Care for Vision – 8 October 2019

Scottish Care are pleased to announce that we are partnering with Royal Blind to host a joint event on Tuesday 8 October 2019 at The Renfield Centre in Glasgow.

This event 'Care with vision: Overcoming challenges in caring for older people with sight loss' focusses on helping carers increase their knowledge in overcoming challenges in caring for older people with sight loss, including those with other needs such as dementia and other sensory loss.

This is an interactive workshop led by experts from sight loss charity - Royal Blind, allowing participants to experience challenges that are faced by people who are visionally impaired. The offers participants the chance to understand how sight loss conditions can impact on an individual's care needs, and how they can make a difference to the care of someone with sight loss.

Ticket prices are £10, please click on the button below to book your place.

Workforce Matters eBulletin – September 2019

Workforce Matters eBulletin - September 2019

Workforce Matters is the workforce planning and development arm of Scottish Care.  As well as sharing relevant and up to date information about workforce and learning opportunities across the country, we also want to know more about your organisations learning and development needs, particularly those relating to regulatory, Care Inspectorate and SSSC requirements.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions about your organisational workforce needs or would like further information about learning and development opportunities available to Scottish Care members.

Caroline Deane - Workforce Policy & Practice Lead

[email protected] 

News and Events

Workforce, Palliative and End of Life Care - Keeping Well: Supporting the Care Workforce

Our next Workforce event, open to all Scottish Care members, will take place on Wednesday 25th September 2019, 9:30am-3:30pm at The Marriott Hotel, 500 Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8RR. The focus of the day will be on the palliative care journey from diagnosis through to end of life care and the impact of bereavement on health and wellbeing.

Spaces will be limited to 60 people so if you are interested in attending please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

Hope for Home Study Day 8th October 10am to 4pm, Ardgowan Hospice, 12 Nelson Street, Greenock, PA15 1TS

As the result of an exciting partnership between Hope for Home, Ardgowan Hospice and Campbell Snowdon Care Home, they are inviting people to attend a study day that has been developed which will bring together a diverse group of people with an interest in dementia and end of life care, including opinion leaders, academics, clinical practitioners, community development experts and family carers.

Healthy Working Lives – NHS Funding available

Healthy Working Lives is a very useful website that gives access to information and training courses for the social care workforce and has funding available from the NHS.  Mentally Healthy Workplace training has been developed by Healthy Working Lives specifically for managers and supervisors. This course is delivered through blended learning and before attending you must complete the Mentally Healthy Workplace eLearning course.

For further information on training courses available please click on the button below.

Personal Outcomes Network Event Personal Outcomes and Risk Event 5th September 2019

This network event will focus on risk within the context of personal outcomes ways of working.  The event will have several speakers in the morning followed by table top discussions. It’s a great opportunity to hear about what other people are doing, share your own practice, ask questions, debate issues or challenges and learn from each other.

Stay in Scotland Campaign, helping EU Citizens to remain in Scotland

 The Scottish Government have developed guidance for employers to support EU Citizens and employers with EU staff.

Please click on the button below to access employer guides and factsheets.

Care Home Education Facilitators Newsletter (C.H.E.F. Team)

We are happy to signpost you to this newsletter which aims to engage Greater Glasgow staff and managers within the independent, social care and care home sectors.   The CHEF team hope to promote effective collaborative working with all care homes and 3rd sector organisations within GGC.

Guidance for employers to assist supporting their social care workers in care at home and housing support to register with SSSC

The SSSC have produced a series of new guides for employers for use in supporting care and support workers when they apply for SSSC registration.

Use the Flexible Workforce Development Fund to support Career Opportunities

The Scottish Funding Council have released guidance around the use of the flexible workforce development fund.  They have confirmed that qualifications in social services, including those which meet SSSC registration requirements, are eligible.

Modern Apprenticeship funding available through Skills Development Scotland

We are pleased to advise that Skills Development Scotland has announced that funding has been allocated to training providers for Modern Apprenticeships and this includes funding for staff who are aged over 25.

Workforce Groups

Our Workforce Groups each run quarterly throughout the year and, as ever, we are really keen to have the involvement of our frontline colleagues and more provider participation.  Details of the next dates are listed below:

Joint Scottish Care/SSSC Regulatory Forum

The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 10th September 2019 between 10.00am and 12.30pm.  The venue of this meeting has still to be confirmed but will be held at a venue in Edinburgh.

The Regulatory Forum explores how regulation of our services impacts upon them and our workforce. SSSC, who co-chair, advise and guide on new initiatives with providers being able to highlight challenges and solutions on topics such as registration, SVQ, qualifications and training among many others.  More input from frontline colleagues and providers can only increase our effectiveness, so please come along.

Scottish Care/SSSC Promoting Excellence in Dementia Group

The next meeting will take place on 12th September between 10:30am and 12:30pm. This will be held at the Carewatch office in Greenock, 38 Union Street, PA16 8DJ.

This group allows anyone with an interest in the care of people living with dementia to explore the Promoting Excellence Framework, training opportunities, best practice and hear updates from several different types of services on how they are encouraging and implementing the Framework within their own organisations.  It is always great to have people involved in the direct delivery of dementia care and hear the challenges and successes experienced daily in their work.

Leadership Reference Group

The next meeting will take place on 27th August 10:30am-12:30pm at the C-Change office, Suite 3 Melissa House, Festival Court, Brand Place, Glasgow, G51 1DR .

This group’s focus is on leadership and how to positively promote and nurture it throughout all levels of teams and organisations across social care. We are always looking for more people to come along, particularly frontline colleagues so please do get in touch.

Scottish Care Palliative and End of Life Care Group - for care home & care at home organisations

The next meeting will take place on 28th August, 10am - 12.30pm at Renfield St Stephen's Centre, 260 Bath Street Glasgow G2 4JP.

We are always looking for more people to come along, particularly front line colleagues.

We greatly appreciate the support of those organisations who have previously hosted our Workforce Groups, with thanks to those hosting the upcoming meetings.

If you would like more information about any of these forums please contact [email protected].

Resources

Qualification guidance for supervisors in care at home, housing support and care home services for adults

The SSSC have guidance available on their website to explain the different ways supervisors in these services can meet the supervisory part of their qualification requirement.  The guidance includes lists of the units accepted by the SSSC along with information about the other ways supervisors can meet the requirement.

The SSSC Learning Zone

The SSSC Learning Zone is an extremely useful resource for keeping your practice up to date.  It includes free to use learning apps covering subject areas such as dementia, adult protection and medication. There is also a career development toolkit which may prove useful to members keen to develop career pathways within their organisations.

SSSC News

Keep Up to Date with all SSSC related news ,events and resources at SSSCNews “The online magazine for Scotland’s social services.”


 

Partners for Integration Report – The story so far

The Integration story: Trust, engagement, relationship building, and innovation. Join us as we highlight collaboration, improvement and shared values on the integration journey.

On Thursday 5th September, Partners for Integration are hosting their annual event; join us as we showcase & celebrate collaboration and innovation across HSCP areas. People are at the heart of integration; whether that’s people who access care and support, colleagues across HSCPs sharing knowledge and skills or the independent and 3rd sector care providers delivering valuable services. Scottish Care’s Partners for Integration team plays a vital role in the  delivery of integrated health and social care services and supports; building relationships with key stakeholders to create a shared vision, supporting the delivery of local and national improvement programmes, contributing to strategic planning and local engagement, these are some examples of the work currently underway in different Partnership areas. Come and meet the team, hear about our role in integration and how we can support the improvement journey.

Guest speakers at the event will include:

Judith Proctor: Chief Officer, Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership

David Rowland: Professional Advisor, Directorate for Health & Social Care Integration Scottish Government

Diana Hekerem: Head of Transformational Redesign, Improvement Hub (ihub), Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Contacts:

Julia White [email protected] 07946 517228

Janice Cameron [email protected] 07719 063980

Interim National Leads, Partners for Integration

 

Partners Report 2019 ff

 

 

#deliveringintegration

A blog from our CEO for Professional Care Workers Day

I am very pleased to be writing to support Professional Care Workers Day being held on the 4th September.

It might be stating the obvious to say that care workers are the life-blood and heart of all the care services which are delivered by any provider across Scotland. This day is an opportunity for wider society not only to recognise their invaluable role but to acknowledge that we need to do a lot more to support them in their work.

So it is no accident that the theme of the day this year is ‘well-being.’

Scottish Care has been at the forefront in highlighting the pressures which our care staff are working under which impacts on their personal health both mentally and physically. We recognise that there is an intimate relationship between how someone is supported to do their job and how they feel. That is why we have consistently called for a distinct national fund and resource which is dedicated to the support and welfare of social care staff. Such a resource would foster the necessary work that needs to happen to for instance support the hundreds of staff who struggle with issues of mental distress caused by continually caring, by encountering death and loss on a daily basis and dealing with the distress of others in facing their illness and decline. Such a fund could develop real support and intervention on the issue of bereavement, on how you look after your physical health in what is an arduous and demanding physical job, or in developing specific resources focussed on caring for those with the continual mental strain of neurological conditions such as dementia.

There is now boundless evidence to show the relationship between staff retention and the direct meeting of the well-being needs of staff.

We all need today to think of how we can best recognise and value those at the care face. Is it just a simple hello and thank you as you pass someone who walks between visits? Is it as a shopkeeper giving a reduction to care staff or a simple gift on this day? Is it as transport companies allowing a day of free travel? Is it as a beauty therapist or physiotherapist or a money and advice worker giving a free session or consultation? Let’s come up with some good ideas!

So for providers the organisers of this day are asking you to get involved and hold your own celebrations. Last year they received great pictures of cards, gift bags, tea and drinks parties. People really showed their staff that their work is valued, and celebrated working as teams and providing great care.

What will you do to demonstrate the value and recognition you place on the care worker?

So let us all celebrate everything that is good about people who work in care with the second annual Professional Care Workers' Day.

Tweet and use the hashtag #ProfessionalCareWorkersDay.

Donald Macaskill

@DrDMacaskill

Job Opportunity – Events, Sales and Marketing Officer (Maternity Cover)

Event, Sales and Marketing Officer

Maternity Cover

 

Do you have what it takes to promote and generate business for a high profile organisation?

Are you great with people, and also a good negotiator?

Do you have keen attention to detail, but are able to see the big picture?

Are you looking for a role which will make a real difference in a sector which employs 1 in 13 Scots, and provides a service to over 60 thousand?

If you answered ‘Yes’ to all, then read on…

Scottish Care wishes to appoint a Sales, Marketing & Events Officer to work as part of our national team.

This is a part-time post (21 hours per week) to cover maternity leave, based in Scottish Care’s offices in Ayr with the requirement to attend occasional meetings and events throughout Scotland. Salary is set at £30,000 pro-rata.

Scottish Care is based in Ayr and 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. 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.

In addition to the core work of Scottish Care, the organisation’s activities include leading on Scottish Government funded projects and in this context contracts a number of ‘leads’ and ‘associates’ to support a range of national initiatives including the integration of health and social care and workforce development

To apply for this appointment, please contact [email protected]

for an application pack. Please complete and return by 12 noon on 13th September 2019 either via email to [email protected] or post: Scottish Care, 25 Barns Street, Ayr, KA7 1XB. Interviews will be held on Friday 27th September 2019 at Scottish Care HQ, 25 Barns Street, Ayr KA7 1XB

Update on EU Exit Briefing

Scottish Care has updated the EU Exit Briefing that was first released in February of this year. This briefing serves as a guidance for social care providers to prepare for any adverse impacts that could result from the UK leaving the EU, whether if it is a Deal or No Deal Exit. This document details simple steps that social care providers can take to ensure that necessary preparation is undertaken to meet their obligations and responsibilities.

We strongly encourage social care providers to use this briefing as a guide for preparation. Please have a look through further down this webpage.

PrepareforBrexit.scot is offering financial support in the form of a grant of £2-4k to SMEs to help build business resilience.

To date it has been used on things like scenario planning, professional services to support the impact of Brexit, Human Resource issues and training.

More information and details on eligibility and how to apply can be found below:

https://www.prepareforbrexit.scot/updates/brexit-support-grant

Updated EU Exit Briefing -compressed

Scottish Care Webinar – 6 September 2019

We are delighted to invite you to take part at our second webinar. This is scheduled to take place on Friday 6 September 2019 at 11:30am. This webinar will be an in-house surgery conducted by Scottish Care’s CEO – Donald Macaskill and/or National Director – Karen Hedge. During this session they will deliver a national update and will accept questions from participants.

Link to webinar: https://zoom.us/j/930198562

Webinar ID: 930-198-562

Partners for Integration National Event – 5 September 2019

The story so far – Insight Sessions & World Café

Scottish Care will be holding a Partners for Integration event on Thursday 5th September, 9:30am at Hanover Scotland, 95 McDonald Road, Edinburgh, EH7 4NS. The event is open to Scottish Care members and social care partners and is free of charge to attend.

This event consists of speakers from different organisations such as Edinburgh HSCP, Scottish Government, Scottish Care and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. There will also be a number of insight sessions which focuses on the work of Partners for Integration, including:

1. Improving care and support.

We will explore the quality of hospital discharge from the viewpoint of care services across Scotland. At a time when the number of agencies involved in discharge planning seems to be ever expanding there is a need for us all to work together and ensure that the discharge process is of the highest quality.

Covering issues of quality, process and communication the session will be based on experiences and examples of good practice. There will be opportunity for participants to come together to map out where change can be made nationally and locally.

2. Improvement through workforce development.

You will hear about 3 innovative projects that have had a role in developing the workforce using Improvement Methodology.

  1. Continence project – South and North Lanarkshire H&SC Partnership
  2. Care cooks course – working collaboratively across all sectors to create a practical solution to supporting people with dysphagia – Highland H&SC Partnership
  3. Pressure Ulcer Prevention awareness training programme across all care providers to reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers – Perth &Kinross H&SC Partnership

3. Engagement, representation, consultation, integration.

Independent Sector Leads (ISL’s) undertake a wide range of direct and indirect engagement within the Partnerships in which they work. In many areas the ISL holds a position on the Integration Joint Board and in all, undertakes considerable strategic planning and support of the Independent Sector. During this Insight Session several ISL’s from different Partnerships will draw upon their experiences and share the benefits, opportunities and successes that the role brings. It will give you an opportunity to experience the work taking place in your own and other Partnership areas and to take part in growing and strengthening this.

4.Using Data to Improve Information.

Good information is the cornerstone of good decision-making at every level.  Our priorities are changing: but are we really creating better, more integrated care and support?  The Accounts Commission (2014) stated that the length of time people live in good health has not increased in line with life expectancy, and that current arrangements for older people’s care are not sustainable.  As demand for services increases so do the high-level aspirations for quality care.

In this session we will look at how we can use good information to improve care.

World Café Tables

The Independent Sector Leads at their world café tables will describe a project or improvement plan they have been involved in .The Leads will take 5/10mins to describe the project ,why and how they set it up , what outcomes they achieved or were the outcomes achieved.

There are 10 tables and the sessions will allow for participation at 4 tables:

  • Sensory awareness – Hearing and sight loss.
  • Living and dying well collaborative.
  • Glasgow City Deal.
  • Care About Physical Activity.
  • Quality Improvement workshops.
  • Care Inspectorate Improvement checklist.
  • My Home Life.
  • Dementia – Johns Campaign, dementia training
  • Aberdeen City Integrated Provider Forum/Care Home consultation.
  • Improvement through focusing on diet and nutrition (IDDSI).

Places for this event are limited, if you would like to attend please email [email protected] to register.

News Release: Human Rights charter launched at Scottish Care’s tech event

NEWS RELEASE

At an event in central Glasgow today (Friday 23rd August), Scottish Care, with the support of the Clydesdale Bank, is hosting only the second dedicated event to be held in Scotland on technology and its use in older people’s care and support.

Care Tech 2 is being held in the Strathclyde University Technology and Innovation Centre.

Technology has an increasingly important role to play in all our lives. In social care, technology is being used to enable individuals to maintain their independence for as long as possible, to support staff more effectively in their work, and to ensure that individuals remain in control of their supports for as long as possible.

This unique event brings together over 150 people including designers and developers alongside those using and working in social care services. Through a set of interactive workshops participants will hear about cutting edge innovation, contribute their own ideas and have an opportunity to consider what technology might mean for them in their home or workplace. The event will explore some of the most creative technologies now available and some which are currently under development.

The event also sees the launch a new Human Rights Charter for Technology and Digital in Social Care. The Charter has been developed with a range of designers, providers and people who work and use social care services over the last year. It grew out of the report ‘Tech Rights’, which Scottish Care launched last year, and which addresses some of the challenges which the increased use of technology including ‘care-bots’, and ‘sensor devices’ are now posing for developers and older people.

The Charter for Technology presents a number of statements which seek to place the development and use of technology and digital within a human rights and ethical perspective. It is the first of its kind to be developed anywhere and Scottish Care hopes it will continue and contribute to the wider debate on critical issues such as privacy, individual choice and control, and the importance of human contact.

Dr Donald Macaskill, Scottish Care CEO, said:

“Care Tech 2 is an attempt to recognise that we live in a dynamic and fast changing world where technology has the potential to do so much which is good for the care of our older citizens. But the day will also reflect on some of the dangers and limitations of technology, and how we need to develop a human rights and ethical framework for the use of this amazing technology. We are delighted to be able to launch the new human rights Charter for Technology and Digital in Social Care. We hope that over the next few weeks and months designers and developers, policy makers and politicians, providers and frontline workers as well as those who use social care supports, will sign up to the Charter. The future of care in Scotland has to be one which is based on the rights, dignity, privacy and control of individual citizens. The Charter is a positive contribution to achieving the rights-based care and support our citizens deserve.”

“Scotland has been a proud defender and promotor of human rights within social care and health. I believe there is a real opportunity, faced with the challenges of Artificial Intelligence and wider technology, for Scotland to be at the forefront of the debate around the role of ethics and human rights of technology.”

Derek Breingan, National Head of Health & Social Care Sector, Clydesdale Bank said:

" We are pleased again to sponsor this event following its previous success.  Whilst technology advances continue, and there is more evidence of this in care settings, the conference also explores some of the very important and interesting elements of its use.  Thought provoking debate has been generated on the Human Rights aspects of technology in person centred care following the inaugural event last year.  At Clydesdale Bank we understand the importance of investing in the sector and of the potential benefits that technology can provide and so are looking forward to an interesting, informative and beneficial event.”

Nominations now open for the 2020 Queen’s Nurse programme

2020 Queen's Nurse programme

Since the Queen’s Nurse title was reintroduced to Scotland in 2017, there have been 61 community nurses from across the country who have taken part in the nine-month development programme.

Candidates are nominated by their employers to apply and during the programme each community nurse must develop an issue which will have a significant impact on those they care for – meaning the learning during the nine months is applied in practice.

QNIS is committed to supporting the development of care home nursing, and over the last three years, there have been four care home nurses take part.

The 2020 programme has connected with the Nursing Now Nightingale Challenge which is seeking to develop the next generation of influential nurse leaders, so the commitment is to offer development opportunities to those who are under 35.

QNIS is encouraging managers to look at the Queen’s Nurse excellence profile and consider putting forward an outstanding nurse to apply.

The funded programme requires employers to release staff for ten days over nine months to attend workshops and to support them in a development project where they co-produce a piece of work around a priority issue with residents, families and other staff

Information inviting applications for the 2020 Queen’s Nurse programme is now on the QNIS website.

Read more about Queen’s Nurse Lesley.