We are delighted to invite you to our Partners for Integration (PfI) Roadshows which will take place virtually in September and October.

The event titled ‘Reform Following the Storm’ will reflect on the work of the PfI Team over the pandemic and discuss how to move forward for the future.

The invite and event programme is available below:

Overall, there are four roadshows on the dates below for the following areas. If you are interested in attending, please email [email protected].

We’re delighted to announce that the 2021 Care Home Awards are now open for entries! Scottish Care would like to invite you to enter your company, staff and residents for the Care Home Awards 2021.

Help us recognise the work of fantastic staff and providers whilst also giving positive visibility to this often neglected sector.

There are 13 award categories:

• Ancillary & Support Staff Award
• Nutrition & Eating Well Award
• Meaningful Activity Award
• Training, Learning & Staff Development Award
• Emerging Talent Award
• Outstanding Achievement Award
• Management & Leadership Award
• Palliative & End of Life Care Practise Award
• Nurse of the Year Award
• Carer of the Year Award
• Specialist Service/ Unit of the Year Award
• Care Home Service of the Year Award
• Positive Impact Award

Find out more about the awards and submit your nomination here.

Award entries close on Friday 10 September 2021.

Today, Tuesday 13 July we are pleased to launch the ‘Time for Change: Conceptualising a National Care Framework‘ report, a follow-up to the release of ‘Coileanadh‘.

In June 2020, Scottish Care began the Collective Care Future programme, which involved a series of engagements with a diverse range of people with experience and expertise in the social care sector in Scotland. From these contributions, we launched ‘Coileanadh’ – a future landscape for social care that articulated eight concepts and 39 actions for change, underpinned by three priority areas of focus relating to the ways in which practice-based change can be achieved, implemented and sustained to achieve a positive vision for the future of social care. 

The findings from ‘Coileanadh’ were compared against the recommendations of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care to explore the synergies and areas of opportunity that can help to overcome the implementation gap that currently exists in adult social care and articulate the key requirements in conceptualising ‘National Care Service,’ summarised in the ‘Time for Change’ report. In doing so, we aim to offer a more holistic perspective on what such a service might look like and the resulting implications for how work in this context could be taken forward.

The actions identified are both complementary and distinct to the recommendations of the Independent Review. The report aims to demonstrate the authentic value of the social care sector to wider society and the relational interdependence that social care has with health. A broader view of social care that considers and encompasses key concepts around positive ageing, a life course approach, and the language we use when talking about social care is critical in supporting mindset shifts and realistic perceptions. We propose that within these first 100 days of new parliament, the actions articulated in ‘Coilanadh’ are adopted as complementary to the recommendations of the Independent Review, and that our work is included as part of the consultation process that the Government will carry out. It is our hope that this work is the start of a national conversation on the future of adult social care in Scotland.

Today, Tuesday June 29, 2021, the Independent Sector Nursing Data Report 2021 has been published.

The report is aptly titled ‘A Look to the Future – Achieving the Nursing Vision.’ It provides an updated view of nursing in care homes and in the independent social care sector in Scotland with a look to the future of nursing in the sector. This report is a follow-on to the Independent Sector Nursing Data 2018 report.

We wanted to gain an updated view of issues in social care nursing and issued a survey to members on topics where we are aware of areas of longstanding difficulty, such as recruitment, turnover and retention. We also asked about nurse agency use, learning and development, and the areas where we as an organisation might help promote further development, such as nursing access programmes and prescribing courses. All questions considered the context of the pandemic as this has had a considerable effect over the past year and a half.

Social care nursing requires distinct expertise; nurses fulfil a complex and multi-faceted role where they enable people with care and support needs -many of whom have multiple co-morbidities and complex health issues- to live positively in homely settings. They support individual health conditions and understand the impact this has on their social and community life. We wanted to ensure the report focuses on the importance and perception of this area of nursing, with mention of where we can make improvements, not least through how social care nursing is valued and how to continue to support students and colleagues in years to come. It is time that our social care workforce is provided with parity of pay, terms and conditions, and are seen with equal value to NHS colleagues to have sustainable and inclusive growth.

We hope this report paints a clearer picture and provides greater insight into the significant workforce challenges facing nurses in the independent social care sector, where data has previously been limited, and therefore support a wider range of stakeholders to better understand the criticality of the issues. Further, it can lead to collaborative working around some practical solutions to address the challenges experienced by providers as well as to the continued learning and development of the nursing and care workforce. As an organisation, we will continue to challenge how people view, value and use language around social care to shift mindsets and demonstrate the real importance the sector provides to society.

Scottish Care, the representative body for Scotland’s independent social care services, is publishing a new report which shares their vision for social care data. This report will be launched on the final day (Thursday 17 June) of their virtual Care at Home and Housing Support Conference.

The conference, ‘Homecare Festival’ – is a three-day event that brings people together from across the care at home and housing support sector to share their experiences and plan for the future of home care.

The report titled ‘Seeing the diamond in social care data’ brings together findings from a series of data forums hosted by Scottish Care and involved colleagues from across the social care sector, industry, academia and government.

Scotland is data-rich but intelligence poor, whilst fragmented data collection, standards and access in social care have made data hard to navigate. The report highlights the importance of a human rights-based perspective, enabling people to have control over their data and how it is shared to initiate care and support on their own terms. Scottish Care seeks a vision where data is person-led; is based on the needs, wishes and aspirations of people for their care and support, informs the design of services and planning and the resulting indicators of performance and success.

Karen Hedge, National Director of Scottish Care commented:

“For too long, the fragments of social care data have been drivers acting on behalf of the social care system rather than on behalf of those who access social care and support. Implementing the principles and vision contained within this report, would completely turn that on its head and put the individual in control. In addressing the fragmentation, it also allows for better use of resources by enabling better coordination for planning and delivery.”

 Today, Monday May 17, 2021, we are delighted to launch ‘Coileanadh’ – the output of phase two of our ‘Collective Care Future’ programme. We are delighted to launch the findings of this programme, articulated in a future change landscape created in collaboration with Andthen, a design strategy studio. The visual landscape embodies the contributions of a diverse range of expertise and experiences from providers, staff, people supported, families and wider partners in care and support in Scotland. The findings include eight concepts and three priority areas of focus relating to the overarching philosophy and culture, the policy and partnership enablers, and the way in which change can be enacted in social care practice.  

We invite you to explore the future change landscape, concepts and the actions for change identified and join us for the webinar launch on Thursday May 20th 2pm where we will share the findings and outline how we plan to continue the conversation around a National Care Framework.   

‘Building our collective care future’ is a collaborative programme which commenced in June 2020 with the intention of capturing the experiences of social care during COVID-19 to build on this learning towards developing a positive vision for the future social care. 

The insights and expertise shared from our engagements have been translated to inform actions that can allow decision-making and change to materialise, which will be invaluable to key stakeholders at local and national levels. The 39 actions roadmap the ways in which practice-based change can be achieved, implemented and sustained, resulting in a more equal, rights-based and wellbeing focussed society.  

We believe the actions identified are both complementary and distinct to the recommendations of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care. ‘Coileanadh’ explores the synergies and areas of opportunity that can help to overcome the implementation gap and articulate the key requirements of a National Care Service, what we refer to as a National Care Framework. In doing so, we aim to offer a more holistic perspective on the creation of a National Care Framework and the resulting implications for how work in this context could be taken forward. The relationship and interdependence of social care and health highlights the need for a broader view that encompasses different ways to how we approach care and support across the life course and we hope that this work is the start of a national conversation on the future of adult social care in Scotland. 

If you would like to share any feedback on the findings or ways in which you can contribute to the actions identified, please contact: [email protected] 

Sincere thanks to all our participants, Scottish Care members and colleagues who contributed their expertise and experiences across the ‘Care Futures’ programme. 

 Details to register to attend the ‘Coileanadh’ webinar: 

Thursday 20th May, 2:00PM 

Registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z-_vQlF1S86q7fyWB-HDVg 

 Webinar ID: 844 4924 6803 

Launch materials 

Full document: https://scottishcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Coileanadh-SocialCare-FutureLandscape.pdf