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News & Updates

Here you can see the latest News & Updates relevant to Liverpool Social Care Partnership. If you have any questions, or you have a story which you think would be good to see on our site, please contact admin@lscpinfo.co.uk.
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News and Updates

posted Jan 30, 2014, 7:55 AM by Unknown user   [ updated Jan 30, 2014, 8:03 AM ]

Skills for Care research briefing


 Throughout the year, the Skills for Care research and evaluation team commission and undertake projects that help the adult social care sector and other key partners to make informed strategic workforce decisions. This second issue of the research briefing looks at some of the key research projects undertaken over the past year including violence against the social care workforce, the workforce development needs of carer support workers and the role of the arts in social care delivery whilst also providing a short overview of some of our forthcoming projects. Click here to read the briefing.


Skills for Care and the Care Certificate


Skills for Care CEO Sharon Allen said: "Skills for Care is working with Health Education England (HEE) and others on the Cavendish recommendations relevant for social care. We will ensure that adult social care is represented; we have been closely involved with the development of the Care Certificate, its expected roll-out in 2015 and we will soon have more to say about its content and the piloting process that will take place in 2014."

Updated commissioning standards

Following a recent consultation with the sector, led by Skills for Care and Development, the Commissioning, Procurement and Contracting National Occupational Standards (NOS) have been updated to provide consistent and clear benchmarks for the delivery of a quality commissioning service. To view the NOS click here.

Skills for Care's Guardian partnerzone 

Visit our social care network partner zone for features, comments and case studies about learning and development in adult social care in England.
NEW: In social care, change is the only constant - Sharon Allen looks at the challenges that lie ahead in 2014.


New look ethics committee website 

The new look website of the Social Care Research Ethics Committee is now live. The site has been redesigned to allow for a more user-friendly experience with easy-to-use navigation and updated content.

The national Research Ethics Committee, hosted by the Social Care Institute for Excellence, reviews adult social care research studies from researchers based in England in order to protect the dignity, rights, safety and well-being of research participants and facilitate ethical research.



Digital working, learning and information sharing summit

6th March 2014

Digital working, learning and information sharing are increasingly a day-to-day part of the lives of those providing care and support, Skills for Care is launching a joint strategy on digital working, learning and information sharing for the adult social care workforce on Thursday 6 March 2014 at the Doubletree by Hilton, Manchester Piccadilly. 
The summit will provide an opportunity for employers and policy makers to share knowledge and contribute to taking the strategy forward and of people using adult social care.

 

To book your free place
click here 

Apprentice Summits

4th march 2014

 

Skills for Care and the Department of Health invite you to attend an Apprenticeship summit to celebrate the increased number of adult social care Apprenticeships and the improving quality of programmes in the sector. The summit takes place during Apprenticeship Week 2014.

Those attending will find out more about the proposed changes from Apprenticeship ‘frameworks’ to ‘standards’ by 2017/18 and traineeships, a new programme for young people who want to work, but who need extra help to gain an Apprenticeship or job.

WDF 2014/15 Funding Request Form now Available

posted Jan 23, 2014, 2:55 AM by Andrew Clements

If your organisation would like to claim funds for the next WDF Contract (2014/15) please complete the Funding Request Survey to let us know estimations of how many claims you hope to make, these requests will be submitted to the Department of Health so that we can accurately draw down enough funding for our Partnership Organisations. To access the Funding Request Survey please click the link below.

Click here to complete the Funding Request Survey

Some additional info we currently have about our next WDF Contract:

The 2014/15 Workforce Development Fund contract will begin from mid April 2014 and will run until March 31st 2015, during this period we will be accepting Unit Evidence Claims dated between 1st January 2014 and 31st March 2015. There are a couple of minor changes to this years contract as follows:

  • Learner Credit Cap
    Each learner will now only be able to claim 50 credits (£750.00) per contract. In the rare instances that a learner is working towards more than 50 credits as part of a qualification, effective workforce planning will need to be implemented to spread the claims of these units over two contracts using different types of claim evidence, for further information please contact LSCP on (0151) 270 1703.
  • Equitable Sharing Policy
    As seen during the end of our 2013/14 contract, Skills for Care have prioritised the equitable sharing of funds throughout the sector, implementing an intelligence based sharing algorithm. This will have a number of effects on the claiming procedure:
    • Credits will now only be submitted to Skills for Care during set milestone dates throughout the year, this will mean that the returns and payments of credits may take slightly longer depending on when they are submitted, but will allow us to use a more predictable timescale, enabling employers to maximise the timescales required for evidence gathering.
    • Credits will be submitted as part of an equitable sharing algorithm so that claims throughout the North West of England are granted on:
      • Size of Organisation
      • Eligibility of NMDS-SC Data
      • Registration with our Partnership
      • Number of Claims Submitted for Funding
      • A variable maximum claim limit will be implemented on a per establishment basis
    • In order to maximise claims for your organisation, if you plan to submit claims for multiple establishments we highly recommend you ensure your NMDS structure represents this. Attempting to claim all units through one 'Head Office' NMDS-SC ID# may result in less funds being granted for your organisation.
  • We understand that in the Social Care Sector not all organisations are the same, if you believe these guidelines will cause any difficulties for your organisation please contact LSCP directly to discuss further.

Age Concern Liverpool - Help the Older People in Your Life

posted Jan 22, 2014, 6:28 AM by Andrew Clements   [ updated Jan 22, 2014, 6:29 AM ]

Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton are holding four awareness events aimed at supporting people who help older people in their lives. If they have friends or relatives aged over 50, who are lonely, short of money, in need of care and support, or just need some general advice, our staff and expert advisors will be on hand to answer any questions. 

If you would like to attend these events please contact Jenny Kearns, Homecare Manager
 Phone Number : 01704 503 356 or 07917804452
 Fax Number : 01704 503 359
 Email: Jenny.Kearns@ageconcernliverpool.org.uk
 Web Address: www.ageconcernliverpoolandsefton.org.uk
 Address - 8 - 10 Hoghton Street, Southport, PR9 0TF



| Attachments: Help the older person in your life - Age Conern Liverpool Sefton Events.pdf Tea Dance 29 Jan.pdf

Skills for Care Case Studies - Get Involved!

posted Jan 2, 2014, 3:13 AM by Andrew Clements

Dear Colleagues

 

Skills for Care is running a campaign to increase awareness of careers in adult social care. This campaign will highlight the benefits of working in the sector, and aims to influence people to join the growing workforce.

 

We need the help of social care employees who want to tell their story about their role in the sector, to explain the job that they do, help people understand why they choose to do it, and tell the public  their own personal career journey. Sharing the experiences of people who work in the sector is an excellent way for people to understand what working in adult social care is really like.

 

The case studies may be filmed as a video, written as a document or recorded as an audio piece. They will be used online, and included in publications to promote the excellent work that people do in the sector.

 

We need a range of people who are confident and comfortable telling their story and we need to show a range of job roles in the sector – including specialist and non-direct care roles. You will also be able to use the case study in your own literature/on your own website to promote your organisation.

 

The employee will be interviewed and filmed either at our Skills for Care office in either London or Leeds, or at the employees own place of work. Filming usually lasts one day. There’s no need to have done a case study before, the day is very informal and there will be plenty of time to prepare.

 

Can we please ask that you approach your staff who you think would make a great case study for the sector, and ask them to complete the attached form and return to victoria.laird@skillsforcare.org.uk  . Applications will be reviewed by Skills for Care from 20th December onwards so the sooner we receive applications the better.

 

Brief answers to the questions are fine, we just need an overview of who the person is and what job they do! We will then be in touch to let you know if your nominated employee has been chosen.

 

Kind regards

Lindsey Clayton (sent by Lizzie Pratt on behalf Lindsey)

Northern 
Midlands
Skills for Care
D: 0113 2410958  W: www.skillsforcare.org.uk | West Gate, 6 Grace Street, Leeds LS1 2RP

| Attachments: Case study form.docx

Job Vacancy

posted Jan 2, 2014, 2:57 AM by Andrew Clements

Brothers of Charity: Workforce Development Team Leader

Please see the flyers attached to this post for further information.

| Attachments: WFD Team Leader 2013.pdf WFD Team Leader Advert Dec 2013.pdf

Workforce Development Fund Update (Variation 13/14)

posted Nov 18, 2013, 4:58 AM by Andrew Clements   [ updated Dec 19, 2013, 9:03 AM ]

This year we have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of Workforce Development Fund (WDF) claims we have received at the Liverpool Social Care Partnership, during each contract when we reach the half way point, we are offered an opportunity to increase or decrease the amount of funding which has been allocated to us as a partnership so we can accurately fulfill our contract, this year we requested that our funding should be increased.

Thankfully, we were allocated a small increase of funding, however it was not the full amount which we had requested and we suspect that this year, we will have expended all of our WDF funding before the contract end date.

As of 15/11/13 we have just over £80,000.00 of funding remaining.

What does this mean?
This means that if you want to claim WDF, you will need to do so as soon as possible, we will be making some revisions to how we distribute the remaining funds (detailed below) but as a partnership we must ensure that we continue to hit the allocated milestones set out by Skills for Care.

We recommend that claims should be submitted before 1st January 2014 to enable the best possible chance of being granted funding.

What can I do if the funding runs out?
Unfortunately WDF is not a guaranteed fund and if we run out of funding any claims submitted after that point will not be granted.

What if I need WDF to pay my training provider?
We are aware that across the Northwest, a number of training providers are asking employers to offset the costs of training with WDF, this is not something we would advise. If WDF funding is not granted, as a care provider it will be your responsibility to fund the costs of training as outlined in your training agreement, regardless of whether WDF is granted or not. Please note that LSCP & Skills for Care do not endorse this method of using WDF.

My evidence wont be ready until 2014!
We understand that because some training providers work on an academic calendar, the internal verification of units sometimes does not take place until after the Christmas Holidays. We will be setting aside a small amount of funding which will enable select organisations to claim towards the end of the contract. If your organisation has previously claimed earlier in the contractual year (1st Jan 2013 - 31st March 2014) you will not be eligible for this provision.

My NMDS-SC isn't up to date yet!
Don't worry, moving forward we will be prioritising funding to ensure that as many organisations as possible are able to access the fund, the following limitations will be implemented as of 01/11/13:
  • Claims for WDF will be limited per organisation so that the amount of funds currently available is equitably shared, with the remaining claims added to our database and held on a waiting list, this limit will be activated retrospectively to include units which have been previously claimed throughout the year. Additional claims will automatically be sent on your behalf once we hit specific milestones until the total of your submitted claim has been ratified or the WDF funds available have expired.
  • Partnership milestones will be achieved when new organisations join the partnership, claims which are being held on the database will be progressed and submitted for funding. This will allow us to spread the funding out more evenly across the different care providers in the region whilst maintaining a first come / first serve policy.
  • Newly registered organisations will be able to claim a small allowance without entering the waiting list, after that, the remaining claims will be added to the waiting list.
  • When possible we will try to ensure that claims are processed in a first come first serve basis, whilst normalising claims across all registered organisations to fairly distribute funds across the region.
  • Prioritised claims will be sorted by organisation, not by establishment.
  • Claims which use poor quality evidence may not be entered onto the waiting list, you will be contacted regarding the issues with your evidence submission, however it is the care providers responsibility to ensure that all evidence submissions meet the relevant criteria.
We understand that these limitations will be frustrating for providers who were hoping to claim large amounts of funding, but our contractual obligation with Skills for Care is to ensure that funds are distributed evenly and fairly.

What can I do to increase my chances of being granted funding?
  • Submit your claim as early as possible
  • Ensure your evidence is of high quality (more info)
    • Please note: please make sure any hand written information is clearly legible, any evidence which is undecipherable may be rejected.
  • Ask your training provider to provide a list of units which you will expect to claim - this will allow us to effectively plan and where possible, implement temporary ring-fencing of funds.
  • Ensure your Membership Declaration Form and BACS form have been submitted, and your NMDS-SC data is fully eligible
  • Submit unit evidence as soon as you have it available, do not wait to send a large batch of units together.
  • When possible, submit unit evidence via email to wdf@lscpinfo.co.uk

Skills for Care Policy Briefing 23

posted Nov 7, 2013, 5:21 AM by Andrew Clements

Please find attached at the bottom of this post, a copy of the Skills for Care Policy Briefing 23 (Nov 2013).

Skills for Care’s policy briefings aim to provide the sector with a brief summary of current research, policy initiatives and strategic developments impacting on the future direction and delivery of adult social care in England. We have selected some stories below, but there are many more available in the briefing document

What if health and care services were more joined-up? 

The King's Fund has launched a new three minute animation that asks the question: 

what if health and care services were more joined-up? This short animation aims to bring integrated care to life for anyone involved in improving patient care. If those working towards integrated care can share this vision with others in their local health and care system, then there is a real chance they can make integrated care happen. 

The video is available to view here: 

The report’s overarching lesson is that system integration takes time and that developments can neither be imposed nor rushed. Other lessons include: 
  • Voluntary sector involvement
  • Patient targeting and risk stratification 
  • Co-operation with the acute sector 
  • Continuous learning and development 
  • Importance of appreciation of team members’ roles and contributions 
  • Performance measurement in step with organisational development

A Fresh Start for the Regulation and Inspection of Adult Social Care 

In her first major announcement as the Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, Andrea Sutcliffe has outlined her priorities for transforming how the Care Quality Commission will monitor, inspect and regulate care homes and other adult social care services, with a greater focus on public involvement and improvement. 

Key proposals include awarding ratings to every care home and adult social care service by March 2016 to help people make informed decisions about their care and establishing expert inspection teams involving people who have experience of care services. 

The Chief Inspector’s plans and priorities are set out in ‘A Fresh Start for the Regulation and Inspection of Adult Social Care’, ahead of a full public consultation in spring 2014. http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/20131013_cqc_afreshstart_2

Social care grants for 2013 to 2014 

The Department of Health has published a series of documents that set out the specific revenue and capital grant funding for local authorities for adults’ personal social servicesfor 2013 to 2014. Details are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-grants-for-2013-to-2014

Potential for change: transforming public awareness and demand for health and care technology

Carers UK, supported by Tunstall Healthcare (UK), commissioned a national opinion poll exploring attitudes towards health and care technologies, including telecare. The research highlighted a lack of public awareness of health and care technology, even amongst families using technology in most other aspects of their lives. Carers UK calls for: 

  • A step-change in public and professional awareness of health and care technologies so that use and purchase of technology to support caring becomes a normal part of life and of professional practice. 
  • Cross-Government action to identify and realise the potential of health and care technologies to support health and wellbeing, business growth and productivity, labour market participation, care workforce development and the sustainability of health and social care services. 
  • A vibrant, accessible health and care technologies market focused on consumers, which delivers attractive, affordable products and services which reflect how families live and work.

Business and Workforce Implications 

While not universal, there are increasing calls from interested parties for innovation in and access to new technologies. However, these aspirations are not being met by the market and commissioners. Work needs to be done to further develop the market and also to evaluate the impact of emergent technologies. Any ‘rush to digital’ should be soundly based on evidence of effectiveness. 

Skills for Care has a range of resources around assisted living technology and services, available here: 

Information: to share or not to share? Government response to Caldicott Review

This policy paper forms the response to Dame Fiona Caldicott’s independent review of how information about individuals is shared across the health and care system. The government accepts all the recommendations of the Caldicott report and highlights that while information sharing is essential to provide good care for everyone, there are rules that must be followed. The response is available here: 

Business and Workforce Implications 

  • The Health and Social Care Information Centre has published new guidance that sets out 5, easy-to-remember rules so that staff can make sure they deal with confidential patient information safely and securely: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/confguideorg

Social care reform: funding care for the future

This House of Commons Library note provides a brief history of the proposals to reform the system of adult social care, including information on the coalition government’s Caring for our future white paper and the accompanying progress report on funding reform published in July 2012.The note is available here: 

Final amendments were made to the Bill during the third reading in the House of Lords on 29 October. The Bill will now go to the Commons for consideration of Lords amendments. The latest amended version of the Bill is available here:

| Attachments: Policy Briefing 23 Nov 13.pdf

Tech Group: Skills for Care Digital Summit

posted Nov 7, 2013, 4:38 AM by Andrew Clements

Skills for Care are organising a summit with the Department of Health next Spring to produce a strategy for digital working and learning in the context of workforce development in the Social Care Sector. We want to engage with employers from the outset for the development of this strategy and this will take the form of three face to face meetings and virtual networking. 

 

We're looking for your help to identify employers across the full range of sectors and settings using the following criteria:

 

1. Deliver social care services to adults

2. Innovative and keen users of technology across either one or a combination of the following: e-learning, ongoing service delivery (e.g. use of technology on a day to day basis to deliver services) and / or innovative and keen user of assisted living technologies.

3. Have a keen interest in seeing digital literacy move further up the agenda - so really looking for employers who are passionate about the use of technology 

4. Employers who are keen to engage with Skills for Care.

 

The issue of digital capability amongst social care staff is becoming an increasingly important aspect of workforce development as we see the use of technology to complement face to face services, improve recording and communications and deliver learning.

 

Skills for Care are working with partners on a digital learning and working summit to take place in early 2014. As part of this, it's important to think about current confidence, skills and abilities in using digital technology among the social care workforce. To help build our understanding of workforce capability in this area we're in the process of commissioning research with employers and staff that is aimed at determining this. 

 

From the outset of this work we want to involve employers who are working with digital technologies to help deliver services on a day to day basis (e.g. staff using smart phones, tablets etc.), those using technology to deliver learning and others using technology with people in need of care and support.

 

We aim to work with employers to help inform the research, the summit and our future strategic direction in this area. This will take the form of up to three face to face meetings and virtual contact.

 

It’s a great opportunity to work together to help move forward and hope you’re interested in taking part. Please get in touch for more information about this work.


How to get involved:


Unfortunately the deadline for the Skills for Care Digital Summit mentioned above has been reached.


There is a very tight deadline to get involved in this summit meeting, however at LSCP we are in the process of forming a group of employers from the social care sector who are keen to get involved with technology. Once registered, you will receive emails about the latest developments, ideas and meetings around Information Technology in a Social Care setting, you will also be invited to attend steering groups and meetings relating to upcoming projects and developments.

November Recruitment Event 2013

posted Oct 31, 2013, 8:38 AM by Andrew Clements   [ updated Nov 13, 2013, 5:53 AM ]


We are happy to announce that on Tuesday November 26th, we will be hosting our annual recruitment event for Social Care employers. If you are a care provider who offers services in Liverpool, you can register to attend our recruitment event and meet candidates who are looking for work in the Social Care sector today. This event will be completely free for everyone.

Skills for Care estimate that by 2025 the Social Care Sector workforce will grow to between 1.94M and 2.49M, even by minimum estimations we can expect to need over 300,000 new social care employees working in the sector.

The day is designed to positively promote the social care sector, the varied and rewarding career opportunities, in addition to recruiting prospective employees in to the sector. The day will provide the chance for younger people to talk to employers about the work that they do, the services that they offer and the vacancies that they have to fill, in addition to talking to Care Ambassadors who will be in attendance on the day. It would be great if you could support the event by advertising it through your networks

If you are interested and you would like to register, please download our registration form, complete it, and return it to us before November 20th. All service providers will be allocated a table, however power sources are limited so if you require a plug socket please return the registration form as soon as possible, places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

| Attachments: Employer Proforma v2.doc RecEv Nov13.pdf Size_and_Structure_2013_Infographic.pdf

CQC: A New Approach to Inspecting Services

posted Oct 15, 2013, 5:12 AM by Andrew Clements   [ updated Oct 15, 2013, 5:15 AM ]

News Source: http://www.cqc.org.uk/public/news/new-approach-inspecting-social-care-services

New plans to monitor, inspect and regulate care homes and other social care services have been proposed by our Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, Andrea Sutcliffe.

Andrea Sutcliffe’s initial plans and priorities are detailed in the document.

In spring 2014, [CQC] will run a full public consultation where you’ll be given the chance to tell [CQC] what you think about these plans.

Key changes

Rating care homes

Every care home and adult social care service in England will be awarded one of the following ratings by March 2016.
  • Outstanding.
  • Good.
  • Requires improvement.
  • Inadequate.
[CQC] want you to use these ratings to help you make better decisions about the care you or someone you know receives.

Bigger and improved inspection teams

Inspections of adult social care services will look at whether the service is:
  • safe.
  • effective.
  • caring.
  • responsive to people’s needs.
  • well-led.
[CQC] will explore what each of these areas mean for adult social care services before [CQC] begin inspecting them.

Inspection teams will also include more expert inspectors, specialist advisors and people who have experience of receiving social care services (who we call Experts by Experience).

Other changes

[CQC] will also:
  • monitor the finances of 50-60 care home providers that would be difficult to replace if they were to go out of business (subject to the Care Bill – a change relating to the care and support for adults – becoming law).
  • take tougher action on services that do not meet standards, particularly those that do not have a registered manager in place.
  • check that services that are applying to be registered have the right values, motives, ability and experience to provide care to people.
  • discuss the risks and potential benefits of mystery shoppers and hidden cameras to monitor care, and whether they could contribute to promoting a culture of safety and quality while respecting people’s privacy and dignity.
  • encourage residential homes to get more involved in their local community.
  • work with local Healthwatch to get its views on care homes in the community.
What next?

[CQC] will discuss and explore these plans with the public, including people who receive care, their carers, social care services, our own staff and more.

This will be followed by a consultation in spring 2014.

Andrea Sutcliffe said: “This is a fresh start for how care homes, home care, and other adult social care services are inspected and regulated across the country. I will be leading CQC’s new approach by making more use of people’s views and by using expert inspection teams involving people who have personal experience of care.

“We will always be on the side of the people who use care services. For every care service we look at, I want us to ask, is this good enough for my Mum? If it is, this should be celebrated. If not, then as the regulator, we will do something about it.”

| Attachments: 20131013_cqc_afreshstart_2013_final.pdf

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