Webinar Recording: Launch of ‘Coileanadh’ – Future for Social Care (20 May)

Scottish Care hosted a webinar to launch  ‘Coileanadh’ on Thursday 20th May, 2PM. This session was hosted by Technology & Digital Innovation Lead, Dr Tara French and Policy & Research Officer, Imogen Caird.

‘Coileanadh’ is the output of the ‘Building our collective care future’ programme and articulates a change landscape for social care that 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 priorities that have emerged through collectively developing a positive vision reinforce the essential contribution of relationships, partnerships and societal engagement to understand and support the health, social and wellbeing needs and aspirations of our communities and population.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating this work and helped contribute to taking forward this future change landscape in practice.

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

The recording from this webinar session is now available below.

Scottish Care comments on the ‘Authority to Discharge’ report

The new report of the Mental Welfare Commission, ‘Authority to Discharge’, which examines the issue of decision-making for people in hospital who lack capacity and their discharge from hospitals to care homes from March to May 2020 makes for disturbing reading.

Its identification of very real knowledge and skills gaps in discharge practice from hospital to care homes and the community should be a matter of very real concern. Of perhaps even greater concern is the analysis that failures were happening even before the start of the pandemic.

Organisations like Scottish Care have long argued that it is critical that we reform our processes around discharge from hospital, especially for those who may have diminished or fluctuating capacity. This means we need to involve families, relatives and staff from care homes and homecare at a much earlier stage in decision-making.

There are simply too many instances where decisions are being made with a limited knowledge of the best interests and needs of the person involved. A professional knows best attitude has no place in modern care and support. That is regrettable at any time but especially so during a pandemic.

It is important that the eight recommendations of the Report are put into practice but we must go even further so that we arrive at a stage where no-one with reduced capacity does not have people in their corner to advocate on their behalf.

After years of training and learning budgets being reduced or even stripped away in social care contracts it is critical that we invest resource in making sure all staff know not just the letter of the law but what good human rights-based practice really looks like.

Care at Home & Housing Support Awards 2021 – Nominations deadline extended

The Scottish Care team has taken the decision to extend the deadline to submit nominations to our Care at Home & Housing Support Awards 2021.

The new deadline is Monday 24 May, 9am.

This is the perfect opportunity to recognise the workforce in this sector who work tirelessly day and night to provide care to individuals throughout the country and celebrate the achievements of clients and service users. So, if you have any individuals or teams in mind, please take your time to put them forward.

The awards ceremony itself will be held on virtually on Friday 25 June 2021.

There are 10 different award categories to enter including:

  • Emerging Talent Award
  • Care Services Coordination/Administration Award
  • Care Learning Award
  • Management & Leadership Award
  • Outstanding Achievement Award
  • Carer of the Year
  • Palliative & End of Life Care Practise Award
  • Technology & People Award
  • Provider of the Year
  • Positive Impact Award

We urge you to put in your nominations, as it’s very important for us to give recognition to this often undervalued sector.

Good luck everyone!

New guidance on activities and outings away from the care home – 17 May

Additional guidance on residents’ outings away from the care home has been published by the Scottish Government today (17 May 2021).

Following the publication of Open with Care in February 2021, this document provides further guidance around care home residents leaving the care home for meaningful contact or activities.

This guidance is available on: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-adult-care-homes-visiting-guidance/

Launch of ‘Coileanadh’ – Manifesting a flourishing social care future for Scotland. 

 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 

Congratulations to our 2020 Care Home Awards winners!

Scottish Care’s Annual Care Home Awards 2020 take place on Friday 14 May 2021. The awards ceremony took place online, hosted by Dr Donald Macaskill and Michelle McManus.

Huge congratulations to all of our deserving finalists and winners, and thank you to all the Awards Sponsors.

#carehomeawards2020 #careawards2020

 

Programme available for the Homecare Festival (15-17 June)

This year’s Care at Home and Housing Support Conference will be virtual.

The conference titled the ‘Homecare Festival’  will take place from Tuesday 15 June – Thursday 17 June 2021.

This event will look at the themes of ‘Home First’,  ‘Workforce First’ and ‘Wellbeing First’ and is an important opportunity in recognising the crucial role of care at home and housing support services in supporting our older and vulnerable citizens.

There will be a series of online sessions over this three-day period, bringing together a range of speakers to highlight challenges faced by the care at home and housing support sector and to discuss the future of homecare.

Tickets are priced at £45 + VAT, this gives delegates access to all 3 days of the event. Attendance is flexible and delegates are able to pick and choose which sessions they want to go to.

Delegates will be sent instructions to register on the event platform Hopin after purchase.

The programme for this event is available below. 

#homecarefestival

Care Home Awards 2020

A prestigious evening awards ceremony recognising the best of the independent care home sector will be held online tonight (Friday 14 May 2021) to highlight the contribution of care home staff before and during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Scottish Care, the representative body for independent social care services across Scotland and organisers of the event, are encouraging those working in the sector and the wider public to join the online Awards to recognise and celebrate the role of care home workers.

Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony tonight, hosted by presenter, columnist and Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus.

Awards will be given out over thirteen 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

The past year has been difficult for everyone, but it has been especially difficult for our care homes as the Covid-19 virus has presented a particular threat to the lives of residents and staff in care homes for adults.

Yet throughout this time, the dedication and professionalism of staff in supporting residents, families and each other has been exceptional. Care home staff have demonstrated resilience whilst adapting to the challenges of Covid-19. The care home response to Covid-19 has involved new innovative activity, unprecedented collaboration and people going above and beyond the call of duty.

Therefore, the Care Home Awards is an important opportunity to recognise individuals, teams and companies, who are delivering care at an incredibly high standard in a challenging period and within an increasingly demanding work environment.

Rights Made Real Workshop – 2 June

The next in our series of Rights Made Real Workshops is taking place on June 2nd, 1:30-4pm.

The theme of this workshop is ‘A Human Rights Approach to End of Life Care Conversations’.

Acknowledging that conversations, such as anticipatory care planning conversations, can present challenges, we will explore what can be of support to staff, residents and relatives when engaging in these conversations.

There will also be a follow-up discussion on June 23rd, 2-3pm.

Further details about the workshop are outlined in flyer below.

Effective Voice Survey – Fair Work in Social Care

The Fair Work in Social Care Group aims to improve the working experience of those in the adult social care workforce, working together to progress the recommendations already outlined in the Fair Work Convention report, which have also been endorsed by the Independent Review of Adult Social Care.

Scottish Care is now issuing two short surveys on effective voice (that is, how much influence people can have on their working experience) on behalf of the Fair Work group in collaboration with CCPS.

One survey is for employers and one for employees. These surveys are designed to help the group understand what effective voice looks like for you.

We kindly ask you to complete the survey once, based on your job role – either employer or employee. You may share the employee link with other staff members. Your answers will be completely confidential as the data will be held by Scottish Care.

Employer survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FairWorkEmployerSurvey

Employee survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FairWorkEmployeeSurvey

We would be grateful if you could complete this and thank you in advance for taking part. We look forward to hearing your experiences.

Survey deadline: Sunday, 23rd May, 5pm

Many thanks,

Karen (Scottish Care) & Alison Christie (CCPS [email protected])
The Fair Work in Social Care Group