Person Centred Care and Planning
Person-centred care and planning training delivered at your workplace. Half a day or a full day. The practical skills to move from completing tasks for people to working with them, and care plans that actually reflect who someone is.
Course Overview
Take something as simple as someone’s morning routine. Task-based care gets them washed, dressed, and downstairs by half past eight, in that order, every day, because that’s the order it has always been done. Person-centred care knows that this particular person has always preferred a cup of tea before they’re washed, that they like to choose their own clothes even if it takes a little longer, and that being rushed first thing leaves them anxious for the rest of the day. The tasks on the checklist might look almost identical. The experience for the person receiving care is completely different.
This course helps staff understand not just what person-centred care is, but how to apply it consistently in real-world settings where time pressures, documentation, and competing demands are part of everyday practice. It supports staff to move from doing tasks for people to working with people, so that care plans, communication, and day-to-day decisions all reflect what actually matters to the individual.
This training aligns with CQC Regulation 9: Person-Centred Care, which requires that care and treatment is appropriate, reflect individual needs, and meet the preferences of the person receiving it. It also reflects best practice guidance from Skills for Care and supports the knowledge requirements of Care Certificate Standard 5: Work in a Person-Centred Way.
Course Details
- Duration: Half day or full day, depending on the depth required
- Delivery: Face-to-face, in-house at your workplace or chosen venue
- Certificate: CPD-Accredited Certificate of Achievement in Person-Centred Care and Planning
- Awarding organisations: CPD-Accredited
- Validity: No fixed renewal period. Refresher recommended in line with organisational policy and updated guidance.
- Group size: Maximum 15 learners per trainer
Who This Course Is For
This course is right for care and support staff across any setting who want to move from task-based routines to genuinely person-centred practice.
- Care assistants and support workers
- Senior carers and team leaders
- Domiciliary care staff
- Residential and nursing home staff
- Personal Assistants
- Staff working in supported living or community services
It’s particularly valuable for teams who are new to person-centred approaches, need to strengthen care planning and documentation, are preparing for inspection, or are supporting individuals with complex or changing needs. For managers and senior staff responsible for assessing and signing off Care Certificate competency across their team, including Standard 5, our Care Certificate Assessing course is the natural complement to this one.
Why This Training Matters
Person-centred care is a regulatory expectation, not an optional approach. CQC Regulation 9: Person-Centred Care expects providers to demonstrate that care is tailored to the individual, respectful of dignity and choice, based on involvement, consent and communication, and reflective of personal preferences, history, and outcomes.
Despite this, many services unintentionally drift into task-focused care, where routines take priority over the person. This can result in:
- Reduced independence and choice
- Poorer experiences for individuals
- Gaps in care planning and documentation
- Increased risk during inspection
- Staff uncertainty about expectations
This course brings person-centred care back into focus, helping staff understand how to deliver it consistently, even in busy environments.
Care Certificate Standard 5 and This Course
Care Certificate Standard 5 (Work in a Person-Centred Way) requires all new care workers to demonstrate an understanding of person-centred values, how to support an individual’s right to make choices, how to encourage active participation, and how to recognise and respect each person’s identity and personal history. This course covers Standard 5 in full, including how those values translate into day-to-day practice and care planning.
For a complete guide to the Care Certificate, all 16 standards, and how Prima Cura Training supports organisations to deliver and assess it, visit our Care Certificate UK Guide.
What the Day Covers
All content reflects CQC Regulation 9: Person-Centred Care and current Skills for Care guidance throughout. Topics covered include:
- Understanding person-centred care in practice
- Core values and principles
- Individuality, identity, and life history
- Communication and relationship building
- Involving individuals in decisions
- Supporting choice, control, and independence
- Care planning and documentation
- Balancing risk with independence
- Dignity, respect, and privacy
- Recognising barriers and challenges
- Reflective practice and continuous improvement
Every course is also built around the people your team actually supports, using your care plans and documentation as standard.
How the Course Is Delivered
This course is delivered face-to-face at your workplace or chosen venue, ensuring learning is directly relevant to your service. Sessions are interactive and include real-life scenarios from care settings, group discussion and reflection, practical examples linked to your environment, and opportunities for staff to explore and challenge their own practice.
Groups are capped at 15. Where appropriate, we incorporate your care plans and documentation, your policies and procedures, any inspection feedback, and the specific challenges your service is facing, so training is practical, relevant, and immediately applicable rather than generic.
Certification and Validity
On completion, learners receive a CPD-Accredited Certificate of Achievement in Person-Centred Care and Planning.
There is no fixed legal renewal period, but refresher training is recommended to support ongoing professional development, consistent care delivery, and alignment with updated guidance and inspection expectations. For staff supporting individuals who may lack the capacity to make certain decisions, our Mental Capacity Act and DoLS course is a natural next step, building on the person-centred principles covered here.
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.
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. Groups are capped at 15 per trainer to protect the quality of hands-on learning.
Our associate network means we can deliver across England. You can meet the team on our Associates page.
FAQs
What does person-centred care mean in practice?
Person-centred care means supporting individuals in a way that reflects their preferences, needs, and values. In practice, this involves listening to the person, involving them in decisions, respecting their choices, and adapting support to suit them rather than running through a fixed routine. The difference often isn’t in what gets done, but in how, when, and why it gets done.
Why is person-centred care important for CQC inspections?
Under CQC Regulation 9: Person-Centred Care, care and treatment must be appropriate, must reflect individual needs, and must meet the preferences of the person receiving it. This is reflected across CQC’s inspection frameworks and quality statements. Services that cannot demonstrate this approach, in care plans, in documentation, and in how staff talk about the people they support, may struggle to evidence quality and effectiveness at inspection.
How does person-centred care link to the Mental Capacity Act?
Person-centred care supports decision-making, choice, and involvement for everyone, including people who lack the capacity to make certain decisions. Where someone lacks capacity, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 requires that any decision made on their behalf is in their best interests, and that the person is involved in that decision as far as possible. Person-centred practice is what makes best interest decisions genuinely centred on the individual, rather than a box-ticking exercise. Our Mental Capacity Act and DoLS course covers this in depth.
What are common barriers to person-centred care, and how does this course address them?
The most common barriers are time pressure, staffing levels, task-based routines, poor communication, and simply not knowing what person-centred care looks like in practice when the day is already full. This course doesn’t pretend those pressures don’t exist. Instead, it works through real scenarios so staff can recognise when care is drifting into task mode, and build practical habits that fit around the pressures of a genuinely busy shift rather than relying on having extra time that may not exist.
Further Reading
- Person-Centred Care: Common Myths: Clearing up misconceptions about what person-centred care actually involves
- What Person-Centred Care Really Means: A practical introduction to person-centred values in care
- Care Certificate Standard 5 Explained: What Standard 5 requires and how it applies in day-to-day practice
Related Courses
- Adult Safeguarding Level 1 and 2
- Mental Capacity Act and DoLS
- Communication in Care
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- Care Certificate Assessing
Book or Enquire
Book your training or request a quote
Tell us your team size and your sector. We’ll come back with a quote, the right advice on qualification level, and a straight answer on whether this is the best course for your team.
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 the Care Quality Commission and Skills for Care, and current UK legislation, including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and Care Certificate Standard 5 (updated March 2025).
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: June 2026 | Next review: June 2027
This page provides general guidance on person-centred care principles and practice and reflects current CQC and Skills for Care guidance at the date of review. It does not replace organisational policies, supervision, or regulatory responsibilities. Providers remain responsible for ensuring care delivery meets current UK legislation and CQC expectations, including Regulation 9 (Person-Centred Care) and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
