Lewis Normoyle

14-04-2025

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Explore how outdated staff training can lead to compliance breaches, safety risks, and inspection failures and what tools can keep your workforce up to date

In highly regulated environments, staff knowledge isn’t just important, it’s essential. Whether you manage a care home, lead a clinical team within the NHS, or oversee training in education or public services, the question remains the same: Is your workforce training truly up to date?

With regulations, safety protocols, and sector standards changing faster than ever, relying on outdated staff training can have serious consequences. From compliance breaches to operational risks, the cost of neglecting updates often goes far beyond what’s visible on paper.

In this blog, Lewis explores why staying current with training is not just about meeting legal requirements. It’s a core strategy for delivering safe, compliant, and high-quality services.

Staff training and compliance - Why the two must work together

At its core, staff training is the structured development of employees’ skills, knowledge, and behaviours to perform safely and effectively in their roles. In regulated sectors, this includes essential training areas such as:

• Safeguarding
• Infection prevention and control
• GDPR and data security
• Basic life support and emergency procedures
• Fire safety
• Role-specific Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Meanwhile, compliance means meeting the statutory, ethical, and professional obligations defined by bodies like:

• The Care Quality Commission (CQC)
• Ofsted
• Skills for Health
• The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
• The General Medical Council (GMC).

When training and compliance are aligned, organisations build not just inspection readiness but a culture of safety, accountability, and high standards.

Why outdated training is a hidden risk

Training content and requirements aren’t static. Regulatory bodies frequently revise their expectations in response to emerging issues, public health trends, or new legislation. The COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example, introducing sweeping changes in infection control, remote working, mental health support, and digital safeguarding.

If your staff are working with outdated knowledge or lapsed certifications, you’re exposing your organisation to the following risks:

• Harm to service users due to unsafe or ineffective practices
• Regulatory breaches during inspections or audits
• Reputational damage that undermines trust with stakeholders
• Legal liabilities, including litigation and non-compliance notices
• Staff disengagement, burnout, or poor performance.

Conversely, regular training updates:

• Reinforce confidence and professional standards
• Improve care outcomes and operational safety
• Demonstrate leadership commitment to quality
• Support continuous improvement and innovation.

Real-world scenarios - What can go wrong?

Let’s look at how outdated training impacts organisations across sectors:

Adult social care - CQC compliance

A care provider preparing for inspection finds that most staff last completed safeguarding training over three years ago. Despite good intentions, this gap may result in non-compliance with Regulation 18 (Staffing) and raise questions about ongoing competence.

NHS Trusts - Clinical governance

Resus UK updates its guidance. The trust delays rolling out updated training to frontline staff. If an incident occurs where procedures fall short, the trust may face governance failures, internal investigations, and reputational fallout.

Education - Ofsted expectations

A multi-academy trust has gaps in Prevent Duty and Safer Recruitment training records. During inspection, Ofsted finds that staff lack understanding of policy changes. This undermines the safeguarding judgement and puts leadership under scrutiny.

In each case, the issue isn’t a lack of policy. It’s outdated training. And in sectors built on trust, that’s a risk no organisation can afford.

What’s holding organisations back?

Despite the clear need to stay updated, many organisations still face persistent challenges:

• Training records stored across multiple spreadsheets or systems
• No centralised training matrix or renewal tracker
• Content that’s outdated or not aligned with latest standards
• Poor visibility of individual and team compliance levels
• Limited capacity to translate policy changes into practice.

When compliance becomes a manual, admin-heavy burden, human error and oversight become inevitable. That’s where digital solutions like ComplyPlus™ come in.

ComplyPlus™ - Turning training into a compliance advantage

ComplyPlus™ is The Mandatory Training Group’s intelligent compliance management platform, built to centralise training, align with regulatory standards, and streamline audit readiness.

Key features

• Centralised training dashboard - View and manage all training records, CPD hours, certifications, and upcoming deadlines from a single platform.
• Real-time content updates - Training materials are updated in line with evolving national guidance and inspection frameworks.
• Automated alerts and compliance tracking - Get instant notifications about expired courses, overdue training, and upcoming renewal needs.
• Inspection-ready reporting - Generate reports aligned with CQC, Ofsted, CSTF, and other regulators to evidence compliance during inspections.
• Seamless integration - Compatible with NHS ESR, SCORM-compliant LMSs, and internal HR systems to reduce duplication and enhance visibility.

With ComplyPlus™, organisations are no longer playing catch-up. They’re leading the way.

Five ways to build a training-first compliance culture

To shift from reactive to proactive compliance, consider these practical steps:

• Audit your current training status - Identify expired courses or missing training areas especially in high-risk domains like safeguarding and infection control.
• Appoint a compliance lead - Assign someone responsible for training governance, who can ensure updates align with regulatory changes.
• Go digital - Eliminate paper records and spreadsheets. Use a centralised digital platform to track and report on training compliance.
• Plan regular training reviews - Review training needs at least annually, or more often following regulatory updates or inspection feedback.
• Invest in modular, flexible learning - Online training should be flexible. Staff should be able to pause, resume, and complete modules on-demand for better engagement and retention.

Final thoughts - From compliance 0to confidence

At The Mandatory Training Group, we’ve worked with hundreds of health, education, and public sector providers to improve inspection readiness, reduce risk, and build sustainable training systems. And the lesson is clear:

“Compliance is no longer just about avoiding penalties. It’s about empowering people.”

Up-to-date staff training is the foundation of operational excellence. With tools like ComplyPlus™, you can transform fragmented processes into a unified compliance framework that protects your organisation and your people.

Let’s make training a strength, not a risk.

Ready to strengthen your compliance framework?

Lewis Normoyle, Chief Operating Officer at The Mandatory Training Group, works directly with regulated organisations to modernise compliance strategies, build workforce capability, and prepare for inspections with confidence.

Discover how ComplyPlus™ can help your organisation:

• Maintain real-time training compliance
• Simplify audits and inspection preparation
• Centralise documentation, policies, and training records
• Stay aligned with CQC, Ofsted, and national standards.