Specialist care provider Newcross Healthcare, which has a branch in Bristol, has become the first in its industry to receive a new certification for apprenticeships.
The firm, which provides highly-trained staff, clinical expertise and administrative support to help care for sick and vulnerable people, has been approved by the Education and Skills Funding Agency as an End Point Assessment (EPA) assessor for lead adult care worker and adult care worker standards. 
EPAs provide apprentices with tests at the end of their apprenticeship to assess their knowledge, skills and behaviours and evaluate their ability to do the job they are training for.
Only organisations on the government’s EPA register can conduct these independent assessments.
Devon-headquartered Newcross, one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist clinical training, has for more than a decade staged between 150 and 200 in-house training courses a month to more than 1,000 nurses and healthcare assistants.
It has 231 healthcare apprenticeships running nationwide with an average retention rate on health and social care apprenticeship courses of 89% – some 17% higher than the national average.
Its head of EPAs and apprenticeships Kelly-Marie Harris said: “Apprenticeships have always played a vital role in supporting the development of our organisation. We are 100% committed to fostering the first-class standards of caring practice and helping individuals to reach their highest potential in a trusting and compassionate environment.
“We have a workforce of over 7,000 people and many of them have already completed their level 2 and 3 Adult Care Worker apprenticeship. This places us at a significant advantage as an EPA organisation, as we understand the exacting requirements needed to pass the assessment and the depth and breadth of knowledge required.
“We are proud to be an EPA organisation allowing us to continue to improve the quality and raise the value of apprenticeships while ensuring the very highest standards are met throughout the care sector.”
Newcross Healthcare has more than 60 branches across the UK, including Weston-super-Mare, Bath and Swindon.
