Project Overview
Care Staff CPD Platform is a modern full-stack web application built for UK care organisations to manage their entire workforce lifecycle from a single system. The platform handles staff HR records, mandatory and specialist training courses, compliance tracking, certificate generation, and secure employment reference requests.
Built with NestJS on the backend and React on the frontend, the system supports two distinct role-based experiences: administrators get full workforce management tools including analytics and compliance reports, while staff access a self-service portal for their own training records, certificates, and policy acknowledgements.
The platform was built for Inspire London College and Lets Care All, real UK care-sector organisations, and handles sensitive staff data with encrypted credential storage, JWT authentication, and scoped API tokens for workflow automation integrations.
Built with NestJS on the backend and React on the frontend, the system supports two distinct role-based experiences: administrators get full workforce management tools including analytics and compliance reports, while staff access a self-service portal for their own training records, certificates, and policy acknowledgements.
The platform was built for Inspire London College and Lets Care All, real UK care-sector organisations, and handles sensitive staff data with encrypted credential storage, JWT authentication, and scoped API tokens for workflow automation integrations.
The Challenge
UK care organisations face strict regulatory requirements for staff training, compliance documentation, and record-keeping. Managing these manually through spreadsheets and paper records is time-consuming, error-prone, and creates compliance risk during CQC inspections. Staff onboarding is slow, certificate management is fragmented, and employment reference processes are handled through insecure email chains with no audit trail.
The Solution
Built a unified full-stack platform using NestJS REST API with TypeORM and PostgreSQL for the backend, and React 19 with Mantine UI for the frontend. Staff profiles centralise HR records, employment history, and digital signatures. The training module tracks course enrolment and auto-generates PDF certificates with unique verification codes. Policy compliance is enforced through timed reading sessions with completion analytics.
Employment references are handled through secure, time-limited links sent to referees, removing email chains entirely. VLE credentials are stored encrypted at rest and surfaced to staff securely. Scoped API tokens enable workflow automation integrations with external tools like n8n.
Employment references are handled through secure, time-limited links sent to referees, removing email chains entirely. VLE credentials are stored encrypted at rest and surfaced to staff securely. Scoped API tokens enable workflow automation integrations with external tools like n8n.
Key Features
- Staff profiles with employment records, address history, review forms, and digital signatures
- Course catalogue with enrolment tracking and completion status per staff member
- Automated PDF certificate generation with unique verification codes
- Policy management with timed reading sessions and compliance analytics
- Secure link-based employment reference requests with automated email reminders
- Encrypted VLE credential storage with secure staff-facing retrieval
- Role-based access control, separate admin and staff self-service views
- Scoped API tokens with optional expiration for workflow automation
- JWT authentication with Passport and bcrypt password hashing
- Rate limiting and security hardening throughout the API
- Docker Compose for reproducible local and production deployment
- Database migrations with TypeORM for version-controlled schema management
Results & Impact
Deployed for real UK care organisations, Inspire London College and Lets Care All, replacing manual spreadsheet-based workforce management. Staff onboarding time reduced significantly through centralised profile creation and automated certificate workflows. Compliance reporting is now instant rather than requiring manual document collation before inspections.
The secure reference system eliminated insecure email chains and provides a full audit trail. Encrypted VLE credential storage resolved a previous security gap where credentials were shared in plain text. The scoped API token system enabled n8n automation workflows to integrate with the platform without exposing full admin access.
The secure reference system eliminated insecure email chains and provides a full audit trail. Encrypted VLE credential storage resolved a previous security gap where credentials were shared in plain text. The scoped API token system enabled n8n automation workflows to integrate with the platform without exposing full admin access.