welcome to skills for care's enews

The enews includes news from Skills for Care and information you may find useful from across the sector.

The updated interactive pages use text and video to explain 'what is social care?', 'starting in social care' and 'developing your career'. There is also a matrix that allows individuals to match their particular social care interest against job 'levels' to find what roles they could move into, and to see what range of qualifications are needed for those roles.

The e-tool can be found at: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/careerpathways.

Unemployment hits 17 year high
Unemployment has risen sharply to a total of 2.57million - the highest level in 17 years.
Almost a million of those are young people as more jobs are being lost in the public sector than are being created in the private sector.
BBC News

The government has introduced a number of measures to tackle unemployment that fall under the 'Get Britain Working' banner. Skills for Care is very keen to work collaboratively with all those involved in the delivery of government employment initiatives, to make sure activities join up smoothly, producing good outcomes for unemployed people as well as social care employers and those who rely on social care support.

Over the last few months, Skills for Care has been working with Jobcentre Plus, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Skills Funding Agency, the Care Quality Commission, colleges/training providers, careers advisers, individual Work Programme providers and their supply chain organisations in the hope of achieving this.

For more information click on the link below:
Latest government employment initiatives.

Managers tell support staff that abuse is part of the job
Many social care support workers who are exposed to threats and attacks receive little support from their bosses, according to Unison's survey.
The attacks range from verbal abuse to assaults. Nearly 16% of respondents reported being physically attacked and nearly 60% were verbally abused more than once. Many said they had received little or no support from their employer and, in some cases, they were told abuse was just part of the job.
Community Care

Violence against social care staff remains a major concern and it's a difficult area for employers and individuals to address.

Skills for Care has produced 'work smart, work safe' guides with accompanying resources that offer simple practical advice on risk management to avoid violent situations at work.

There are two versions of the guide available:

• one for employers designed to help meet their responsibilities in a practical way

• one for staff and volunteers identifying key responsibilities and ways to reduce risk.

To order your copies email marketing@skillsforcare.org.uk specifying the version you require and the quantity. There are also example policies, procedures, training and approaches to dealing with incidents available on our website www.skillsforcare.org.uk/combatingviolence.

A framework to support the learning and development needs of front line social work managers
A new online resource is now available for front line social work managers at aspiring, newly appointed and established levels and those who commission their learning and development. Through research and collaboration with the employer-led demonstration sites across England, Skills for Care and the National Skills Academy for Social Care, with the involvement of Learn to Care, have developed a national learning and development framework. It provides a number of user friendly products and resources to support and inform this framework and they are presented in a range of case studies, information, guidance, research and further links.

The framework and all of the supporting documents can be found at www.skillsforcare.org.uk/swmanagers.

Latest Care magazine now available
In the autumn edition of the Skills for Care newsletter you will find:

• Community spirit - a feature on one of Skills for Care's pilot projects to help communities support people who use services in their area
• Workforce rises - a snapshot of the key findings of Skills for Care's Size and structure of the adult social care sector and the workforce in England report
• Never too old - proof that you're never too old for a job in social care.

Follow the link to access an online version: care magazine.
If you would like to receive a free hard copy of this or future issues please email marketing@skillsforcare.org.uk.

Improved HSE website
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched new and improved pages on their website for health and social care services. The site provides information about managing the risks in health and social care that can affect employees and users of these services.

As well as revising existing pages they have also added several new sections including: falls from windows, electric profiling beds, scalding and burning, dermatitis and legionella. Visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/.

Effective implementation of the common induction standards is a significant step towards the delivery of high quality care and support. The Care Quality Commission's (CQC) Essential Standards of Quality and Safety highlight the importance and value of strong and comprehensive induction and they will need to be assured that all new staff have undergone a thorough induction process. The common induction standards are for people entering social care, and those changing roles or employers within social care.

To help providers meet the CQC Essential Standards of Quality and Safety, Skills for Care has developed 'Meeting the workforce regulations: Skills for Care advice on CQC's workforce-specific outcomes' which refer specifically to Outcomes 14 (Supporting Workers) and 25 (Registered Person Training). To view this guidance please click on the link below:
advice on meeting CQC regulations introduction.

Lifelong Learning Accounts launch
The Government this week officially launched Lifelong Learning Accounts - a free personalised online service for adults that allows them to take greater control of their learning and working life.

Lifelong Learning Accounts support and are supported by the Next Step Careers Service, and from April 2012, the new National Careers Service. For more information, and to sign up for an account, please click here.

Skills for Care's interactive career pathways e-tool has been created to help make working in social care not just a good job, but a great career. It allows people to identify their particular social care interests against job 'levels' to find what roles there are and see what range of qualifications are needed for those roles. It also includes care studies and contacts for more information.

Working in partnership to implement the reform of social work education
The Social Work Reform Board has circulated recommendations and related products to improve the quality and consistency of social work initial courses and the principles which underpin effective partnership working.

Effective partnerships between employers and HEI's are essential to support the reform of social work qualifying courses. Details of the key principles for partnership agreed by the Social Work Reform Board, the timescales and the web-based resources produced to assist HEI's and employers can be found on The Social Work Reform Board website.

Skills for Care is supporting the Social Work Reform Board programme to help the sector turn 'ambition into reality' by holding a series of workshops in October/November 2011 and February/March 2012. The workshops will be delivered in partnership with the Social Work Reform Board (SWRB) and aim to inform, share learning and exchange views on current developments in social work. For more information visit www.skillsforcare.org.uk/events.

- in your area -

Recruitment support for social care employers based in York or North Yorkshire
'Your Consortium' is currently managing a project in partnership with the Care Alliance for Workforce Development (CAWD) to pilot an innovative approach to Apprenticeships within the care sector.

They are offering care employers with less than 250 staff the chance to join the project which will provide a range of benefits including:

• £500 incentive payment for employers
• Support to recruit an apprentice via a local matching event
• Ongoing support for the apprentice via a trained mentor and dedicated online site
• Support to identify an appropriate training provider
• Potential share of a further £2,500 if your organisation demonstrates best practice.

Only 15 employers will be selected to participate in the project and the programme will run from October 2011 to December 2012. For more information please call Michael Watt on 01609 798541.

Funds released in Yorkshire and the Humber to support leadership and enterprise skills development
Skills for Care has commissioned via the Skills Enhancement Fund supported training opportunities to develop leadership and enterprise Skills. This opportunity is for managers from private, voluntary or independent sector social care organisations of any size, in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The skills enhancement fund will support 50% of the cost of this training and there are a number of training providers across Yorkshire and the Humber approved by the enhancement fund to deliver this. The training covers a range of topics, including enterprise, business planning, marketing, managing change, project management and commissioning.

Visit the 'framework' section of Skills Enhancement Fund website for further details www.enhancementfund.co.uk or contact Nicola Hudson on 0113 3861861 or email nicolahu@calderdale.ac.uk.

- consultations -

Stroke care management - units for consultation
Skills for Care has developed new units on stroke management for those working in social care for new qualifications on the qualifications and credit framework (QCF). We would like to hear your thoughts on these proposed units.

One of the proposed qualifications is for general stroke awareness for a wide range of staff. The second level 3 qualification is for those who may have a more specialist role in stroke care management.

The questionnaire is in a new format which has been designed following feedback, to reduce the time you will need to spend in completing it. Please visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SfC_QCF_StrokeCare to make your comments. The closing date is Friday 21 October 2011.

Proposals for an ASYE
In September 2011 the Social Work Reform Board agreed a paper outlining proposals for implementing the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE). The paper sets out the current position including work developing assessment models with employers and managing the outcomes of the assessment. It also includes information relating to capability statements and support for Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs).

The Reform Board would like to know what you think about the proposals. You can let us have feedback on the proposals by emailing asye@skillsforcare.org.uk by 7 November 2011. Full details can be found at:

Infection Prevention and Control National Occupational Standards review
This is your opportunity to influence the development of National Occupational Standards which will underpin future learning and development within the area of Infection Prevention and Control. We need your knowledge and expertise to ensure that the revised standards reflect current best practice. It is important that the social care sector embraces these NOS as they are a key part of the work and services we deliver.

Please visit www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/consultations to make your comments. The consultation closes on Monday 31 October 2011. For more information click the link: Infection prevention and control competences.

Skills for Care works to ensure the adult social care sector has a modern, flexible and highly skilled workforce to deliver quality care. We are committed to working with employers and other key stakeholders to ensure we are supporting their needs and those of people who use services and carers.