Early years staff who qualified from September 2016 on need to hold a paediatric first aid certificate, under regulations that came into force last month.
The certificate can be for full or emergency paediatric first aid, and there is a three-month ‘grace’ period to enable staff to attend training.
The requirement will only apply to staff who qualified from September 2016 onwards and without the certificate, staff will not count in adult to child ratios.
Exceptions to the requirements can be made for staff with a disability that prevents them from undertaking first aid duties.
UNISON has generally welcomed this proposal but is concerned about the availability and cost of first aid training and says that paying for any compulsory training must be the employers’ must responsibility.