The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism provides healthcare professionals with knowledge and tools to support people with learning disabilities, including autism. At Medico Digital, we’ve developed a supportive tool to allow medical professionals successfully implement this important training.
Discover how Medico Digital supported 45,000 medical professionals for our client, Bath & North-east Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) ICB with their Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism here.
The background of Oliver McGowan
Oliver was born a month premature. At three weeks old, he developed bacterial meningitis. A second episode of meningitis left Oliver with mild hemiplegia, focal partial epilepsy, a mild learning disability — and he was later diagnosed with high-functioning autism.
Although Oliver faced adversity in his life, he never let it get him down. When Oliver got a little older, his seizures got worse and he had to be admitted to the hospital. However, due to gaps in knowledge on caring for people with autism and how their behaviour may present, Oliver didn’t receive the right care.
After being prescribed medication that made his condition worse multiple times, Oliver sadly passed away due to complications of the use of unnecessary antipsychotic medications. His family believed that if they’d been listened to and more training was in place to help medical professionals care for patients with autism, then Oliver would still be here today.
What is The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism about?
Oliver McGowan’s death shone a light on the need for health and social care staff to have better training. This heartbreaking story has led to a reform in the training that medical professionals receive in regard to caring for people with learning disabilities.
In July of 2022, the Health and Care Act 2022 introduced a requirement that all regulated service providers must provide their staff with training on learning disabilities and autism. The standardised training was developed, evaluated and delivered by trainers who have real-world experience with learning disabilities. The training is named after Oliver McGowan.
What did we do to help?
In April 2021, the Medico Digital team created a unique website for our client, Bath & North-east Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW). This website’s purpose was to help their employees to browse and book training events with ease.
The website allowed the ICB management to register training events into the system when they became available, as well as letting BSW employees to view the course dates. The employees could then apply for the training event date of their choice.
We set up the website to notify the employee’s line manager when they requested their specific training date. The line manager could either accept or reject the request, notifying the employee of the outcome. This added layer of support ensured that no teams were understaffed, as managers could still effectively manage their schedules.
If the employee’s training request is accepted, then the system will email the event organiser to let them know that someone else has signed up for the event and provide them with their details.
So, when the Oliver McGowan mandatory training came in during July 2022, BSW already had a system in place that could help book all 45,000 staff a place thanks to the Medico team.
Automation and mass event creation
Our team added other functionalities to the system that enabled organisers and management to mass-add users. These newly added users would then receive an email asking them to sign up and create a password.
We also added the ability for the organisers to mass-create events — making it a lot easier for them to create a scheduled timetable. Trainers can log into the system as well and export the guest lists, cutting out the need for a separate administrator to do this. We made sure that all the information the delegate, line manager, and trainer needs to know is in one easy-to-access place.
How our system supports medical professionals
Our uniquely designed system fully supported healthcare professionals across BSW by allowing them to book and attend their mandatory training with ease. Instead of having to jump through multiple hoops to book training, we simplified the process and allowed the 45,000 employees to complete training with ease.
We also enabled the trainers of the courses to have access to all the information they need to be able to deliver the course seamlessly.
By providing BSW with a way to successfully book all of their employees onto the mandatory training without difficulty, we also ensure that patients with learning disabilities or autism receive the best care possible from healthcare providers.
Discover more of our work
Because of the success that our system for BSW, other NHS groups are now asking them about it — and news of our great is travelling across the UK.
If you’d like to find out more about our work and how we’ve supported other clients, check out our case studies or get in touch to discuss what we can do for you and your business.
