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Care at Home & Housing Support Awards – deadline extension

The Scottish Care team has taken the decision to extend the deadline to submit nominations to our Care at Home & Housing Support Awards 2018. 

A number of members have been in touch to ask for a little more time. A lot of people are reporting they have been delayed with their nominations because of the extraordinary weather conditions and the additional challenges these have created for those working in the sector in recent weeks.

At Scottish Care HQ we think the stories we've been hearing of late about hard working individuals and teams going above and beyond to deliver care in extreme weather are all the more worthy of celebration! So, if you know someone in your organisation who deserves recognition, take a look at our 11 award categories and let us know all about them. 

The new deadline is Monday 26 March.

To access more details, including the guidance notes and nomination forms please click the button above. Good Luck!

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Scottish Care launches new report highlighting changing picture of social care employment

Scottish Care has released a new report which explores recruitment and retention of individuals working in the care sector.

Read the 4Rs: The open doors of recruitment and retention in social care

The report findings show:

  • Employers have seen an almost 20% increase in those over the age of 45 applying for care vacancies.
  • Providers are operating a wide range of workplace benefits and initiatives to help with the retention of staff, most of which are premised on the importance of giving staff a voice and a sense of value.

However, it also highlights:

  • 63% of staff who have left the sector in the last year did so within the first 6 months of employment, mostly because of mutual unsuitability identified by the employer and employee.
  • Providers believe the lack of responses to advertised care vacancies plus competition with other employers and sectors to be the main reasons for recruitment difficulty.

The report will be launched at an event in Glasgow today (Thurs 15 March) attended by over 100 staff from across the health and social care sector including a number of those working at the front line of care delivery.

Speaking ahead of the launch, CEO of Scottish Care, Dr Donald Macaskill, said:

“Our new research shows the need to consider how we attract people to enter the care sector and to pursue a fulfilling career within it. Whilst more needs to be done through education and careers advice to encourage young people to work in social care, the findings show an increase in older people applying for care jobs so we must also make sure that employment opportunities are suitably flexible and promoted appropriately amongst people of all ages and backgrounds.

“Yet concerningly, we know that a huge number of people are leaving the sector at an early stage of their employment, predominantly because they are not suitable for the work or it wasn’t what they expected it to be. Whilst working in care is undoubtedly challenging, it is also a hugely rewarding and skilled profession with lots of opportunities and we must therefore ensure that there is better awareness of all that comes with a career in care –to better recognise the importance of this profession but also to ensure we have the right people delivering complex care to our loved ones and that we have a sustainable care sector going forward. Without a committed workforce, we won’t have social care services.”

Scottish Care’s National Workforce Lead, Katharine Ross, added:

“A career in care is not the same for everybody but it needs to be available to everybody. This report captures the employment journey of so many committed, dedicated and skilled individuals of different ages, backgrounds and experiences working in care homes and care at home organisations across Scotland.

"However, it also shows the reality facing the care sector:

  • The reality of trying to develop, train, qualify and lead a workforce against a backdrop of task and time commissioning, fifteen minute visits and the persistent denial by policy and decision makers of the true cost of delivering dignified, person led, preventative care and support to older citizens across the country in care homes and care at home organisations.
  • The reality that the potential of health and social care integration is yet to be realised in Scotland and we continue to see the confliction of a health or social care workforce.
  • The reality that a largely unappreciated and undervalued social care workforce, delivering compassionate care to individuals with multiple complex mental and physical illness, is at breaking point.
  • The reality that fewer people are choosing to work within the sector, and more people are leaving.

“Only by acknowledging these realities will we be able to shut the door through which dedicated and skilled individuals are flooding out from, and create conditions where people enter, stay, develop and thrive in the care sector. It is the only way to ensure the development of a rights-based, dignified social care system for the tens of thousands of older people receiving care in their own home, or in a care home.”

Read the report here.

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1 week left to nominate in CAH & HS Awards

Remember that nominations to the National Care at Home and Housing Support Awards 2018 close on Friday 16 March.

If you know a team or individual working in the sector who deserves recognition please let us know -  help us celebrate the best in Care at Home and Housing Support!

For more details on the award categories and how to nominate please follow the link:

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Media Statement: Sexuality report launched

Scottish Care launches publication on dementia and sexuality

Care Cameo: Let's Talk About Sex...uality

At an event in central Glasgow today  (Thursday 8th March), Scottish Care is launching a new publication on the issues of sexuality and dementia. Written by Clive King, Terrence Higgins Trust and Jennifer Hall, Alzheimer Scotland, the publication challenges some of the popular preconceptions and taboos around the issues of sexual health, sexual identity and sexuality for older people in Scotland.

The event will address the misconceptions which exist around sexuality and older individuals from the perspective that sexuality and the ability to express oneself sexually is a basic human right. Yet the taboo of sexuality and ageing is challenging enough without considering what this may come to mean for someone living with dementia, for care workers and for care providers.

The event will bring people from across the care and support sector together to discuss some of the key issues and to ensure that a holistic, person centred approach to carefully encompasses a person’s sexuality as an integral part of care and support in both care homes and in the community.

Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO Scottish Care said:

“This Care Cameo is an important publication as it challenges some of the really negative and unhelpful attitudes which exist around older people and sexuality. All too often the discussions on sexuality and dementia focus on the need to manage behaviour, issues of risk, capacity and consent.

“As a society we need to get much better at supporting people who live with dementia, at whatever age, to be able to be full human beings – that crucially includes their ability to be sexual beings. We have to get off our prurient moral high horses and let people be fully who they are. We have to call out discrimination especially of the LGBT community and help people live well with dementia.”

Ends

Care Cameo 6 sexuality update
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Care at Home & Housing Support Conference 2018

Practical promise: Making the vision of home care real

Scottish Care's annual Care at Home & Housing Support Conference, Exhibition & Awards will take place on Friday 18th May, 2018 at the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow. It is the only conference in Scotland to focus on care at home & housing support provision and the speakers, activities and insight sessions are curated specifically for providers and partners in this field.

It is hard to recall a period in which the sector has faced such a range of challenges to its stability and sustainability. Practical promise: Making the vision of home care real aims to address the issues impacting on our members and the wider sector. Delegates will hear challenging and thought-provoking contributions relating to the following crucial questions:

  • How do we support and deliver reform in the home care sector, in a way that respects the very real strain the sector is under?
  • Who else must support this reform?
  • How do we achieve practical promise?

Join us on May 18 and get involved in the debate! Additionally, the annual exhibition will run alongside the conference, allowing delegates to learn more about the latest products and services available to the sector.

To view the programme or book your ticket, please click on the buttons below.

Remember, if you are booking a ticket, you will be asked to select your preference for insight sessions, which run both morning and afternoon.

Each conference delegate will have the opportunity to attend 2 of the following workshops, all delivered by leaders in the sector working on critical areas of policy, practice and innovation in home care.

 

We look forward to seeing you on May 18!

#practicalpromise

#homecare18

 

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Partnership project centred on human dignity praised by senior health chief

A pilot initiative which has markedly improved the lives of people in some Lanarkshire care homes has been praised by a national health chief.  Last year The Care Home Continence Improvement project set out to improve approaches to continence care.

Professor Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director of Healthcare Quality and Strategy for The Scottish Government, recently met core members of the team during a visit to South Lanarkshire Council’s David Walker Gardens in Rutherglen, one of the care homes where the initiative had been tested.

Professor Leitch said:

“I was hugely impressed by the work piloted by the team. This is ground-breaking and innovative partnership working at its best – centred around human dignity.”

Research has identified incontinence as a risk factor that increases skin damage, infection and falls in older people.

During the visit, Professor Leitch learned how the initiative allowed care home staff to improve the quality of care through better recording of processes and introducing small changes including medication reviews and reducing caffeine intake.  The outcomes of the project – also piloted at Summerlee House in Coatbridge – have led to improvements including a reduction in falls by 65%, urinary infections being halved and skin damage reduced by one third. The project has also significantly reduced the amount of continence pads used at the homes.

Following the visit, Professor Leitch added:

“I’ve had a wonderful experience at David Walker Gardens. I’ve seen the care home, I’ve met the residents, I’ve met the staff. It’s a home- from-home for many people in the local area.  “The exemplary project that’s been piloted here has directly tackled an issue that can be often seen as a taboo. The improvement changes have saved money, markedly reduced the impact of incontinence, including reducing infections and falls.  “Crucially this has also improved people’s lives.” 

The pilot was developed by teams in and North and South Lanarkshire’s Health and Social Care Partnerships, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS National Services Scotland and work is underway to explore rolling the project out across Lanarkshire.

Val de Souza, Director of Health and Social Care, South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said:

“This is yet another example of person-focussed, innovative care at the centre of our communities. The recognition this team are getting for their work is well-deserved and is a reflection of their commitment, dedication and unmitigated focus on improving people’s lives.”

Jean Donaldson, Associate Director of Nursing, South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership, explained:

“This project was about small changes making a big difference. As we continue to explore the wider implementation in Lanarkshire, we were delighted to share the details of the approach.”

Alice Macleod, Nurse Advisor with NHS National Services Scotland, added:

“The expertise among all involved in this project has supported care home staff to implement this innovative, quality improvement initiative. We look forward to building on this work and sharing our experience, with the goal of supporting others to make positive changes.” 

You can see Professor Jason Leitch sum up his thoughts on the care home visit in the video below.

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Challenging weather: media comment

Commenting on the impact the challenging weather conditions are having, Scottish Care National Director Karen Hedge:

“Our members have described urging their staff to take extra precautions such as ensuring they can travel safely, wearing appropriate clothing, carrying emergency items and making sure their phones are charged. It’s at times like this we feel humbled by our care workers who go above and beyond, battling with Mother Nature at all times of the day and night to ensure that the most vulnerable citizens in Scotland are safe and cared for.”

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Branch Meetings Update

The following branch meetings will be taking place and are open to members to attend. Both of these meetings will go ahead in collaboration with the Care Inspectorate.

  • West of Scotland & Glasgow branches Care Home Meeting - Feb 27 @2pm 
  • Pan-Ayrshire branch Care Home Meeting - March 1 @12.30pm

For further details please click on the relevant button below.

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Care at Home & Housing Support Awards – New Category

Scottish Care is delighted to announce that an additional category has been added to the 2018 Care at Home & Housing Support Awards.

Day Service of the Year – Company or Service

This new award has been introduced to highlight the amazing work which is being delivered by day services and organisations across Scotland.

Day provision comes in very diverse forms but at their best they provide individuals with opportunities to remain connected and involved with others and their local communities, to engage in activities of interest and learn and discover new interests. They are also critical in providing respite and renewal to family carers as well as helping people to foster new friendships.

The winning service will:

  • Provide evidence of sustained excellent practice, innovation and positive risk-taking
  • Provide examples of a positive culture within the service, which is inclusive of individuals who use the service and their families.
  • Demonstrate the range of activities and supports offered by the organisation and the extent to which they are inclusive and foster independence.
  • Show the extent to which the service is sensitive to individual cultural, disability and linguistic needs.
  • Supply testimonials from service users, families, staff and external partners.

Nominations to our Awards are now open - the deadline for submitting nominations is March 16.

The Awards themselves will be held on the evening of Friday the 18th May, 2018 at the Marriott hotel in Glasgow and will follow on from the Scottish Care at Home & Housing Support daytime Conference and Exhibition (of which we will publish more details in the next few weeks).

It will be an evening to highlight and celebrate the best in care at home and housing support across Scotland. We know that around the country, individuals and teams are carrying out work in this field at an incredibly high standard in an era of challenging budgets and an increasingly demanding work environment.

If you want to find out more about the 11 categories in the awards, please take a look at the Guidelines below. You can make a nomination online or by downloading the nomination forms sending the completed versions via email.

If you have any queries about the nomination process, please get in touch with the team via [email protected] or drop us a line at Scottish Care HQ on 01292 270240.

We very much look forward to hearing about all the fantastic work going on and want to take this opportunity to wish all our Care at Home & Housing Support members the very best of luck for the Awards 2018!

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Job Opportunity: Project Administrator, Aberdeen (part-time)

 SCOTTISH CARE IS LOOKING FOR A PROJECT ADMINISTRATOR

An exciting opportunity has arisen within Scottish Care for a Finance and Project Administrator to work as part of our team in Aberdeen City. This is a part time post (17.5 hours per week – £22,000 per year pro rata), based in Scottish Care’s offices in Aberdeen. 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.

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.

The post holder will possess sound organisational & administrative abilities and the ability to support staff in the office and across Aberdeen City in delivering services to members.

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 Wednesday 7th March 2018.

Closing Date: 5pm on Monday 26th February 2018.