Certified Training Services
Certified Training is now a statutory requirement for staff working within ‘Mental Health Units’ that are recognised as such under the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018.
Separately the CQC have indicated that it would expect, although not require, such training to be implemented within the health and social care settings they regulate. Where they have concerns at the level of restraint taking place within services they may use Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 to require such training to be implemented.
Commissioners of services may make certified training a requirement.
By being certified by Bild Association of Certified Training, organisations have demonstrated their training services comply with the Restraint Reduction Network Training Standards.
This is a rigorous process that is accredited by UKAS as meeting the ISO 17065:2012 standards for certification. You can check below whether a particular organisation has either formally applied or been certified.
For training services to be certified, they must be delivered by:
- an approved training organisation
- be an approved curricula
- be delivered by an approved senior trainer or within an approved affiliate provider organisation.
If any of the above are not approved, the training is not certified and therefore not compliant.
Providers that are approved, either for their in house training or as an affiliate of a commercial training provider, will have a certificate from Bild Association of Certified Training containing the Restraint Reduction Network approved logo (to show inspectors).
Bild Association of Certified Training publishes a directory of certified training services that is publicly accessible and clearly shows the scope of certification. All aspects of the scope of certification must be published and publicly accessible for transparency, to meet the requirements of the International Standards which we are accredited to by UKAS. In addition this information can used by regulators such as CQC when gathering pre-inspection information.
Bild Association of
Certified Training
Bild Association of Certified Training has been set up to certify training services that include a restrictive physical intervention. We are licenced by the Restraint Reduction Network to certify services as complying with the Restraint Reduction Network Training Standards.
Chair of Bild ACT Trustees - Teresa Sargent
Certification Director - Paul Keedwell
What do you need to know about certification?
- The Statutory Guidance that supports the implementation of the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018, states "Training providers must be certified as complying with the RRN Training Standards" and “Certification bodies must be accredited by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) as complying with the ISO standards for certification”
- ACT are accredited by UKAS [10766]
Who should apply for certification?
There are over 130 organisations already certified against the Restraint Reduction Network Training Standards. Training providers should apply where their training:
- has a restrictive intervention component,
- is delivered either in-house (e.g. within an NHS Trust) and/or delivered commercially, to healthcare, social care or education settings in the UK.
How long does the process take?
The certification process takes approximately one year to complete and lasts for three years. During this time, 20% of training curricula, senior trainers and affiliate organisations will be observed. Visit the Certification Process page here.
