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Food for Life Better Care

Food for Life Better Care is a programme of Soil Association Scotland.  The Soil Association is testing a framework that supports the provision of nutritious, sustainable food and activities that benefit residents, staff and the wider community. 

The programme is exploring how good food can improve the health and wellbeing of older people in care homes.  The programme is focussing on how:

  • Good food can address residents complex nutritional needs and reduce the risk of malnutrition and dehydration
  • Food growing and therapeutic activities provide a more stimulating environment that supports physical and mental health and wellbeing.
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Guest Post from SDS National Lead (seconded), Carlyn Miller

Plans, plans, perseverance and pies

I’ve landed the New Year blog post which seems like a terrifying opportunity to reflect on the previous year. Where did it go? If I close my eyes and think back I  find vague memories of being on trains; of starting a new job; of a whirlwind of new people; of meetings, of minutes, of work plan after work plan; of avoiding going to the gym; of late nights typing reports; of panicking over panel discussions I’d somehow ended up on; of strong coffee and then suddenly of Christmas, of Jackie Bird and a bombardment of instagram “My year in photos”,  New Year engagements and steak pies.

Now it’s 2018, no more steak pies for anyone apparently. Only kale.

This change in year means that I’ve been on secondment to the Scottish Government Self-directed Support Policy team for 10 months, full time for 7 of these. It’s been such a steep learning curve for me, being totally new to the inner workings of government and probably too comfortable in the self-managing ways of Scottish Care. There’s now a work plan of a work plan of a work plan, a sub group of a sub group of a sub group and the most challenging part…Blackberry phones? Seriously though, I thought they were discontinued 10 years ago?! It’s a whole new world. But being here has been and continues to be absolutely invaluable to my learning and development and similar to being at Scottish Care (had to put that in there!) I’ve met so many hugely hard working and passionate people

Looking back, at the end of my Scottish Care Self-directed Support project which looked at the uptake of SDS for older people, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was exhausted, de-motivated and missing seeing the impact of my work. It wasn’t like teaching where I could relax at the end of the day as I saw the kids progress. The light bulb moment where a small Korean child finally understood rock, paper, scissors or something equally as valuable- these didn’t seem to be there anymore. Self-directed Support was too huge, there were too many barriers. I lost the enthusiastic, idealistic, passionate person I was 15 months earlier. I still truly believed in Self-directed Support but I was bogged down in the system blocks, in the lack of awareness, in the blame chain, in the financial climate, in the difficult reality for a lot of people.

When the opportunity for secondment emerged I thought, “YES” I’ll go to the government and I’ll sort it out from there. Nae bother at all.

The End

Except not. Of course. I’m part of a wonderful, passionate team who truly believe in the Act and work their socks off every day (I know, I know, my dad’s already told me that I’ve become a government apologist). But I’m there, my eyes are open to how incredibly difficult this is at all levels. When I worked at Scottish Care, I thought, like many people, the government just need to wave a big stick at everyone and scare them into implementing this properly. Human rights were at stake after all. But it’s slowly set in that it’s not that simple. Waving a big stick doesn’t change mind-sets, culture, systems or the hard realities on the ground for people and for staff. There’s a fundamental question there about what drives people to make something truly happen- I don’t think it’s fear or threat or at least I don’t think it should be.

My role at Scottish Government is communications, working to ensure a shared understanding and commitment to SDS both internally and externally. I’ve accepted that this won’t change the world but alongside all of the tremendous work going on within the sector things are changing. I’d like to use this part of the blog to ask you, the reader, how do you feel about Self-directed Support? In your role, do you feel you/or the providers you support have the opportunity and understanding to make Self-directed Support a reality? After all, it’s not just about Options, it’s about how we see and work with others. If the answer is no, ask yourself what you can do to change that? Yes, it’s massive and requires whole system change but sometimes you have to take the first step even if you can’t see the whole staircase.

As Martin Luther King Jr said;

“Human Progress is neither automatic nor inevitable…Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

I still have days where I put my head on the desk and think, this isn’t making a difference. But then I meet families like the McTaggarts (the part of the blog I’ve been waiting to get to) and I feel inspired about the importance of Self-directed Support all over again. Please watch Grant’s story. This blog is dedicated to him and his family for their time, honesty and chocolate muffins.

Peace, love and perseverance for 2018 

Carlyn Miller

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The Four R’s event: 15 March 2018

The Four R’s: Exploring recruitment, retention, regulation and representation in the Scottish social care sector

 Thursday 15th March 2018 – 10.00am – 3.30pm

The Hilton Hotel, 1 William Street, Glasgow, G3 8HT

Throughout 2017, recruitment and retention challenges have intensified for care homes and care at home organisations throughout Scotland.  With the demand for adult social services increasing - how can providers best achieve the requirements of the new National Health and Care Standards, meet regulatory and registration qualification requirements and attract and retain a dedicated, compassionate workforce?

This is a practical workshop designed for owners, managers and supervisors working in care homes and care at home organisations, as well as front line workers.  Attendees will learn about new national developments relating to ‘The Four R’s’ and the latest Scottish Care report will be launched. 

Due to the nature of this subject, this is shaping up to be an extremely popular event. We would therefore be very grateful if you could book your place by Wednesday 28th February.  If there is anyone else who you feel would like to attend (either within your organisation or external), please send their contact details to [email protected] and an invitation will be sent to them. 

There is no charge to attend this event.  However for operational reasons we may charge those who have booked and do not attend a fee of £25.00.  If after you have booked you are unable to attend please inform us as soon as possible and at least 48 hours before the event.

Over the coming weeks we will be sharing updates and information about the event on the Scottish Care website www.scottishcare.org and Twitter @scottishcare using the hashtag #C4RE

Please do not hesitate to contact the Workforce Matters team or the Scottish Care office if you have any questions or would like additional information. 

Make sure you also take part in Scottish Care's 4R's survey by Wednesday 31 January

Take survey now
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Mentor and Charge Nurse Annual Survey 2018

Pre-registration Nursing and Midwifery Education Programmes in Scotland: Mentor and Charge Nurse Annual Survey 2018.

The following survey from NHS Education Scotland is for Charge Nurses, Team Leaders and Care Home Managers.

Mentor & Charge Nurse Survey 2018

The survey is live from today (Monday 15 January 2018) and will close on Friday 27 April 2018.

The Pre-registration Nursing and Midwifery Programmes are funded by the Scottish Government and are reviewed annually to maintain and enhance the quality of nursing and midwifery education in Scotland.

Survey organisers believe it is highly important that care home managers are included within this review.  Partners in delivering the pre-registration programmes, are encouraged to engage actively in constructive evaluation and also as a commitment to future generations of students. The findings of the survey contribute to joint action planning between the universities and NHS Boards to enhance the pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes.

The short web based questionnaire seeks information on the strengths and challenges of the programmes and gathers your thoughts on any improvements that may be required. A similar questionnaire is also sent to final year students.

For further help please contact Angela Curran, NMAHP Project Officer at: N&[email protected]

 

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Scottish Care & Life Changes Trust announce new human rights fund for care homes

Rights Made Real in Care Homes

The Life Changes Trust, in partnership with Scottish Care, is delighted to announce a new grants fund, and is seeking applications from care homes in Scotland.  The care home must demonstrate that it can run a project (or similar) that will actively promote the human rights of residents living with dementia.

The fund was officially launched at Scottish Care's 'Raising the Standards' event in Glasgow on Wednesday 29 November 2017.

Speaking about the new fund, Dr Donald Macaskill said:

"I am delighted that Life Changes Trust has dedicated £300,000 to work alongside Scottish Care to further embed human rights in Scotland’s care homes. I look forward to seeing a whole range of creative projects which will help care homes to get even better at delivering a human rights based approach to care".

Anna Buchanan, Director for the People Affected by Dementia Programme at Life Changes Trust, said:

“The funding on offer from the Life Changes Trust is for initiatives in care homes that demonstrate better ways of making rights real for people who live there. Care home residents still have a life to live and they have the right to thrive. Older people, including those living with dementia, have a right to maintain strong connections with family and friends, with their communities and with the things that matter to them. They do not give up these rights when they cross the threshold of a care home. We are looking to fund creative and innovative projects and ways of working that will benefit people living with dementia and show others how to make rights real in care homes.”

Care homes can apply for up to £20,000 to be spent over a period of up to 24 months.

To view guidance on the Rights Made Real fund and how to apply, click here.

Applications must be made via the Trust’s online application portal, which opens on 29th November 2017 and will close on Friday 9th March 2018.

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Guest Post from Policy and Research Manager, Becca Gatherum

2018: The year of positivity or negativity?

So here we are… the second week of 2018 and I have already written a report about how strained the social care sector is and why partners need to start listening to us.

This particular report focuses on the sustainability or otherwise of the care at home sector, with survey data from members telling us that 2017 saw half of providers not tendering for Local Authority contracts and 40% handing work back to councils.

Looking ahead to 2018, home care services tell us they are concerned about their ability to continue operating this year.  In fact, only 14% feel confident about their provision this year and nearly a quarter have extreme concerns.

What a way to start to the year.

A noticeable trend over the past 12 months has been the extent to which Scottish Care’s research and statements have gained widespread media coverage in a way that didn’t happen before.  The publication of today’s report is no different, with STV and the Herald already covering it this morning.  Whilst this is a positive reflection on Scottish Care’s ability to reach and influence others, it is probably much more an indication of just how important the issues we raise really are, not only to the sector but to the whole of Scotland and to the health and social care infrastructure which as a whole seems so fragile.  Does it mean people are starting to listen?

This new report comes on the back of the 2017 reports I wrote, which included work to highlight the lack of support for care staff’s palliative and end of live provision (Trees that Bend in the Wind), the impact of the removal of preventative homecare (Bringing Home Care), the growing recruitment & retention crises (Care Home Workforce Data & Independent Sector Nursing Data) and the strain placed on care staff’s mental health (Fragile Foundations).

And coming up in the next few weeks will be the uncertainty around the future of the National Care Home Contract.

This all sounds extremely negative and in many ways it is, showing again and again just how undervalued and under-resourced the independent care sector is.  So is this negativity the theme of 2018?

Well, not entirely.  All these reports also highlighted how many examples of compassionate, innovative care take place in spite of the vast array of challenges. Even today’s report highlights that care services are trying their utmost to continue delivering high quality care and won’t allow their values to be continually undermined by poor contract terms.

A planning meeting that we held last week within Scottish Care highlighted how many exciting projects and initiatives aimed at supporting reform will be undertaken in 2018.  These include work with the Glasgow School of Art on reforming home care and many other proposals in the pipeline which we’ll share through our blogs in the coming weeks and months.

What’s more, there are so many good news stories to be told about care.  Just this week, I’ve been made aware of a relative of a care home resident who wants to recognise the amazing care they received over the 14 years up to and including their death.  I also heard of another service who realised that across 7 of their staff, they had a combined sector experience of 130 years (an average of over 18 years each), so there are still many people who pursue care as a career and love it.

So is 2018 a year of positivity or negativity?  I would contend that it is partly both, but more importantly it needs to be the year of listening, and of acting.

The challenges won’t be solved overnight, not by a long shot.  And the positive work will continue in terms of everyday good care and the learning and sharing of new ways of working.  Both of those things are a given.

What will really make the difference (and determine whether we have a sector to survey next year on their sustainability), is what partners, policy makers and practice influencers do with the messages we continue to give to them – of the real challenges and the real difference our services make.

As we say in the new report:

“We can no longer tinker around the edges of social care – the challenge needs to be grasped with both hands and driven forward by a political will to ensure there are a range of high quality, sustainable services.”

2018 needs to be the year we move past a flurry of media coverage, a wringing of hands and then a return to the status quo.  It simply can’t happen anymore if we want there to be a social care sector.

Scottish Care doesn’t want to be the constant bearer of bad news.  We want to be a positive partner in finding practical and meaningful solutions so that everyone who requires social care can receive the best.  So this year I ask that you listen to us, and act with us, to ensure the positivity outweighs the negativity in social care.

Becca Gatherum

Policy and Research Manager, Scottish Care

 

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Media Statement: New survey highlights extent of home care fragility in Scotland

A fresh warning has been issued to national and local government about the consequences of failing to support home care services across Scotland.

Scottish Care, the representative body for independent providers of social care, is calling for a renewed approach to supporting and funding care at home services in 2018 to prevent the collapse of the sector, which would have a huge impact on many of Scotland’s most vulnerable citizens.

The warning comes on the back of new survey data published by Scottish Care today (THURS 11 JAN) which shows that:

  • Nearly 40% of care at home services handed work back to Local Authorities in 2017 on the basis of sustainability and capacity
  • Half of home care services did not apply for contracts offered by their Local Authority in 2017 on the same grounds
  • 86% of home care services are concerned about their sustainability and survival in 2018, with nearly a quarter extremely concerned

The responses to the survey, which was undertaken in the week before Christmas, represents nearly 6,000 home care staff delivering 133,000 hours of care to over 12,000 people per week.

Scottish Care’s Executive and National Committees will meet today in Glasgow to discuss these findings and their implications for the ongoing care of adults and older people in their own homes.
Speaking ahead of this meeting, Scottish Care CEO, Dr Donald Macaskill, said:

“Unfortunately, these findings only serve to consolidate what we already know and what we have been telling Scottish Government, Health & Social Care Partnerships and commissioners throughout 2017.

“We are not crying wolf when we stress the precarious nature of home care in the current climate, with the results of this survey emphasising how genuinely close to collapse we are in Scotland.

“It shows that half of the services we represent feel unable to compete for contracts because the rates and conditions at which they are set by Local Authority make the delivery of dignified care impossible to sustain. And of those who do try to make it work, 40% are forced to hand that work back because it is not viable to continue operating.

“It means we have a huge number of home care services willing and able to provide high quality care in people’s own homes but who are stifled from doing so by a drive to the bottom by Local Authorities in terms of pay and conditions offered to those services delivering that care. The inability of services to recruit and retain staff and to pay them a good wage further cripples these essential services. We are faced with a reality where a quarter of services are not sure they will still be operating this time next year.

“The present crisis being faced by the NHS is being made much worse by the failure to integrate properly, and to dedicate equal resource and focus to social care. We can no longer tinker around the edges of social care – the challenge needs to be grasped with both hands and driven forward by a political will to ensure there are a range of high quality, sustainable services available in people’s communities which also offer attractive careers for the 1 in 13 Scots who are employed in social care.

“If this doesn’t happen now, the consequences are enormous for health and social care, for the economy, for jobs and most importantly, for the tens of thousands of individuals and families who rely on this type of support.

“It is all very well to join up health and social care systems on paper and as structures. But real partnership which puts people at the centre needs to be worked at not just spoken about. We need to work very hard in 2018 to ensure we still have a social care system able to care for our vulnerable older citizens. At the moment this survey suggests that there are worrying signs that we will not.”

To read the full report, click here.

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Recruitment, retention, regulation and representation: The 4 R’s survey

Throughout 2017, recruitment and retention challenges intensified for care home, care at home and housing support organisations throughout Scotland.  With the demand for adult social services increasing, how can providers best attain the new National Health and Care Standards, meet regulatory and registration qualification requirements and attract and retain a dedicated, compassionate workforce in 2018?

We have created a short survey for Scottish Care members which should take no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete.   This survey does not look for detailed data about your service but instead asks you to provide qualitative information about your experiences, thoughts, ideas and solutions relating to recruitment, retention, regulation and representation.

Access the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/4RSurvey

We aim to use the information provided to clearly articulate your experiences of providing care in Scotland – and to positively influence policy makers at a local and national level.

The findings of this survey will be launched at an event in Glasgow on Thursday 15th March.  More information about this event will be circulated in the next week.

We very much appreciate you taking time to complete this survey.  Please complete one response per service, not per organisation.

The survey will close on Wednesday 31 January.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Becca Gatherum – [email protected].

Thank you