Policy & Research Manager – Maternity Cover

SCOTTISH CARE

£25,000 per annum – 35 hours per week

Scottish Care wishes to appoint a Policy & Research Officer to work as part of our national team.  This is a maternity cover post, covering a 10-month period from February to December 2021.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), based from home with the regular requirement to attend meetings and events throughout Scotland.  The post holder is also expected to attend and work from the Scottish Care office in Ayr one day per week. Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the post may require exclusive home working for an unspecified period of time.

Scottish Care is based in Ayr but works across Scotland as the representative body for the largest group of health and social care sector independent providers delivering residential care, day care, care at home and housing support. Working on behalf of a range of providers, Scottish Care speaks with a single unified voice for members and the wider independent care sector, at both a local and strategic level.  Our vision is to shape the environment in which care services can deliver and develop the high quality care that communities require and deserve.

This post is key to the continued development and overall success of this high-profile organisation. The post holder will work with a complex variety of partners and stakeholders involved in the development and operation of the organisation.  He/she must be able to communicate and maintain credibility at all levels; and have an understanding of partnership working.

Previous experience of working in policy or research roles with tangible evidence of impact is essential.  Experience of working in the health and social care sector and a clear understanding of Scottish Care’s role and objectives is highly desirable.

The post holder must have excellent interpersonal skills.  They must be able to communicate effectively, confidently and clearly in a positive and open way with all stakeholders, demonstrating the ability to identify and understand internal and external audience needs and adapt style and language to meet them.

To request a recruitment pack,  please contact Laura Bennie (Office Manager & Executive PA) at [email protected]

Closing date 9am on 11^th December 2020.  Interviews will be held by video conference on the 18^th December 2020

Big Health, the company behind evidence based digital therapeutics, Sleepio and Daylight will be hosting a webinar for Scottish Care on the 2nd December at 11am.

Sleepio and Daylight have been available to all Health and Care staff in Scotland since May 2020 to help our key workers learn proven CBT techniques to help with any worry or sleepless nights they may be experiencing.

Please join us to hear Dr Dimitri Gavriloff (clinical psychologist and sleep medicine specialist) and Dr Richard Stott (clinical psychologist and anxiety specialist) explain more about Sleepio and Daylight, how you can access the programmes and what benefits you may see.

Details to join this webinar session is now available on the Members Area of this website. If you have any problems accessing either the Members Area or the webinar, please contact [email protected].

The Scottish Government has published Covid-19 guidance for the festival period today (26 November). This guidance looks at forming ‘bubbles’ over Christmas.

You can access this guidance here.

The Scottish Government is asking people across the country to recognise the value of connecting with and helping others by reaching out to friends, family, neighbours and communities near and far in a bid to generate One Million Words of Kindness by Monday 30 November to mark St Andrew’s Day.

Launching this week with the reveal of a bespoke postcard designed by Edinburgh-based illustrator Emily Hogarth, the campaign celebrates the community spirit and shared kindness displayed across the country in what has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging years Scotland has faced in decades.

More than 100,000 free postcards which feature a matt laminate finish for Covid safety will be available in all 104 Lidl stores across Scotland from this week, for shoppers to pick up and send messages of thanks, hope or a simple hello to mark Scotland’s national day. The card is also available to download and share online from the Scottish Government’s website: www.onescotland.org/st-andrews-day

So ahead of 30th November, let’s all come together and continue to reach out and share kindness with those around us, especially now when we need it the most.

You can join in with these very special celebrations by simply sharing the postcard on your social media channels. Please use the hashtag #WeAreScotland in anything you post online.

If you would like further information, contact Ainsley Piggott at Stripe Communications on [email protected].

Influenza is a highly infectious disease that occurs every year, usually in the winter.  Symptoms can come on very quickly and include fever, chills, headache, aches and pains in the joints and muscles, and extreme tiredness.

Infected health and social care workers can spread flu to people receiving care and colleagues even if they have very mild symptoms or have no symptoms at all.

The flu vaccine provides the best protection available against the virus.

• The vaccines are given in the autumn ideally before flu starts circulating.
• The vaccine contains no live viruses, so it can’t give you flu.
• You have to be immunised every year because the virus changes constantly and your immunity reduces over time.
• Influenza is a different virus from Covid-19.

The best way for social care staff to avoid flu is to get a flu jab as part of this programme.

We encourage staff to take up this opportunity.  It’s quick, safe and free.

Find out more on the NHS Inform website: https://www.nhsinform.scot/flu

flu-campaign-leaflet-for-social-care-workers-2020

Link to leaflet: http://www.healthscotland.scot/media/3171/flu-campaign-leaflet-for-social-care-workers-2020.pdf