Stephanie Austin, often known as Steph, is a UK-based accredited First Aid, Health & Social Care and Health & Safety educator, Founder of Prima Cura Training, and the named author of all educational content published on this website.

With over 25 years’ frontline and regulated-sector experience, nearly 20 years of teaching first aid, and more than 15 years working full-time as a professional trainer and educator, her work aligns with current UK legislation, awarding-body standards, and recognised regulatory frameworks.

Everything published on the Prima Cura Training website and blog is written or formally reviewed by Stephanie. Her articles are grounded in real-world practice, current UK guidance and the practical realities faced by employers, care providers, Personal Assistants and frontline staff.

Her focus is clear: legally aligned, evidence-based education that makes sense in real working environments.

Professional Background & Frontline Experience

Stephanie began her career in frontline care at the age of 16, working directly with individuals requiring day-to-day support. She progressed through senior roles before becoming Manager of a learning disability residential service, holding responsibility for safeguarding, staffing, regulatory compliance, incident management and service quality. Her experience spans:

  • Residential care
  • Domiciliary care
  • Service development
  • Establishing and managing a domiciliary care service
  • Operating a staffing agency within a regulated care organisation

This progression from support worker to regulated manager provides depth that informs both her teaching and her writing. Her expertise is not theoretical; it is grounded in inspections, safeguarding processes, risk management decisions and the practical realities of services operating under UK regulatory standards.

Military & NHS Education Experience

Alongside her civilian care career, Stephanie served as an instructor within the Army Cadet Force, supporting injury management, structured first aid response and incident handling in high-pressure environments.

She has also delivered first aid training within MOD military-sector settings, bringing a calm, structured approach to complex and high-risk scenarios.

Her NHS education experience includes working as a lecturer and assessor within hospital settings, delivering apprenticeships and core skills training for peri-operative teams, maternity services and healthcare assistants. This required alignment with governance structures, competency frameworks and clinical accountability standards.

Real-World Emergency Response Experience

Stephanie has personally responded to numerous real-life emergencies, including performing CPR. That lived experience directly informs the realism, clarity and confidence she brings to both training delivery and written guidance.

Specialist Experience: Personal Health Budgets (PHB), CHC & Direct Payments

Stephanie has specialist professional experience supporting individual employers operating under:

  • Personal Health Budgets (PHB)
  • NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)
  • Direct Payment arrangements

She has supported families and Personal Assistants working one-to-one in private homes, helping them understand safeguarding responsibilities, employment duties, risk management and competency boundaries outside traditional organisational structures. Her work includes:

  • Translating formal care standards into domestic settings
  • Supporting safe delegation and competency awareness
  • Delivering tailored training aligned to the specific risks of the individual receiving support
  • Bridging regulatory expectations with real-world home-based care

She is also a former member of the Skills for Care PHB Steering Committee, contributing to national workforce and training discussions.

Prima Cura Training: Governance & Accountability

Prima Cura Training was established in 2015 and remains independently owned and led by Stephanie Austin. She retains direct responsibility for:

  • Alignment with UK legislation and statutory guidance
  • Awarding body compliance
  • Course content development and learning outcomes
  • Quality assurance processes
  • Associate trainer approval and oversight
  • Published educational content

Where associate trainers support delivery, they:

  • Hold enhanced DBS clearance where required
  • Hold recognised teaching and assessing qualifications
  • Demonstrate relevant subject-matter expertise
  • Are vetted in line with Prima Cura Training’s internal compliance standards

For some regulated courses, delivery may be undertaken by appropriately registered associate trainers aligned with Ofqual-recognised awarding organisations such as NUCO. Overall accountability for quality, legislative alignment and learner experience remains with Stephanie. This structure ensures consistent standards, clear professional accountability and legislative alignment across all delivery.

Qualifications & Professional Credentials

Teaching, Assessing & Quality Assurance

  • Level 3 Award in Education and Training
  • Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA)
  • Level 4 Award in Leading the Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice

Health, Care & Safeguarding

  • Level 4 NVQ in Health and Social Care
  • Learning Disability Award Framework (LDAF), now LDQ
  • Safeguarding qualifications, including DSL
  • Trainer and assessor qualifications across subjects delivered
  • Formal competency assessments are completed every two years

First Aid & Professional Alignment

Professional registrations and affiliations include FAIB, Qualsafe (Ofqual-recognised awarding organisation), Worksafe Training Systems, Healthcare Trainers Network, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), ICO Registration (ZA763319), CPD Assessed and the Association of Healthcare Trainers.

Quality Assurance & External Oversight

Both Stephanie Austin and Prima Cura Training are subject to external quality assurance and professional oversight where accredited or regulated training is delivered. This includes:

  • Annual External Quality Assurance (EQA) activity
  • Ongoing monitoring by awarding organisations and professional bodies
  • Review of assessment decisions and learner outcomes
  • Legislative and guidance updates

Where improvements are identified, Stephanie retains responsibility for implementation, ensuring a continuous improvement approach across both training delivery and published educational content.

Measurable Impact & Professional Standards

Prima Cura Training has delivered accredited and awareness-based training across England since 2015. Quality indicators include:

  • Established training provider since 2015
  • Consistent learner satisfaction rate of 98.9%, reviewed and monitored on a six-monthly rolling basis
  • Delivery across regulated sectors, including care, NHS environments, manufacturing and logistics
  • Regular CPD updates to maintain legislative alignment
  • Ongoing external quality assurance where accredited training is delivered

Learner feedback is collected following each course and analysed on a rolling six-monthly cycle to identify trends, maintain standards and inform continuous improvement.

UK Legislation, HSE Guidance & Regulatory Alignment

All written content published on the Prima Cura Training website is:

  • Based on current UK legislation and statutory guidance
  • Referenced against recognised bodies including the HSE, CQC, NICE and Skills for Care
  • Reviewed annually or sooner, where legislation changes
  • Written within a UK regulatory context

Blogs include review dates where applicable. Information provided is educational and training-focused. It does not replace employer risk assessments, statutory safeguarding procedures, clinical judgement or professional legal advice.

Stephanie operates within the scope of UK training and education frameworks and does not provide individual medical diagnosis or legal representation.

This author page is reviewed annually, or sooner, when significant legislative or regulatory changes occur.

Large-Scale & High-Risk Sector Experience

Stephanie has delivered training at scale within complex and high-risk environments, including:

  • Writing and delivering Emergency First Aid training to NHS G4S Test and Trace Covid-19 sites nationwide
  • Delivering Safeguarding training to site managers across the UK
  • Supporting manufacturing, transport and logistics sectors
  • Delivering WAVE training to Guildford businesses funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner

Awards, Recognition & Community Contribution

Her work has been recognised across business and community sectors, including:

Media & Citations:

She also speaks at events on first aid awareness, safeguarding responsibilities and improving care sector education standards.

Editorial Control & Transparency

Stephanie:

  • Writes or formally reviews all published content
  • Approves collaborative contributions
  • Acts as the sole publisher of educational material on the Prima Cura Training website

No content is sponsored or influenced by manufacturers or commercial partners.

Professional Approach to First Aid, Care & Health and Safety Education

Stephanie’s work is driven by a people-first approach to care and safety. Her training and writing focus on helping learners understand not just what to do, but why they are doing it, and how legal, ethical and practical responsibilities connect in real-world settings.

This emphasis on clarity, accountability and confidence underpins everything delivered under the Prima Cura Training name.

Social Media & Connected Profiles

Last reviewed: March 2026