It is now in law that all NHS providers and CQC-regulated social care employers, must ensure staff receive training that covers the Core Capabilities Frameworks for Learning Disability and Autism. The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training (OMMT) in learning disability and autism is the government’s preferred model for meeting this requirement. 

Please click the links below for more resources and information:

A key aspect of OMMT is that it is co-designed and co-delivered by experts with lived experience of learning disability and autism, who share their experiences and expertise. 

The training is named for Oliver McGowan, a young autistic man with a learning disability, who died a potentially avoidable death. Oliver’s story is a starting point: evidence shows that people with a learning disability and autistic people experience on average, significantly poorer healthcare and health outcomes, often in potentially preventable ways. 

All staff must complete the E-Learning before then accessing either Tier 1 or Tier 2 training. 

Tier 1 training

Tier 1 Oliver McGowan mandatory training is for staff who may not have direct contact with patients or customers, but need to have a general awareness of these areas and the adjustments people are legally entitled to. 

It is a one-hour webinar and covers: 

  • Introductions by an Expert with Lived Experience of Learning Disability and an Autistic Expert with Lived Experience. Finding out about their lives and experiences in health and social care. 

  • Some examples of common reasonable adjustments for health and social care. 

  • The importance of involving families and carers. 

  • A myth-busting quiz tackling assumptions people may have. 

  • SYICB have commissioned a local partner, Speakup Self Advocacy, to support the delivery of the training in South Yorkshire. https://www.speakup.org.uk/  

  • Speakup are specialists with decades of experience in supporting and employing people with Learning Disabilities and Autistic people.  

  • SYICB have provided training and ongoing support for Speakup. Facilitating trainers are existing Speakup staff and ICB staff, as well as some from local authorities who are training their own colleagues. 

  • All training is co-delivered by a facilitator, and two experts with lived experience of Learning Disability and Autism. Currently, all of the experts with lived experience are employed via Speakup.  

  • NHS England’s aim is to train 1/3 of the workforce per year, with a refresh every 3 years for each colleague. 

  • From May 2025, NHS England expect to transition to a ‘business as usual’ approach, and so it will be important for employers to consider how they will move to this mode of delivery. Ahead of this, some organisations have identified colleagues with the appropriate experience and qualifications to be trained to work as facilitating trainers. 

  • We are training staff from NHS Trusts, CQC-regulated Local Authority providers. We also have some capacity to train staff from private providers who supply staff to the NHS, where having this training will benefit their work in the NHS. 

LeDeR

 

The LeDeR programme, funded by NHS England and NHS Improvement, was established in 2017 to improve healthcare for people with a learning disability and autistic people. LeDeR aims to: 

  • Improve care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. 
  • Reduce health inequalities for people with a learning disability and autistic people. 
  • Prevent people with a learning disability and autistic people from early deaths. 

LeDeR summarises the lives and deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people who died in England in annual reports.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/leder 

Learning from lives and deaths – People with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) :: South Yorkshire I.C.B

 

 

Click on the link below for details about local organisations and information:

Local and national organisations 

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Contacts:

Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust 

Contacts:

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Contacts:

Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 

Contacts:

How staff have been supported to access the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training

Creation of an online e-resource guide https://barnsleyhospital.pagetiger.com/cnvbvkf/1 The resource guide contains

  • Training session dates, links and times for tier 1 and 2 sessions that are updated weekly
  • Videos for how to load ESR eLearning and book a Tier 1 session via the ECHO platform
  • Training needs analysis based on roles so staff know which Tier they have been set
  • FAQs

Facilitated eLearning support sessions in the IT training room

Group sessions within a training room where all staff are registered and have completed the eLearning. All staff are asked to participate and engage in the session and are all visible on the camera.

Dedicated email account for all OMMT related correspondence

All of the staff have already completed the Part 1 eLearning and registered for the Tier 1 session.

Resourcing

Dedicated admin resource, initially funded for 2 days per week. It is now evident that this role requires full time support to continue maximising the ICB offering and maintaining the roll out of the programme

Admin undertaken

Weekly reporting used for targeted emails to individuals to encourage completion of OMMT

Weekly reporting sent to managers/educators and service managers/leads

Joining instructions set into ESR for Tier 2 via ESR with links to venue guide and course pre-reading materials

Reminders sent a week and day before the Tier 2 sessions take place

Overbooking Tier 2 sessions by 5 people to allow for DNAs

Organisational Support

Incorporation of OMMT into our priority section of the Trust MAST Framework

Communication Trust wide from the Chief Nurse supporting the completion for OMMT training

Agreement to assign training requirements to positions within ESR

Funding allocated for external room hire as internal venues were not available

Working directly with clinical educators and team leaders to offer priority reserved Tier 2 spaces for 1 week in areas with high staff numbers such as ED, Theatres/ITU and Maternity

Challenges

Suitability of external training venues – encountered some issues as rooms were not fit for purpose, this was overcome by sourcing a local venue at MENCAP

Admin resource which is still only funded at 2 days per week but has needed support on a full-time basis  

In order to overcome challenges with facilities staff completing OMMT, the Domestics training officer works with one or two domestics staff at a time in the Library supporting them through their Part 1 eLearning. Once they have completed it, the training officer then suggests a time when they can be released from their shift in order to attend a Tier 1 virtual session and registers them at that point. Staff that work regular evenings were difficult to schedule and due to this a twilight sessions was requested. These have been extremely well attended with an average of 15 staff attending each session.

Success factors

Low Tier 2 DNA rates 6% lower than the normal classroom average

Tier 2 classes average delegate attendance is 29 per session

Estates and facilities staff have now achieved a Tier 1 compliance rate of 81% (as of January 2026)

 

Trust Award

Domestic Staff Training Officer, Dawn Coldwell won a Trust Award for supporting domestics through their OMMT

“Diane has demonstrated exceptional dedication by working flexibly to ensure staff at Barnsley Hospital attend the Oliver McGowan mandatory training. She has adjusted her schedule to accommodate various shift patterns and provided IT support to staff who face challenges with accessing the online training.”

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