We are hosting a webinar with DWP on Thursday 1 July at 2:00 pm, this session will focus on the Kickstart Scheme.

The Kickstart Scheme helps employers create job opportunities for young people, providing funding to employers to create jobs for 16-24 year-olds on Universal Credit.

Social service employers of all sizes can apply for funding which covers:

• 100% of the National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage depending on the age of the participant) for 25 hours per week for a total of six months
• associated employer National Insurance contributions
• minimum automatic enrolment pension contributions.

Join us for this webinar to find out how Kickstart works.

Please note that this webinar will be hosted on Microsoft Teams in a meeting format. Details to join this webinar will be in the Members Area of this website.

An exciting opportunity has arisen within Scottish Care/Partners for Integration for an Administrator to work as part of our team. This is a full time post with a £23, 347 salary, working flexibly between our Scottish Care office in Ayr and home-based and there will be a requirement for occasional attendance at meetings & events.

Scottish Care is the representative body for the largest group of health and social care sector independent providers across Scotland delivering residential care, day care, care at home and housing support. Our vision is to shape the environment in which care services can deliver and develop the high quality care that communities require and deserve. The work we do helps to create these conditions through partnership working, membership support and innovation.

Our Partners for Integration team is a national network of development staff with backgrounds in education, social care, health, and the voluntary sector who work to ensure the effective representation of independent sector agencies within Health and Social Care Partnerships.

The post holder must have experience in office administration.  They must have the ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines, versatility & flexibility along with excellent interpersonal skills at all levels is essential. The post holder must also have excellent IT skills with knowledge of Microsoft Office packages.

This is an exciting post for someone who will have a strong commitment to the work of the organisation and the ability to work in a culture that is innovative.

For further information please email [email protected]  who will forward a Job Description & Person Specification and Application Form.

To apply, forward a completed application to [email protected]

Interviews will be held on Thursday 22^nd July 2021.

Closing Date: Monday 12^th July at 12.00pm

We are delighted to present the second webinar in our Legal Webinar series.

These webinars will feature our Legal Resources Select group, a carefully selected group of law firms in Scotland. Find out more about our Legal Resources Select group here.

This session will take place on Wednesday 23 June at 2PM, hosted by Scottish Care CEO, Dr Donald Macaskill and featuring representatives from BTO Solicitors LLP.

Covid Legacy Challenge: Would your organisation pass the Covid health check?

BTO will consider a range of challenges affecting organisations in the post-Covid era. From employment law claims to Health and Safety Investigations/prosecutions, employers must still be wary.  While we hope that the worst of the pandemic is over, there is still much for employers to be aware of.

We will provide advice on how best to manage the ongoing employment issues, looking at, for example, foreign travel and holidays, self-isolation and quarantine, and vaccinations, with a review of some of the Covid related employment tribunal claims that are now, in increasing numbers, coming through the system,

We will consider the continuing health and safety obligations, and how to protect your workplace from claims and Regulatory scrutiny. BTO will consider the challenges that you may face and how best to ensure resilience in the face of emerging risks and longer term aspects of the post Covid era. Q&A for members.

Our presenters are as follows:

Douglas Strang, Associate – Employment Law: [email protected] / 0141 221 8012

Vikki Watt, Partner & Solicitor Advocate – Health & Safety, Regulatory & Criminal Defence: [email protected] / 0141 225 5317.

Joining details will be available on the Members Area shortly.

A new radio station dedicated to the UK’s nine million carers is now on air.

Designed with NHS workers, care home employees and at-home carers in mind, Care Radio aims to celebrate the role of carers in society and the incredible sacrifices frontline carers – paid and unpaid – have made during the pandemic.

With a remit to surprise, delight and support those who care, the volunteer Care Radio team will offer a mix of classic hits, interviews, listener stories and advice and support, as well as national and international news on the hour and news stories from the care sector every half hour.

Care Radio will also have input from care providers and carers themselves through the real-life stories they share, and the station’s Young Carers initiative will give young people across the sector the opportunity to shape its programming and learn new skills.

The station also plans promotions, special offers and other incentives to carers as a way of thanking them for their selfless work.

Care Radio is a not for profit Community Interest Company. Broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the Care Radio team includes seasoned broadcasters, journalists and producers, backed by finance, fundraising and media professionals, all devoting their time and services for free.

The new station is also supported by Highland based Parklands Care Homes, winner of the Best Smaller Care Home Group award in 2020.

Care Radio CEO John Dash has 40 years experience as a radio producer, presenter, editor and programme director.

He said: “The impact of Covid-19 has been felt right across society but arguably carers have borne the brunt, from our frontline NHS workers to care home staff and at-home carers, both paid and unpaid. We all clapped for them last year and rightly so. With the pandemic easing, it’s important that we continue to celebrate the contribution they make, day in and day out. Care Radio will do just that.

“This will be a radio network for people who care, delivered by people who care. Many of our broadcasters and volunteers have first-hand experience of caring for loved ones or work in the health and social care sector. All of them share a passion for care and the people who work in it. Care Radio will be their friend and companion through good times and bad.”

Care Radio Chairman Hedley Finn OBE is also president of children’s charity Radio Lollipop which broadcasts to 36 hospitals in six countries.

He said: “We have a wonderful array of presenters from across the UK, backed by a team of volunteers who know and understand the challenges that carers face every day. We have a simple mission – to surprise, delight and support Britain’s millions of carers, and remind them that they are not alone. After the year they have endured, and the challenges many carers continue to face every day, the launch of Care Radio could not be more timely.”

Ron Taylor, managing director of Parklands Care Homes said: “I know from my own personal experience as a young carer that it can be a lonely and often solitary experience and I think that carers around the UK will really warm to Care Radio. It’s an exciting new concept and one that Parklands is enthusiastic to support.”

The station can be heard through the Care Radio app, available from Apple and Android stores as well as being streamed online at www.careradio.org and will soon be available on DAB multiplexes around the UK.

Scottish Care are aware of concerns surrounding the recently updated guidance on the extended use of face masks and face coverings in adult care homes. Amongst other requirements, the guidance states that ‘Residents in adult care homes should wear a Fluid Resistant (Type IIR) Surgical Face Mask (unless exempt) when they are in communal spaces.’. 

This guidance was first published in September 2020. Scottish Care made representation at that time for the guidance to be adjusted to support care home residents.

Scottish Care has long argued that a care home is not a clinical setting, but a home to all the residents there. Residents, especially those with dementia and other conditions, need to be supported in a manner that respects their human rights, treats them with dignity and enables them to see all areas of the care home as their home. The requirement to encourage someone to wear a mask or face covering does not respect individual choice or autonomy. In many instances, prolonged mask-wearing can also cause a considerable amount of distress as well as confusion for those with declining capacity.

Scottish Care and colleagues have met with the Chief Nursing Officer and other officials from the Scottish Government yesterday (9 June 2021). During this meeting, we expressed our dismay and disappointment in the distress caused to care homes, residents, staff, and families by the new guidance. It has been established that the position on the requirement of face coverings in communal areas has not changed in principle since last September and the Scottish Government has agreed to work with us to ensure that the wording is reflective and appropriate to reality.

We note that they have since put out a statement clarifying this, stating that:

“Masks are not required in a residents’ own living space or when they are physically distanced from others. If a resident is not able to wear a mask, they will not be required to wear one – this has always been the case in care home settings.”

“A mask should only be used where a resident can tolerate wearing a mask when receiving direct, close personal care where it is not possible to keep a 2-metre distance and will not impact on the provision of care, and when residents in communal areas cannot be physically distant from others.”

 We hope that we can continue to work together with clinical colleagues in the Scottish Government to ensure that any publication of guidance supports the needs of our care homes and their residents. We are all eager to work to a situation where we return to normal living in our care homes as a matter of urgency including the end of social distance requirements.

Scottish Care remains committed to working with providers and partner organisations to developing a ‘care normal’ that promotes and sustains quality of life for our care home residents.

This week sees the relaunch for the Stay in Scotland campaign, encouraging EU citizens to apply to the UK Government’s EU Settlement Scheme.

EU Citizens living in Scotland, who have not yet applied, are being urged to apply now to avoid missing the deadline of 30 June, so they can carry on living, working and studying in Scotland. Irish citizens and people with indefinite leave to remain do not have to apply.

The Stay in Scotland campaign is being run from this week until 30^th June on radio, digital, social, and press.

How You Can Help

• We would appreciate your support in amplifying the message across your social channels, and include the hashtags #stayinscotland and #WeAreScotland.
• Please find attached an example of the social static asset for your own social channels which has been updated to emphasise the approaching deadline.
• Suggested post copy:
  • The deadline for the EU settlement scheme is 30 June 2021. We want you to stay. Get support to apply now at mygov.scot/stayinscotland

Stakeholder Assets

Digital and printable assets providing information and signposting to available support are available via gov.scot, and include:

• Guide for EU citizens
• Guide for employers of EU citizens
• Factsheet
• Leaflets – available in multiple languages
• Posters
• Social media graphics in 8 languages

 Access the Toolkit to Support EU Citizens via gov.scot here