News Archive
Skills for Care's press officer Paul Clarke works closely with the national, local and sector press delivering our key messages to journalists.
An archive of past press releases are available here.
Paul Clarke can be contacted on 0113 2411297, 07977 519287 or paul.clarke@skillsforcare.org.uk
New e-learning available for NMDS-SC users
News release 19 August 2010
Skills for Care is now offering free access to e-End of Life Care for All (e-ELCA) for adult social care employers registered with the National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC).
The new access in partnership with DH e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH) is a free and innovative e-learning resource that aims to enhance the training and knowledge of all those involved in delivering end of life care.
The website offers more than130 easy to use and interactive e-learning sessions covering all aspects of end of life care including assessment, advance care planning, symptom management and communication skills.
Commissioned by the Department of Health (DH) and the National End of Life Care Programme to support the National End of Life Care Strategy (2008), e-ELCA has been developed by the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland in partnership with e-LfH.
Employers registered with the NMDS-SC will now have access to a user registration code that is available when logged in to their individual online account and which will allow them to register for access to e-ELCA.
"Although the training resources have been developed in the main for healthcare professionals Skills for Care believes that the resources will be extremely beneficial for providers of adult social care who often have to deal with the practical and emotional realities when a person reaches the end of their life," says Skills for Care CEO Sharon Allen.
"Skills for Care is incredibly grateful to the thousands of employers who submit their data to NMDS-SC. Providing this easy to use resource is one way of saying thanks to them for their support which influences our thinking on how services are delivered on the frontline."
Claire Henry, director of the NEoLCP, said: "This is exciting news for hundreds of thousands of social care workers across both the public and independent sectors and all care settings. It has always been a key goal in the development of e-ELCA that social care workers should have access to online learning in an area of care often seen to be a 'health' issue. Now, that has become a reality for a large part of the social care workforce with access to high-quality and free training in this challenging area of work."
Dr Bee Wee, national clinical lead for e-ELCA, said: "We all aspire to achieve high quality end of life care. Now, using e-ELCA, health and social care colleagues will be able to learn together."
For more information about how to access the user registration code, visit
http://www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk/help/Category.aspx?id=1266
If you want to register with NMDS-SC and access the e-ELCA resources then visit www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk. If you are already registered with the NMDS-SC, log in to your account and view the 'my establishment' page to access the user registration code for your staff.
For further information about the resources available from e-LfH visit
Skills for Care launches the State of the Adult Social Care Workforce report
News release 12 July 2010
Skills for Care has launched the second State of the Adult Social Care Workforce report packed with the latest data helping 17,300 organisations make sense of a complex sector providing social care for adults and older people in England.
The report found that the size of the adult social care sector continues to increase as the estimated number of paid jobs across the sector rose to 1.71 million carried out by 1.6 million paid staff.
The new report based on improved data from Skills for Care's National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC) and national statistics from the Office of National Statistics covers key areas including a gender profile confirming that about 80% of all jobs in adult social care are done by women as well as the age of workers in the sector and pay levels.
Skills for Care's NMDS-SC reveals that 64% of all senior care workers hold care-related qualifications up to NVQ Level 2 or above, at least 39% are qualified up to Level 3 or above and 62% of Registered Managers are qualified to level 4 or above.
The report also supplies invaluable data for employers about vacancy and turnover rates as well as well as looking at skills shortages and gaps across the sector.
The report's authors have looked at four hypothetical models examining the potential size of the workforce in 2025 which are designed to add to the debate about how the sector will recruit and retain the future workforce as the demographic profile of the population undergoes dramatic changes.
"The adult social care sector was once famously described as a 'data desert' so Skills for Care believes this new report will provide an oasis of information making sure we have reliable data to create a trained and qualified workforce capable of meeting the huge challenges ahead," says Skills for Care Chair Professor David Croisdale-Appleby.
"We can see there has been a significant increase in the number of service providers and employees and given this trend is going to continue we now have a report that will help us make long term workforce planning decisions based on robust data rather than anecdotal evidence."
For the executive summary and full report visit
Annual Reports on the Social Care Workforce
Skills for Care launch new guide for workforce planners
News release 1 July 2010
Skills for Care have launched a new easy to use guide to support workforce planning for providers of adult social care.
The Taking Steps guide was launched at a national conference that shared key learning from the Association of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and Skills for Care's Integrated Local Area Workforce Strategies (InLAWS) and looked at how InLAWS can help local authorities meet each of the Putting people First milestones.
The flexible guide is designed for busy people who need help to plan their future workforce needs. The guide refers to Skills for Health's Six Step Methodology to Integrated Workforce planning to consider the current position of their business, where it needs to be in the future and how to keep workers and people who use services safe.
The audience for this guide will be diverse in scale, service area and experience of workforce planning but the materials are designed to support all workforce planners across the adult social care sector.
Conference delegates were able to pick up copies of six case studies from InLAWS field work passing on learning from innovative workforce planning initiatives across England. The case studies pass on learning from the Borough of Poole, the Black Country Partnership for Care, Halton Borough Council, Wigan Council and the London Borough of Haringey.
The conference was opened with an update of progress on developing InLAWS by Mun Thong Phung who is Chair of the national Steering Group and Director of Adult, Culture and Community Services at the London Borough of Haringey.
Neil Paterson from the Workforce Directorate at the Department of Health talked about the view from the department in relation to adult social care workforce development.
Workforce commissioning in the community was covered by Jo Cleary, who is Co-Chair of the ADASS Workforce Network and Executive Director of Adult and Community Services at the London Borough of Lambeth.
Pat Bailey, Vice President of the Social Care Association, led a session looking at how service providers would help meet future demand and essential standards.
"Skills for Care are grateful to all our partners who helped us create this easy to use and flexible guide to workforce planning which is designed to help commissioners on the frontline plan the workforces that will deliver future demand in their communities," says Skills for Care's Director of Planning Support and Performance Jan Sheldon.
"Skills for Care believe this guide will be a very useful tool in helping commissioners look at local demand and determine how many workers they will require to meet the future needs of their citizens."
To download the guide to workforce planning visit http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/guidetoworkforceplanning/
For more information InLAWS and to download the case studies visit www.skillsforcare.org.uk/inlaws
Skills for Care launch new report into how communities can support people who use services and carers
News release 22 June 2010
Skills for Care have launched their 'Only a Footstep Away' report looking at how local people and communities can support people who use services and carers in their neighbourhood.
Community development and 'neighbourhoodism' will be an increasingly important area for adult social care, and the report by independent consultants Bob Hudson and Melanie Henwood, builds on Skills for Care's 'Seven Principles of Workforce Redesign' that highlighted the importance of understanding the skills of local communities.
'Only a Footstep Away' explores how Skills for Care and other stakeholders can support the skills requirements of those who do not see themselves as part of the adult social care workforce but still have an important role in enabling people who use services to continue to living in their neighbourhoods.
Skills for Care have already supported a number of New Types of Worker projects investigating the importance of really understanding local communities to create an analytical skills assessment framework that drives a strategic approach to community and neighbourhood skills development.
The report also examines the literature that supports the development of a community skills approach where a detailed analysis of skills which already exist in a neighbourhood can help vulnerable adults living in the community to a greater level of support and independence.
"We know that the time is right politically to address community and neighbourhood approaches and Only a Footstep Away refers to the coalition government agreement, published as this work was being finalised, which makes reference to the need for greater respect for, and involvement of local communities in work to improve people's lives," says Skills for Care Chair Professor David Croisdale-Appleby.
"These perspectives now need to be combined with our learning from the New Types of Worker programme, plus the principles of workforce redesign, to create a practical workforce strategy to boost social care's neighbourhood effectiveness.
"This will be an important challenge for Skills for Care over the next three years, and we are keen to involve social care's other leaders in this work."
For a copy of the report go to New Types of Worker publications
Skills for Care sponsor national Carers Week
News release 16 June 2010
Skills for Care are one of the sponsors of Carers Week as part of their drive to help adult social care workers have a better understanding of the importance carers have in service delivery.
Skills for Care, Skills for Health and the Department of Health are working in partnership to strengthen the understanding of the health and social care workforce about the importance of carers in the delivery of health and social care services and to raise awareness of carers' needs and issues across the wider workforce.
It is estimated that 10% of the population will be carers at some point in their lives but carers often feel their contribution is not fully recognised which is why Skills for Care is currently developing a new framework to make sure key workers can better support them.
Following the development of a set of common core principles of good practice, we are now developing the national learning/training framework with supporting resources to ensure that key workers can receive nationally agreed training to better support carers.
More than sixty pilot sites have volunteered to help shape the framework which will not be an 'off the shelf' training package but a set of tools that will enable training to be commissioned or developed to reflect local workforce needs.
The aim of the pilots is to help make sure the framework is flexible enough to be delivered in a variety of way to meet different local needs before it is launched nationally.
As part of the sponsorship package Skills for Care Programme Head Jim Thomas will speak at a Carers Week Parliamentary Reception to talk about projects we have supported looking at how adult social care professionals can better support carers in their communities.
"All adult social care professionals know the massive contribution carers make providing up to £87 billion worth of care so we are delighted to sponsor Carers Week which raises the profile of their work," says Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.
"But we also know there is always work that needs to be done to improve the support professional staff offer carers which is why are piloting a new framework that we believe will considerably strengthen the strong relationships between key workers and carers."
Skills for Care launch refreshed Common Induction Standards
News release - 11 June 2010
Skills for Care have launched a refreshed version of the hugely influential Common Induction Standards to make sure they reflect current policy and practice across the adult social care sector.
The standards were revised after extensive consultation across the sector to make sure that people entering adult social care have the maximum support and guidance as they begin their careers.
Feedback from employers indicates that effective implementation of the Common Induction Standards is a significant step in the delivery of high quality care and support for new starters.
The refreshed standards will map to the mandatory units of the new Health and Social Care Diploma - part of the Qualifications and Credit Framework - to make sure there is a consistency of approach for the workforce. There are now eight new standards which will not take new staff any longer to complete. The new standards are:
Standard 1 - Role of the health and social care workers
Standard 2 - Personal development
Standard 3 - Communicate effectively
Standard 4 - Equality and inclusion
Standard 5 - Principles for implementing duty of care
Standard 6 - Principles of safeguarding in health and social care
Standard 7 - Person centred support
Standard 8 - Health and safety in an adult social care setting
The Care Quality Commission's essential Standards of Quality and Safety highlight the importance and value of strong and comprehensive induction and they will need to be assured that staff have undergone a through induction process.
"The Common Induction Standards have proved to be incredibly popular with employers and employees but the new standards are designed to be fit for purpose reflecting the very latest policy and practice as our sector continues to evolve," says Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.
"We know how vital good induction is to making sure people have the right start in their adult social care careers and we are confident the refreshed Common Induction Standards will support employers who are committed to developing the skills and knowledge of their staff from day one."
To download the standards go to www.skillsforcare.org.uk/cis.
Skills for Care welcome extension to funding for NVQ Level 2 and 3 Social Care qualifications
News release 8 June 2010
Skills for Care has welcomed the decision by the Skills Funding Agency to extend the period of time that funding will continue to be available for new learners registering on NVQ Level 2 and 3 Social Care qualifications.
The funding for NVQs was due to be withdrawn in August 2010 as part of the planned transition to the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF). But the Skills Funding Agency has now agreed - in consultation with Skills for Care - to continue to provide funding for eligible learners in this area starting NVQ Level 2 and 3 Social Care qualifications up until 31st December 2010.
This Skills Funding Agency list of NVQ qualifications that will not be funded beyond 31st July 2010 can be found at http://qcf.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk/qcf-funding/confirmationfunding/.
From January 2011 a new range of qualifications will be introduced to replace the current Health and Social Care NVQ at level 2 and level 3. These will be called Health and Social Care Diplomas at Level 2 and level 3. There will be options to take a generic HSC Diploma or a specialist Dementia pathway or Learning Disability pathway which will allow learners to tailor their learning to their job role.
Skills for Care is committed to the introduction of the new qualifications as part of the QCF and is working closely with all partners to ensure that all the necessary arrangements are in place for their introduction.
"Skills for Care have played a key role in negotiating this change which will help to ensure that the introduction of the new QCF qualifications goes ahead smoothly," says Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.
"This very welcome decision will allow training providers/colleges to plan for the new academic year with confidence. It will also mean that employers can continue to access the training they need in order to ensure that their staff are fully trained and competent during the transition period."
Skills for Care say Barchester Healthcare winning major apprenticeship award is a 'breakthrough' for the sector
News Release 1 June 2010, Ref: 17/10
Skills for Care say Barchester Healthcare beating the Army and Navy to win Macro Apprentice Employer of the Year at the Workforce Development Awards is a major breakthrough for the adult social care sector.
Barchester beat off stiff competition from the Armed Forces at the awards event organised by the National Employer Service to scoop the award for employers with more than 5,000 employees rewarding their innovative work offering a wide range of apprenticeships to their staff who provide adult social care services.
It was an outstanding night for Barchester as they also picked up the award for Supporting Young Talent beating entries from BAE Systems, British Gas and Toni and Guy. Barchester completed a hat-trick of wins picking up the Integrating Employment and Skills Category beating off a strong entry from McDonald's Restaurants.
The Workforce Development awards are convened annually by the National Employer Service to celebrate the best in training by recognising employers who have developed innovative training programmes and learners who have excelled in work-based learning.
"Barchester Healthcare have been one of the pioneers in offering apprenticeships to adult social care staff so for them to win this prestigious national award is not only a huge honour for them but is a major breakthrough for all employers who support apprentices in our sector." says Skills for Care Chair Professor David Croisdale-Appleby.
"We are seeing record numbers of apprentices joining our sector because adult social care is a very good fit for apprenticeships leading to long-term careers so we are absolutely delighted for Barchester Healthcare who have a long standing commitment to offering innovative and practical apprenticeship programmes to their staff."
Barchester Healthcare will now automatically go through to a judging panel for theNational Apprenticeship Awards on 15 July in London.
Skills for Care back Adult Learning at Work Day
News Release 20 May 2010, Ref: 17/10
Skills for Care are backing Adult Learning at Work Day by encouraging all their staff to take ten minutes out today to develop their own Skills for Life.
All this week Adults Learners' Week is celebrating the benefits of lifelong learning and Skills for Care has launched Skills for Life - a practical guide for social care employers designed to help 35,000 adult social care employers support their staff to improve basic skills.
Skills for Life is all about communication and numbers - it includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, working with numbers and basic computer and technology skills.
Skills for Care has produced the guide after finding that 30% of graduates do not have level 2 literacy skills and 15% of senior managers have number skills below that expected of an 11-year-old.
Skills for Care are encouraging adult social care employers and their staff to take ten minutes to look at websites that encourage Skills for Life development:
www.braingames.org.uk - a sports-style game site that helps you to develop your maths and English skills
www.onlinebasics.co.uk - a free, easy to use site that will help you get started using computers and the internet.
www.myguide.gov.uk - designed to help people take their first steps with computers and the internet.
www.bbc.co.uk/raw - this is a place where you can develop your everyday skills for life.
"Skills for Care are encouraging all our staff to take ten minutes to develop their Skills for Life and we want to support all employers across our sector to do the same which is why we've produced our easy to use guide," says Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.
"We know employers who invest in Skills for Life development report that staff are more motivated and confident which can only improve the care and support for people who use services and carers."
You can download Skills for Life - a Practical Guide for Social Care Employers free from http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/skillsforlife or order a hard copy by emailing marketing@skillsforcare.org.uk
Breakfast TV star Penny Smith to present Skills for Care's Accolades awards
News release 18 May 2010, Ref - 16/10
Breakfast TV star Penny Smith will present the eighth Skills for Care Accolades awards celebrating the achievements of the very best social care providers across England.
Penny is best known for her hugely successful seventeen-year stint on the sofa at morning news programme GMTV working on some of the biggest stories of the last two decades.
She has presented quite a few other programmes like 'I Want It Now', written two successful novels set in the worlds of breakfast and reality television and has written for many of the national newspapers and a number of magazines.
Penny teamed up with Grammy award winning singer Curtis Stigers on singing talent show Just the Two of Us where she finished a creditable - if largely untuneful - fourth.
She is about to host a series of programmes on Radio 2 featuring Kiri te Kanawa's search for opera's next big star.
This is the third year that the Accolades have been presented in partnership with the Department of Health and entries are still open in fourteen categories covering both adults and children's social care providers. It is not too late to enter and have the chance to meet Penny.
The glittering awards dinner on 25 November 2010 will be held for the first time at the world famous Dorchester Hotel in London.
"The Accolades are still seen as the Oscars of the social care world and in Penny Smith we have the perfect presenter who is not only a household name, but is well known for her down to earth style that will really connect with all the nominees," says Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.
"We're delighted that for the third year the Department of Health will be our partner.
So come on put your organisation, team or project forward for this unique recognition of its excellence and innovation."
There's not much time left as entries close on Friday 21 May and details of how to enter can be found at www.skillsforcare.org.uk/accolades.
Skills for Care appoint Sharon Allen as its new Chief Executive
News Release 17 May 2005, Ref: 15/10
Skills for Care has appointed highly experienced social entrepreneur Sharon Allen as its new Chief Executive Officer to succeed Andrea Rowe who is retiring after a decade of service in the role.
Sharon Allen is currently Chief Executive of St Anne's Community Services that offers not-for-profit social care and supported housing across Yorkshire and the North East. During her 7 year period as CEO, Sharon has increased turnover at St Anne's by 89% to £34 million and increased staff numbers from 800 to 1300.
Her twenty five year career in social care began as a qualified social worker with Nottingham County Council before moving to Kirklees Metropolitan Council. Sharon was project manager at the Blenheim Project in Bradford and was Director, National and Service Initiatives at the national housing charity Shelter before joining St Anne's.
She is Voluntary and Community Sector representative member of the Board at the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward, and is also an active member of Skills for Care's Yorkshire and Humber regional committee.
The appointment was made after a rigorous selection procedure involving Skills for Care board members, staff and representatives of people who use services.
"I'm absolutely delighted taking on this job at what is clearly a pivotal time for the adult social care sector. Skills for Care, in representing the views of employers, has the key role to play in creating a qualified future workforce that delivers high quality social care to the millions of people who use services and to carers," says Sharon Allen.
"My time on the Yorkshire and Humber regional committee has convinced me Skills for Care not only works closely with employers to make sure their staff can access high quality training, but that the people who work for the organisation have the skills and motivation needed to meet the huge challenges ahead."
Skills for Care's Chair, Professor David Croisdale-Appleby, led the selection team of Board Members who appointed Sharon to her new role.
"We had a very strong shortlist, but Sharon had just the right mix of leadership and financial skills in a variety of senior statutory, voluntary and third sector roles that, combined with her successful track record as a CEO, will ensure Skills for Care continues to grow and develop," says Professor Croisdale-Appleby.
"Our outgoing CEO Andrea Rowe has grown the organisation dramatically over the last decade bringing it to a very robust position, and Sharon is the ideal person to ensure workforce development issues remain at the heart of the debate around adult social care, especially as we estimate we will need an extra one million workers by 2025."
Skills for Care 'delighted' as Skills for Care and Development is relicensed as Sector Skills Council
News release 26 March 2010, Ref 13/10
Skills for Care has warmly welcomed the decision to relicense Skills for Care and Development as the Sector Skills Council covering social care, children, early years and young people's workforces in the UK.
The decision was announced today by Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson with unanimous support from Ministerial Sponsors in DCSF, DWP, HM Treasury, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government, DELNI and the Department of Health.
"Skills for Care is delighted that the decision has been made to relicense Skills for Care and Development as it is another clear indication of the importance of workforce development in social care across the UK especially as we are predicting that we will need an extra million workers in England alone by 2025," says Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.
"Skills for Care will continue to play an active role in the future development of our sector skills council and continue our active engagement with 35,000 adult social care employers in England to help them deliver a skilled and flexible workforce."
Health Select Committee recommends new vision for social care workforce
News Release 16 March 2010, Ref: 12/10
Skills for Care has welcomed the focus on workforce issues in the Health Select Committee's report on adult social care and support their recommendation that an overarching strategic vision for the future workforce is created as part of current reforms.
Skills for Care's CEO Andrea Rowe gave evidence to the inquiry and the workforce development agency is already working with 35,000 social care employers to tackle many of the key issues raised in the report, through initiatives including the New Types of Worker programme, NMDS-SC and the new Qualifications and Credit Framework.
The Health Select Committee's report into the Future of Social Care Services outlines several problems with the current social care system, concluding that the sector faces "an apparent lack of an overarching strategic vision for the future social care workforce".
The report also calls for an investigation into staffing issues, such as lack of training and career development, staffing levels and high staff turnover and the role they play in compromising standards.
"We will take on board the analysis and recommendations from the Health Select Committee's report which I was pleased to give evidence to, and we will work alongside other sector organisations to ensure that the best possible adult social care is provided for millions of people who use services and carers," says Skills for Care's CEO Andrea Rowe.
"We believe that workforce development is central to quality services for the future. In order to deliver a National Care Service, a whole person, whole system and whole community approach is required. This means seamless operating systems across social care and health care, as well as the bringing together of a wide range of services and a diverse workforce.
"It is essential that any changes made to the sector in the future are carefully managed, especially as we estimate that we will need up to one million new workers by 2025."
To view a PDF version of the report please click on the link below:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmhealth/22/22.pdf
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