Your role, competence and safe delegation

Care staff must only provide medicines support that is authorised by local policy and covered by their training and assessed competence. Willingness to help does not replace documented training, assessment or clear authorisation.

NICE SC1 requires care home providers to ensure designated staff administer medicines only after appropriate training and assessment of competence. CQC guidance for England states new staff must not manage or administer medicines before their competence has been assessed, and that competence is reviewed at least annually.

Know your boundary before the task

• Local policy: what your service permits care assistants, senior carers, nurses, agency staff and night staff to do.
• Training: whether you have completed the specific medicines training needed for the task.
• Competence: whether someone competent has observed and signed off your practical ability to perform the task safely.
• Delegation: whether a qualified health professional has delegated the specific task, such as a specialist route, and whether those responsibilities are recorded.
• Supervision: who to contact when instructions are unclear, a medicine is missing or a person refuses.
• Accountability: you remain responsible for following policy, checking correctly, recording accurately and escalating concerns.

Do not let pressure push you beyond competence. A medicines task is safe only when the role, training, authorisation, records and escalation route are clear.