For years, care catering has faced a persistent challenge: building and sustaining a skilled workforce. Attracting new talent from colleges and universities has proven difficult, with many aspiring chefs opting for more visible and traditionally appealing sectors of hospitality.
The absence of a regulated qualification has only deepened this issue, limiting clear career pathways and leaving vacancies across care homes and health settings.
Compounding the problem is the lack of consistent, standardised training. While a range of guidelines and informal programmes exist, the absence of regulated provision has raised concerns about maintaining a reliable baseline of skills across the sector.
In environments where nutrition and the safe delivery of food and hydration are paramount, this inconsistency carries significant implications for the health and wellbeing of service users.
In response, the National Association of Care Catering (NACC), working in collaboration with the Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) and the Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality (CTH), has spent the past two years developing a solution.
These efforts have culminated in the relaunch of a Level 2 specialist qualification for caterers working in health and social care, an initiative designed to strengthen standards, support workforce development and establish a clearer route into this vital profession.
The Level 2 Award for Catering in Health and Social Care is suitable for all catering staff in care homes, hospitals and other health and social care settings, and has been developed with input from both the NACC and HCA.
It is the only Ofqual-regulated qualification that supports the IDDSI framework and other special dietary needs and is quality assured externally by the CTH. It will be delivered through a hybrid model combining virtual learning, guided learning and a face-to-face practical day.
A second landmark initiative is the new Level 4 Senior Culinary Chef Apprenticeship, aimed at chefs in a culinary management role within a care setting (or those wishing to transfer from the hospitality sector into care catering).
The apprenticeship has been built by care catering experts, including advisors from medium and large corporate care groups, to ensure relevancy. Once again demonstrating the value of collaboration, the NACC has worked in partnership with hospitality apprenticeship provider Umbrella Training to design and deliver the new specialist framework.
NACC national chair Neel Radia says: “The care catering sector unfortunately suffers traditionally from a perceived low status, which can affect the number and skill level of people applying for jobs in the sector.
“Staff can sometimes feel undervalued, a key driver in high turnover, and until now there have been few recognised qualifications for career advancement in this sector, leading to employees often seeking roles elsewhere to progress in their careers.
“These two long-awaited and much-needed new qualifications represent a milestone in our efforts to reverse the negative perceptions that cling to the sector, and deliver those clear career progression pathways that will enable employers to attract, motivate and retain the highest calibre of staff.
“Training and development have always been fundamental to the NACC and underpin everything we do for our members, from our regional seminars, through our Care Chef of the Year competition, to our national forums.
“In the case of these two high quality qualifications, collaboration is key, and it is only through working with like-minded bodies such as the HCA and specialist training provider Umbrella Training that we have been able to develop initiatives which will carry unrivalled credibility and meet the specific needs of catering personnel in our sector.”
To underline its commitment to progressing the training offer available to the sector the NACC has set up its own Training Academy and appointed Sophie Murray as its new training academy officer.
Sophie, whose experience in health and social care spans 30-plus years, has been closely involved in the development of both qualifications and will lead on their rollout.
She says: “If we’re skilling people with regulated qualifications it is going to make them a more attractive employment or promotion prospect, which helps the individual, and if we’re pushing up the standards across the board it’s going to help the industry.
“Ultimately we want the Level 2 Award to be the basic qualification required for recruitment into the sector. So, initially we would like to see care homes put all team members through, because it’s appropriate for everyone from a kitchen assistant involved in preparing special diets right through to a head chef - and it is part-funded for eligible employers, thereby keeping the costs down. It’s about core skills and therefore should become standard for new recruits and form part of every induction from now on.”
Sophie is also keen to point out that even head chefs who have been working in the sector for some time would benefit from undertaking the Award.
“Because they may not have had any formal training in nutrition, or specialist diets, or current legal updates, it makes sense for everyone to start from a level playing field – and that way those head chefs can mentor and train their future staff to work in the correct way. At the end of a training session I often get comments like, ‘I didn’t realise what I didn’t know and now I can actually do my job properly’.”
The Level 2 Award for Catering in Health and Social Care could also support the new Level 4 Senior Culinary Chef Apprenticeship, as the skills honed during training for the Award are likely to map over into some apprenticeships as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), potentially reducing the duration and cost of training.
To register interest for either scheme or to find out more information:
Level 2 Award for Catering in Health and Social Care: www.nacctraining.co.uk
Level 4 Care Culinary Leadership Apprenticeship Programme: www.umbrellatraining.co.uk/careleadership