Colostomy and Stoma Care

Colostomy and Stoma Care

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Colostomy and stoma care training delivered at your workplace. Half a day. Hands-on appliance work. The clinical knowledge and human sensitivity your team needs to support individuals safely, confidently, and with genuine dignity.

Course Overview

Living with a stoma changes a person’s life in ways that go far beyond the physical. For many individuals, a stoma follows a significant illness, surgery, or diagnosis. The adjustment period can be long, and the emotional impact on body image, confidence, independence, and sense of self is real. This should never be underestimated by the people providing care.

Colostomy and Stoma Care Training gives care staff the practical knowledge, hands-on confidence, and genuine sensitivity to support individuals with a stoma safely and respectfully. This is not a course that treats stoma care as a purely technical task. It addresses both the clinical and the human side of what it means to support someone through something deeply personal.

Learners handle real stoma equipment during the session. They work with different pouching systems, practise cutting flanges and checking for rough edges, use skin barrier and cleansing products, and practise emptying pouches. Many care workers arrive at this course having supported individuals with stomas for some time without ever having properly understood how the appliance system works or why precise fitting matters for skin integrity. That gap closes here.

This course aligns with NHS guidance on stoma care, the expectations of the Care Quality Commission under Regulation 12: Safe Care and Treatment, and workforce good practice guidance from Skills for Care.

Course Details

• Duration: Half day. Can be combined with other subjects for a full day
• Delivery: In-person at your venue
• Certificate: CPD-accredited certificate of achievement in Colostomy and Stoma Care
• Refresher: Every 1 to 3 years, depending on organisational requirements, changes to guidance, or individual care needs
• Group size: Flexible for team training

Who This Course Is For

This course is right for any care staff involved in the day-to-day support of individuals living with a stoma.

• Care assistants and support workers in care homes, supported living, and domiciliary care
• Senior carers and team leaders
• Residential, nursing home, and community care staff
• Staff supporting individuals with long-term conditions requiring stoma management
• New starters whose induction includes stoma care responsibilities

This course covers stoma care and management within the care worker’s role. It does not cover surgical procedures or specialist clinical interventions. If your organisation requires input from a stoma care nurse for clinical procedures or specialist appliance fitting, we are happy to advise on the appropriate referral route at the enquiry stage.

Why Organisations Book With Prima Cura

Most training providers arrive with a course. We arrive with yours.

Before the day, we gather information about your workplace: your incident reporting forms, your internal procedures, and the specific hazards your team actually faces. On the day, your trainer works that into every scenario, every discussion, every practical exercise. If your staff work in a care home, they’re not practising on hypothetical office workers. If your team are lone workers, that context shapes how the session runs.

It means the training lands. Not because it was well-delivered in a generic sense, but because it was relevant to the people in the room and the situations they’ll actually encounter.

A few other things that matter to the organisations that book with us:

• 98.9% learner satisfaction across all Prima Cura courses
• All trainers hold Enhanced DBS certificates and maintain ongoing CPD
• We advise honestly on the qualification level at the enquiry stage. If a different course is a better fit for your workforce, we’ll say so before you book, not after

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

What Learners Will Be Able to Do

By the end of the course, learners will be able to:

• Explain what a stoma is, why it may be formed, and the difference between a colostomy, ileostomy, and urostomy
• Identify different appliance types, including one-piece and two-piece pouching systems
• Cut a flange correctly, check for rough edges, and understand why accurate fitting protects skin integrity
• Apply skin barrier and cleansing products appropriately
• Support appliance changes and empty pouches safely and hygienically
• Monitor stoma output and recognise changes that need reporting
• Recognise signs of peristomal skin damage, infection, or other complications
• Maintain dignity, privacy, and consent throughout, and respond sensitively to the emotional impact of living with a stoma
• Record stoma care accurately and escalate concerns appropriately

What the Day Covers

All content reflects NHS guidance on stoma care, current infection prevention and control standards, and CQC Regulation 12: Safe Care and Treatment throughout. Content is adapted to your setting and client group, but typically covers:

• What a stoma is, why it is formed, and the different types: colostomy, ileostomy, and urostomy
• Types of appliances and pouching systems: one-piece and two-piece, drainable and closed
• Hands-on practical: cutting flanges, checking edges, applying skin barrier and cleansing products, handling pouching systems, and emptying pouches
• Peristomal skin care and infection prevention
• Monitoring output: normal versus concerning changes for each stoma type
• Red flags: skin breakdown, prolapse, retraction, blockage, and infection
• The emotional and psychological impact of living with a stoma and how staff can support sensitive conversations
• Dignity, privacy, and consent throughout care
• Record keeping, escalation, and when to involve a stoma care nurse, district nurse, or GP

Every course is also built to include your organisation’s escalation routes, documentation systems, and incident reporting processes as standard.

How the Course Is Delivered

This course is delivered face-to-face only. The practical elements are central to the learning and cannot be replicated online.

Sessions are delivered at your workplace or chosen venue. Groups are capped at 12 to ensure every learner gets sufficient hands-on time with the equipment. Every session is built around your working environment, your client group, and your internal processes. We also design each course to incorporate the specific stoma types and appliance systems used by individuals in your service, your documentation and escalation routes, and any recent practice concerns. If your team has recently encountered a complication or received inspection feedback related to stoma care, we can build that context into the session.

Delivery includes:

• Hands-on practical with real stoma equipment and appliance systems
• Scenario-based discussion drawn from real care situations, including escalation decisions and dignity-sensitive care interactions
• Discussion of the emotional impact of living with a stoma and how staff can respond appropriately
• Coverage of your documentation systems and escalation routes
• Time for questions, because stoma care generates many of them once learners start handling the equipment and understanding what they are actually working with

Why This Colostomy & Stoma Care Training Matters

Poor stoma care has direct physical consequences. Ill-fitting appliances, incorrectly cut flanges, or failure to use skin barrier products properly can cause peristomal skin damage, leakage, infection, and significant pain. These are not rare complications. They are predictable outcomes of inadequate training, and they are largely preventable.

But stoma care is also one of the most dignity-sensitive aspects of personal care. A stoma is visible, intimate, and often a source of anxiety for the individual, particularly in the period following surgery or diagnosis. How a care worker approaches that moment, whether they are calm, unhurried, and genuinely respectful, matters as much as whether they cut the flange correctly. Poor practice in either dimension causes harm.

The emotional dimension is part of this course for exactly that reason. Many individuals living with a stoma carry concerns about body image, odour, leakage, and how others perceive them. Care workers who understand this, and who know how to have those conversations sensitively and without embarrassment, provide meaningfully better support than those who do not.

CQC inspectors look at how personal and clinical care tasks are managed and recorded. Stoma care sits within Regulation 12: Safe Care and Treatment and Regulation 9: Person-Centred Care. A team that cannot demonstrate safe, informed, and dignified stoma care carries both clinical and inspection risk.

Certification and Validity

On completion, learners receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Achievement in Colostomy and Stoma Care.

There is no formal expiry, but a refresher is recommended every 1 to 3 years, depending on organisational requirements, changes to guidance, or changes in the care needs of the individuals being supported. Many organisations align stoma care refreshers with their infection prevention and control training cycle. If there has been a significant incident, a change in practice, or a CQC finding related to personal or clinical care, an earlier refresher is advisable.

Where We Deliver

We deliver in-house training at your workplace or chosen venue across Manchester, Greater Manchester, and the wider North West. We also deliver nationally across England, including North England, South England, London, and Surrey. All sessions are led by experienced Prima Cura Training instructors. Every trainer holds an Enhanced DBS certificate. Groups are capped at 12 per trainer to protect the quality of hands-on learning.

FAQs

Related Courses

You may also be interested in:

• Catheter Care
• Infection Prevention and Control
• Person Centred Care & Planning
• Record Keeping in Care
• Dignity in Care

Book or Enquire

To book this course or request a quote for your team, use the enquiry form on this page or contact us directly. Tell us your team size, your sector, and your preferred dates. We’ll come back with a quote and any advice on qualification level if you need it.

We respond to all enquiries within one working day.

Our Commitment to Quality and Compliance

At Prima Cura Training, all courses reflect current UK guidance and best practice. All trainers are experienced professionals with relevant qualifications and ongoing CPD. Because many of the organisations we support work with vulnerable individuals, all trainers hold Enhanced DBS checks.

This course is reviewed against updates from NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, Skills for Care, and current UK infection prevention and control guidance, including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

You can read more on our Quality Assurance and Compliance page.

Reviewed by Stephanie Austin, Owner and Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training | 25+ years in health and social care | 15+ years as a trainer | Last reviewed: May 2026 | Next review: May 2027

This page is for general guidance only and reflects UK legislation and best practice current at the date of review. It does not constitute clinical or legal advice. Stoma care must always be carried out in line with the individual’s care plan, the instructions of the responsible clinician, and current organisational policy. This course does not cover surgical procedures or specialist clinical interventions beyond the care worker’s role. Employers remain responsible for ensuring their arrangements comply with CQC Regulation 12 and relevant infection prevention and control guidance.

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