners explore what frailty is, how to recognise early signs, and how it can affect a person’s daily life and independence.
Using realistic scenarios and simple frameworks, the module focuses on practical strategies to help maintain strength, independence, and quality of life. Learners are introduced to a traffic light system to spot early warning signs, enabling them to respond quickly and reduce the risk of decline or unnecessary hospital admissions.
Interactive elements and reflective prompts support learners to apply their knowledge in everyday care situations, including recognising when to report concerns and seek additional support. The eLearning format allows flexible access, consistent learning, and the opportunity to revisit key concepts to support confident, proactive care.
Date published: June 2026
Resource creator: Skills for Care
A foundational 25-minute eLearning module aligned to Tier 1 of the National Dementia Training Standards Framework. This self-paced course introduces learners to what dementia is, how it affects individuals and families, and the importance of delivering compassionate, person-centred support that maintains dignity and identity.
Through short digital content, realistic scenarios, and reflective activities, learners build confidence in recognising common signs and symptoms of dementia and understanding its impact on daily life. The module explores practical communication strategies, helping staff adapt their approach to better support people living with dementia, while also highlighting how behaviour can be a form of communication.
Interactive elements encourage learners to apply approaches such as using life stories, creating dementia-friendly environments, and knowing when and how to raise concerns or signpost for further support. The eLearning format ensures flexible access, consistent learning, and the opportunity to revisit key concepts as needed for everyday care practice.
Date published: June 2026
Resource creator: Department for Health and Social Care, NHS England, Skills for Care and Skills for Health
This resource provides a comprehensive foundation for organisations looking to strengthen the knowledge, skills and confidence of everyone involved in supporting people living with dementia. It outlines national expectations for dementia training across health and social care roles, helping services deliver safer, more consistent and more personalised care.
The framework explains how teams can apply evidence‑based learning to improve communication, promote independence, and provide compassionate support at every stage of dementia. It is designed to ensure staff understand the lived experience of dementia, enabling people to maintain wellbeing, relationships and meaningful activity.
Key topics include: The three-tier structure of dementia training, core learning outcomes for all staff, specialist competencies for dementia‑specific roles, guidance on developing a skilled workforce, links to aligned legislation and policy, and examples of how services can embed the framework into everyday practice.
Date published: February 2026
Resource creator: Department for Health and Social Care, NHS England, Skills for Care and Skills for Health
This resource outlines the essential capabilities that everyone in the health and social care workforce needs in order to support people experiencing mental health difficulties. It provides a clear, consistent structure for organisations aiming to improve mental health awareness, strengthen staff skills, and deliver high‑quality, person‑centred support.
The framework explains how staff at all levels can develop the confidence to recognise mental health needs, respond appropriately, and promote recovery and wellbeing. It emphasises compassionate communication, reducing stigma, early intervention, and working collaboratively with individuals, families and professionals.
Key topics include: Core values and attitudes for mental health practice, effective communication and relationship‑building, recognising signs of mental distress, promoting safety and safeguarding, supporting self‑management and recovery, and guidance for embedding the framework into team training, induction and ongoing workforce development.
Date published: February 2026
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Updated guidance describing CQC's expectations for services supporting autistic people and people with a learning disability. The guidance emphasises dignity, privacy, human rights, independence, choice and control.
Date published: February 2026
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This webinar is designed to help managers enhance dementia care in their services. It explains how to support people living with dementia to remain active and engaged, while improving overall quality of life.
Key topics include: Implementing dementia training for staff, essential skills and knowledge for high-quality care, overview of dementia resources, how to access funding for dementia qualifications, and real-world examples from providers who have improved dementia provision
Date published: February 2026
Resource creator: Skills for Care
Skills for Care’s dementia resources offer clear, practical guidance to help the adult social care workforce support people living with dementia. They cover prevention, recognising early signs, navigating diagnosis, responding to distressed behaviours, and strengthening communication.
The materials include videos, roadmaps, practical tips, and links to national support services. Their aim is to build confidence, embed person‑centred approaches, and enhance quality of life for individuals and families throughout every stage of the dementia journey.
Date published: November 2025
Resource creator: Skills for Care and The Outstanding Society
Presented in partnership with The Outstanding Society, this webinar for adult social care providers explores how to effectively support people to manage conditions and improve their outcomes. It looks at practical ways to involve your staff team and partners in to help people live healthier lives.
Featuring examples from Single Assessment Framework reports, the webinar includes insight from Outstanding rated homecare providers and residential homes on how they are excelling in promoting healthier lives, and the evidence needed to demonstrate good and best practice.
Date published: December 2024
Resource creator: eLearning for health
Discover an e-learning module tailored for adult social care professionals, focusing on health promotion and preventive practices. Build on your existing knowledge to enhance support quality, with practical guidance on integrating public health approaches into daily care routines.
The module offers practical guidance on integrating public health approaches into your daily work, with key topics including: Preventing illness, Protecting health, Promoting wellbeing, Mental health, and Healthy aging.
Date published: November 2024
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This resource explores the role of adult social care in prevention, health promotion and supporting wellbeing.
It highlights how services can prevent deterioration, reduce demand on healthcare services and promote independence through early intervention, reablement and community support. It also reinforces the importance of integrated working across systems to support healthier lives.
The resource is particularly useful for understanding how prevention underpins everyday social care practice.
Date published: November 2024
Resource creator: Why Weight Hub
This practical toolkit supports care staff to promote healthier lifestyles through nutrition, hydration and physical activity.
It provides guidance on maintaining good health, preventing illness and supporting independence, with practical ideas for improving diet, hydration and movement in care settings.
The resource is particularly useful for frontline staff supporting older people in residential and community care.
Date published: March 2024
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (CQC)
This report shows the CQC’s findings from a review on the state of oral healthcare in care homes across England. The report reveals an extensive lack of awareness of NICE guidelines and includes case studies and recommendations about how to improve this, such as:
- sharing best practice
- repeating and reinforcing the guidance
- mandatory staff training
- oral health check-ups for all residents moving into a care home
- a multi-agency group to raise awareness.
Following the original report publication in 2019, the CQC has now published a progress report to demonstrate how services are addressing this challenge and showcasing good practice being delivered in the sector.
Date published: March 2023
Resource creator: Skills for Care
Skills for Care has a dedicated website section covering a range of information and advice for services supporting people who live with a learning disability and/or autistic people in England.
We’ve worked with the National Autistic Society and Skills for Health to develop resources to help you ensure your staff have the right skills and knowledge when working with autistic people.
Our resources explain what skills and knowledge workers need to support autistic people, their carers and families, and can help employers to develop their workforce. On our website, you’ll find:
- newsletters sharing the latest information for these services and how to sign up to receive future editions
- the Oliver McGowan mandatory training for learning disability and/or autistic health and social care staff
- recommended learning resources and upcoming events.
Date published: November 2021
Resource creator: Skills for Care
We estimate that over half a million adult social care workers support people who are living with a learning disability and/or autistic people in England. It's vital that these workers have the right values, skills and knowledge to provide high quality, person-centred care and support.
We’ve worked with the National Autistic Society and Skills for Health to develop resources to help you ensure your staff have the right skills and knowledge when working with autistic people.
Our resources explain what skills and knowledge workers need to support autistic people, their carers and families, and can help employers to develop their workforce.
Date published: July 2021
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This is a short and visually appealing guide for registered managers of care homes, containing key information from the relevant NICE guidance.
Date published: February 2020
Resource creator: Skills for Care
We estimate that over half a million adult social care workers support people who have a learning disability and/or autistic people in England. It's vital that these workers have the right values, skills and knowledge to provide high quality, person-centred care and support.
We have a range of resources to help support the workforce and they explain what skills and knowledge workers need to support people with a learning disability, their carers and families, and how adult social care employers can develop their staff. We facilitate an 'expert group of people with a learning disability and autistic people' to make sure the resources meet sector needs.
Date published: January 2020
Resource creator: Skills for Care
People with a learning disability can be more likely to experience poor mental health. We've developed free resources to help adult social care staff talk to people about their everyday mental health, and enable them to get the support they need.
Date published: January 2020
Resource creator: Skills for Care
One in six adults experience a common mental health problem and we estimate that there are over half a million jobs in adult social care services that support people with a mental health condition.
Adult social care staff need to have the right values, skills and knowledge to promote good mental health and wellbeing with the people they support.
This page explores what skills and knowledge staff that work in mental health services need, and shares resources to help employers to develop their workforce.
Date published: January 2020
Resource creator: Skills for Care
Oral health plays an important role on the quality of life. Poor oral health can bring pain, which prevents people from eating and drinking properly and can lead to malnutrition.
It can also affect people’s abilities to take medication and there’s evidence that links poor oral health with aspiration pneumonia, particularly in residential settings.
This guide explores what skills and knowledge staff need to support people with their oral health.
Date published: December 2019
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This NICE Quality Standard advocates that people can access mental health services, including crisis support, when they need them.
Date published: July 2019
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This quality standard covers identifying, assessing and regularly reviewing the care and support needs of people with a learning disability as they grow older.
People with a learning disability have many of the same age-related health and social care needs as other people, but this quality standard focuses on the specific challenges associated with their learning disability. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.
The statements are specific and concise and focus on priorities for quality improvement. In particular, please see statements 4 and 5.
Date published: July 2019
Resource creator: Skills for Care
Pressure ulcers are damage to the skin and the tissue underneath it, as a result of prolonged pressure. They usually develop on skin that covers bony parts of the body such as heels, ankles, tailbone and hips.
They can be extremely painful and even life-threatening if left untreated. If they're a result of neglect or poor care, or if they aren't treated properly, this can be a safeguarding issue.
It's important that everyone working in adult social care, including front-line care workers and managers, know about pressure ulcers and how to treat them.
You might already have guidance in your organisation or from your local authority. If not, we've brought together useful resources to help you and your workforce learn more. These explain who's at risk, what you need to look out for, how to reduce the risk and what your responsibilities are as an employer.
Date published: December 2018
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This NICE Quality Standard advocates that adults living in care homes have their mouth care needs recorded in their personal care plan.
Date published: June 2017
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This is the NICE quality standard on the prevention, assessment and management of mental health problems in people with learning disabilities in all settings. It includes statements and measures on:
- mental health assessments
- key workers
- tailoring psychological interventions.
The statements are specific and concise and focus on priorities for quality improvement. In particular, please see statements 1, 2 and 3.
Date published: January 2017
Resource creator: Social Care Institute of Excellence (scie)
Use this resource to find out about the importance of eating well for people with dementia in maintaining their health, independence and wellbeing. Sections of the guide include:
- why nutrition is important
- chewing and swallowing problems
- promoting independence at mealtimes
- eating well at home
Date published: December 2013
Developed in partnership with