Preparing to Support Someone With Their Medicines
The assessment checks that staff understand how they prepare for a medicines visit or administration round, check the relevant information and reduce avoidable distractions.
Individual medicines knowledge & understanding assessment for care staff
Evidence Staff Knowledge and Understanding in Medicines Support
Completing medicines training is an important first step. Managers also need clear evidence that staff have understood their training and the key principles of safe medicines support.
AJR MedSafe Academy provides an individual, post-training knowledge and understanding assessment for staff working in domiciliary care, supported living and care homes. Each staff member completes it via a personal link and must score 80% or above.
The assessment gives managers documented evidence that staff have understood their training. It is not a practical medication administration competency assessment or workplace sign-off — confirming that an individual is competent to administer medicines in their role remains the responsibility of the care provider, using its own competency framework.
Book the Knowledge & Understanding Assessment
Call Amelia on 07386 357812
Knowledge into practice
Training Builds Knowledge. Competency Shows It in Practice.
A member of staff may have completed medicines training but still feel uncertain when faced with situations such as:
- A person refusing their medicine
- A missing or unclear MAR entry
- A medicine that has changed
- A dose that is late or has been missed
- Instructions that do not appear to match
- A “when required” medicine
- A time-sensitive medicine
- A concern about storage or record keeping
These situations require more than remembering information from a course. Staff need to know how to remain calm, follow the correct process, recognise when something is not right and ask for appropriate support.
The knowledge and understanding assessment helps you evidence whether staff have understood safe, person-centred medicines principles from their training.
Tailored to your service
What the Knowledge & Understanding Assessment Covers
The assessment checks understanding across the key areas covered in medicines training. Depending on your requirements, questions may cover:
Safe Medicines Administration
The assessment checks whether staff understand the safe, consistent process to follow before supporting or administering medicines.
MAR and eMAR Records
The assessment checks that staff understand how they use your recording system, document the support provided and respond when information is missing, unclear or unexpected.
Person-Centred Medicines Support
Safe medicines support is not only about the task. The assessment checks that staff understand the importance of clear communication, respecting the person’s choices and understand the level of support they have agreed to receive.
Refusals and Non-Administration
The assessment checks that staff understand what to do when a medicine cannot be given, including how to record the situation and when to escalate a concern.
PRN and Time-Sensitive Medicines
The assessment checks that staff understand how to follow care plans and instructions for “when required” and time-sensitive medicines without making decisions outside their role.
Recognising and Reporting Concerns
Staff should know when to pause, who to contact and how to report a medicines-related concern, discrepancy, incident or near miss.
Safe Storage and Handling
Where relevant, the assessment can include understanding of safe storage, transporting medicines, disposal arrangements and handling medicines within the person’s home or care setting.
Calm & constructive
A Supportive, Straightforward Assessment
The knowledge and understanding assessment should not feel like an examination designed to make staff nervous.
Each staff member completes an individual online assessment via a personal email link, with a pass mark of 80%. It checks understanding of the topics covered in their medicines training. The process typically involves:
1
An individual assessment link sent to each staff member by email
2
Questions covering the key medicines topics from their training
3
An 80% pass mark to confirm understanding
4
A record of completion and results for staff files
5
Clear identification of any areas needing further support
The assessment focuses on knowledge and understanding. It is not a practical observation of medication administration or a workplace competency sign-off, which remain the responsibility of the care provider.
The benefits
How the Knowledge & Understanding Assessment Helps Your Service
A post-training knowledge and understanding assessment can help managers:
- Build staff confidence
- Encourage consistent medicines practice
- Identify learning needs before they become larger problems
- Support new staff following their training
- Provide evidence of staff development and oversight
- Improve medicines documentation
- Reinforce your policies and agreed ways of working
- Respond constructively following an incident or near miss
- Create a stronger culture of openness and medicines safety
Most importantly, it helps provide reassurance that staff understand not only what to do, but also when to stop and seek advice.
When Should Staff Competency Be Reviewed?
You may benefit from arranging a knowledge and understanding assessment:
- After a staff member completes medicines training
- Before a new staff member supports medicines without supervision
- As part of an annual competency review
- Following a medicines error, incident or near miss
- When a concern has been raised about practice
- When your medicines system, policy or procedures change
- When staff begin supporting people with different or more complex needs
- When someone returns to medicines duties after a significant absence
Competency should be treated as an ongoing process rather than a one-off tick-box exercise. Training and this knowledge assessment support your wider medicines competency process, but employers should also have their own arrangements for observing and assessing staff competence in practice.
Who Is the Assessment For?
The knowledge and understanding assessment can support:
- Domiciliary care providers
- Supported living services
- Residential care homes
- Nursing homes
- Adult day services
- New CQC-registered services
- Established providers reviewing medicines practice
- Care workers and support workers
- Senior carers and team leaders
- Staff who have recently completed medicines training
- Staff returning to medicines responsibilities
The assessment can be tailored around the medicines support your team actually provides.
Pharmacy Technician-led
Why Choose AJR MedSafe Academy?
AJR MedSafe Academy is not a generic training company. Training and assessment are led by Amelia Raby, an experienced Pharmacy Technician with more than 22 years of experience across NHS hospital trusts, prison healthcare and community pharmacy.
Amelia has also held leadership roles in service development, quality assurance and medicines management systems. As a former Service Lead for NHS Medicines Support in Norfolk, she delivered medication training to domiciliary care providers across the county.
This experience means your staff receive practical guidance from someone who understands medicines, frontline care and the pressures faced by managers.
You can expect:
- Pharmacy Technician-led support
- Practical rather than overly technical guidance
- A supportive approach for staff
- Training and assessment relevant to real care roles
- A strong focus on safe, person-centred practice
- Clear explanations that staff can apply in their roles
- Nationwide, face-to-face support
Thank you for sending this through. It is not only extremely helpful, but the action plan makes our planning and thoughts so much clearer. We will be in touch again and thanks so much for your support so far. It has been invaluable.Suzanne — Heywoods Grange, Diss, Norfolk
Combine the Knowledge Assessment With Medicines Training
The knowledge and understanding assessment works best alongside training. We provide practical, face-to-face Medicines Management Training followed by the individual assessment — giving you evidence that staff have both been trained and understood it.
View Medicines Management TrainingConcerned About Wider Medicines Compliance?
Sometimes staff assessment highlights wider concerns involving policies, care plans, MAR records, governance or organisational processes. Our Pre-CQC Medicines Compliance Audits offer a broader review of medicines systems with practical recommendations.
Explore Pre-CQC Medicines Compliance AuditsFAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is medicines training the same as a competency assessment?
No. Training helps staff develop knowledge and understanding. AJR MedSafe Academy provides a knowledge and understanding assessment that evidences staff have understood their training. A practical workplace competency assessment, which observes staff applying learning in their role, is a separate process carried out by the care provider.
Does completing training automatically make someone competent?
Training is an essential part of staff development, but providers should also have a process for assessing whether staff can carry out the medicines tasks required in their role.
How often should medicines competency be reviewed?
NICE guidance recommends an annual review of the knowledge, skills and competency of staff who provide medicines support. An earlier review may also be appropriate following an incident, a concern or a change in responsibilities.
Can the assessment be tailored to our medicines system?
Yes. The assessment can be shaped around your service, staff roles, MAR or eMAR system, policies and the type of medicines support your team provides.
Can you support domiciliary care staff?
Yes. AJR MedSafe Academy specialises in medicines support for domiciliary care and also works with supported living services and care homes.
Do you provide the assessment nationwide?
AJR MedSafe Academy provides face-to-face services to care organisations across the UK. Contact us to discuss your location and requirements.
Can an assessment be arranged following an incident?
Yes. A supportive reassessment can help identify learning needs, reinforce safe practice and provide managers with a clearer understanding of where additional support may be required.
Does the assessment guarantee CQC compliance?
No single training course or assessment can guarantee compliance. A knowledge and understanding assessment can, however, help strengthen staff development, oversight and the evidence available within your service.
Evidence That Your Staff Have Understood Their Medicines Training
Give your team an individual, post-training assessment that evidences they have understood their medicines training. Contact Amelia to discuss your staff, your service and the knowledge and understanding assessment.
Amelia Raby — Director, AJR MedSafe Academy
07386 357812 ·
info@ajrmedsafeacademy.com