How often should safeguarding adults training be updated?
If you have a responsibility to take safeguarding adults training, how often do you need to update your certificate to stay in line with the current legislation and guidance?
What is safeguarding adults training?
Safeguarding training (also sometimes referred to as child protection training) has been a legal requirement for all professions that come into close contact with children and vulnerable adults for many years.
Safeguarding is the process of working to protect individuals (especially children and vulnerable adults) from harm such as abuse, neglect, and exploitation. It ensures children grow up with safe and effective care and are given the best life chances.
Closely related, child protection is the process of working to help children who have already experienced harm in the form of violence, abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
Safeguarding adults training is specifically for people who work with or around vulnerable adults (sometimes referred to as adults at risk). Not everyone who takes safeguarding training will necessarily need to have child protection training because the nature of their role might not mean they need to come into contact with children. This is usually true of individuals who work in elderly persons residential homes, where safeguarding adults training is an absolute necessity but there is no specific need to have child protection training in most cases.
However, it is possible to take combined safeguarding adults and child protection training. We offer two combined safeguarding adults and child protection courses.
Our Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults training course is the perfect foundation for anyone who works or volunteers with vulnerable adults and children. Written to fall broadly in line with Level 1 safeguarding requirements, it gives a full overview of safeguarding and child protection, including an introduction to the current applicable legislation and guidance, the signs and indicators of abuse and neglect, and how to report any safeguarding concerns you might have in the workplace.
We offer a dental-specific variant of this course recommended by the British Dental Association and worth 3 hours of verifiable CPD under the General Dental Council Lifelong Learning Scheme. You can simply select the dental variant at the start of the course and the scenarios and case studies will change to reflect a dental environment.
Our Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults course includes modules on the following topics:
- Overview of safeguarding adults/child protection
- Introduction to safeguarding legislation and guidance
- What is abuse and neglect?
- Signs and indicators of abuse and neglect
- How to maintain a person-centred approach
- How to respond to safeguarding concerns
- Final assessment to test your knowledge
As with all our online safeguarding courses, you must pass the final assessment with a score of at least 70% in order to download your safeguarding adults and children certificate. This can be downloaded and printed immediately on successful completion.
The course is taken entirely online and can be paused and restarted as many times as necessary to suit your busy schedule. You will have 24/7 access all modules of the course from any device with an internet connection, and even after completion of the course, you can still come back in and revisit any modules to refresh your knowledge for the whole duration of your certification.
Our Safeguarding Lead Training for Children and Vulnerable Adults training course is a great choice for anyone in your organisation who has an extra responsibility for safeguarding adults and children (for example, the Designated Safeguarding Lead Person in your team) or for anyone working in a clinical capacity.
This course falls broadly in line with Level 2 safeguarding requirements only when taken alongside our Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults course. It is designed to build upon the previous safeguarding knowledge you have to give you a greater understanding of how to work with outside agencies to handle safeguarding allegations and referrals when the need arises.
We also offer a dental-specific variant of this course recommended by the British Dental Association and worth 3 hours of verifiable CPD under the General Dental Council Lifelong Learning Scheme. You can simply select the dental variant at the start of the course and the scenarios and case studies will change to reflect a dental environment.
Our Safeguarding Lead Training for Children and Vulnerable Adults course includes modules on the following topics:
- Overview of the roles and responsibilities of a designated safeguarding lead person (or similar named role)
- Familiarisation: building on existing safeguarding knowledge
- Defining law and safeguarding activities
- Key components of the safeguarding lead
- Communication: how to record and share information
- Working together with statutory and non-statutory agencies
- Managing complaints and allegations
- Responding to safeguarding concerns
- Final assessment to test your knowledge
As with all our online safeguarding courses, you must pass the final assessment with a score of at least 70% in order to download your safeguarding adults and children certificate. This can be downloaded and printed immediately on successful completion.
The course is taken entirely online and can be paused and restarted as many times as necessary to suit your busy schedule. You will have 24/7 access all modules of the course from any device with an internet connection, and even after completion of the course, you can still come back in and revisit any modules to refresh your knowledge for the whole duration of your certification.
How often do I need to update my safeguarding adults training?
Ultimately, your employer will decide how often you must take safeguarding training, we recommend you refresh your training at least every 2 years or whenever your safeguarding certificate expires—whichever happens first.
In many workplaces and settings, you will be inspected on your safeguarding training by governing bodies such as the Care Quality Commission or Ofsted. However, even in cases where you will not be inspected, it is still your legal duty to have an up to date safeguarding certificate and you can face serious legal consequences if you are found to be without a current verifiable safeguarding certificate.
It is perfectly advisable to take refresher training much sooner than your certificate’s expiry date. This will ensure your safeguarding adults and children knowledge is always the most up to date and that you are fully prepared to deal with a safeguarding incident should one arise.
Remember: safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. You should never overlook safeguarding training and every member of staff in your organisation should be able to evidence that they have taken a safeguarding course.
Got a question about safeguarding?
Our friendly customer support team is always happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have about safeguarding training. Why not give us a call on 01327 552030 or email us with your questions at hello@smarthorizons.co.uk? You can alternatively use the live chat feature on our website to chat to a member of our support team.