welcome to Skills for Care's enews

Welcome to the latest edition of our fortnightly enews. In here you will find news from Skills for Care and information you may find useful from across the sector.
At the bottom of the bulletin you will find a link to each of our regional enews containing local updates.

news headlines

Skills for Care welcomes the adult social care workforce strategy announced today
Skills for Care have welcomed the new Adult Social Workforce Strategy announced today by Care Services Minister Phil Hope MP.

Skills for Care is pleased to see that the strategy clearly reflects the priorities the Sector Skills Agreement identified after the biggest ever consultation of social care employers and other stakeholders as part of our role as a Sector Skills Council.

Fiona Philips to host Accolades
Fiona Phillips will be the celebrity host for the Accolades 2009 awards ceremony celebrating the achievements of the very best adult and children's social care employers.

The presenter spent 12 years at GMTV before leaving to spend more time with her young family and support her father Phil after he was diagnosed with dementia.

"The Accolades is now the biggest awards event on the social care calendar so we wanted a guest presenter who is not only a household name but someone who genuinely understands the need for a well trained workforce to care for people with dementia," said Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.

The Accolades are a partnership between Skills for Care and the Department of Health. Entries are invited from local authorities, private care homes, the voluntary sector, training providers, local colleges and individuals who provide high quality care or training.

There are now only two weeks to enter any of the 11 categories.  can be downloaded at www.skillsforcare.org.uk

DH seeks bids for projects
The Department of Health is seeking bids for £250m in private finance initiative credits for new adult social care projects from councils.
The Department said bids would be favoured if they promoted joint working between social care and other services, such as health, supported the inclusion of service users in mainstream life, were innovative, flexible over the long-term and reflected department policies.
An initial proposal letter is required from councils by 22 May and formal expressions of interest by October.
Community Care

Skills for Care are working in partnership with ADASS to help Directors of Social Services (DASS) to consider Integrated Local Area Workforce Strategies (InLAWS). This is a really exciting project developing tools to support DASS in their complex and challenging roles. DASS are responsible for ensuring the quality of adult social care services in all sectors, irrespective of whether or not services are provided directly by the local authority.

director appointed for National Skills Academy
Liz McSheehy has been appointed as director of The National Skills Academy for Social Care. She was responsible for developing and launching National Voices as a national charity to represent people who use health and social care services.
Further Education News
Community Care interview

Skills for Care welcomes Liz McSheehy and looks forward to working in partnership to support the sector. Skills for Care is part of the Sector Skills Council for adult social care and has responsibility for the strategic development of the social care workforce. There are many ways Skills for Care can work in partnership with The National Skills Academy and we will be exploring these over the coming months.

 
new mental health strategy launched
Care services minister Phil Hope has launched a new mental health strategy to continue a project already underway, but due to come to an end this year.
In the News

Skills for Care continue to support the implementation of strategies in the sector. We need to ensure that the social care workforce is supported to deliver flexible high quality services for the people who use them. The continuing development of the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) will ensure that by 2010 workers in all occupational areas will be able to access qualifications that are flexible, bite sized and 100% relevant to the work that they do. For more information visit the Qualification Credit Framework section of the Skills for Care website.

pop star gives Mencap his support
U2's The Edge become an ambassador for the learning disability charity, Mencap.
RTE

Skills for Care worked with partners to develop an induction award and knowledge sets to support skills development for those working in services for people with a learning disability.
Information on the learning disability knowledge sets are available in the entry to social care section of the Skills for Care website.
 

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.