Be Inspired! Shirley Ayres Consulting

Sometimes, we can get so hung up on jargon, acronyms and professional speak that we lose sight of the fact that they fail to bring understanding or enlightenment to people outside of our world. Creating more jargon is not the answer. Changing the words we use might work better and possibly glossaries of terms and jargon busters are a step on the way.

Our sector desperately needs to communicate effectively to so many different stakeholders. Why is it such a major challenge keeping up to date with the latest acronyms, initials and jargon, especially in the areas of workforce development, education and training?

We are currently identifying useful resources and compiling a glossary of the most common terms and acronyms used across the care sector. You can then ask the GSCC about your PRTL (gaining information from our website may qualify!) and request a TNA from your employer who may refer to the PQ and seek guidance from the SSC about the relevant NOS.

GSCC – General Social Care Council

The General Social Care Council is responsible for setting standards of conduct and practice for social care workers and their employers, for regulating the workforce, and for regulating social work education and training.

PRTL – Post-Registration Training and Learning

Every social worker registered with the GSCC shall, within the period of registration, complete either 90 hours or 15 days of study, training, courses, seminars, reading, teaching or other activities which could reasonably be expected to advance the social worker’s professional development, or contribute to the development of the profession as a whole.

TNA – Training Needs Analysis

An analysis of training needs to identify any skill gaps for organizations and individuals.

PQ-  Post Qualifying

Education and training undertaken by qualified social workers and other professionals. Social workers need to evidence their PQ training and CPD when submitting their PRTL to maintain their  registration with the GSCC Social Care Register..

SSC – Sector Skills Council

Each SSC works to agree priorities and targets with its employers and partners to address four key goals:

• reducing skills gaps and shortages

• improving productivity, business and public service performance

• increasing opportunities to boost the skills and productivity of everyone in the sector’s workforce, including action on equal opportunities

• improving the supply of learning opportunities, including apprenticeships, higher education and national occupational standards

Skills for Care and Development are the Sector Skills Council for social care, children and young people’s workforces in the UK. It is an Alliance of 5 organisations:

Care Council for Wales, Children’s Workforce Development Council, Northern Ireland Social Care Council, Scottish Social Services Council, and Skills for Care

NOS – National Occupational Standards

National Occupational Standards (NOS) have been developed to assist employers, businesses, employees and individuals. They contain descriptions of good practice and can be a benchmark for rewarding experience, knowledge and competence.

NOS Directory

All the NOS developed by Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and Standard Setting Bodies (SSBs) are available to download on the NOS Directory managed by the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA). The NOS Directory is available on the UK Standards website. http://www.ukstandards.org

In the meantime we would like to introduce you to Jargonbuster, a resource drafted by Kevin Ashby and Colin Nee (Charities Evaluation Services), with input from a steering group containing representatives from a number of charitable foundations, grant awarding bodies and national umbrella bodies.

This book defines and explains key terms used in evaluating and monitoring services. Definitions range from milestones to benchmarking and the differences between an output and an outcome are explained in plain english with examples and case studies.

An invaluable resource available to download here or on the Charity Evaluation Services website

Tags: acronyms, care sector, ces, charity evaluation services, glossary of terms, gscc, jargonbuster, nos, outcomes, ssc

Related Posts:

• General Social Care Council to be abolished
• BASW warns that financial independence for GSCC will see costs passed onto social workers
• 2010 – new decade, new challenges – what needs to change in social work and social care?
• The GSCC launches Grow Your Own Social Workers: a Toolkit
• How radical are the recommendations from the Social Work Task Force?

The first ever survey of more than 750,000  care workers across England found that whlst 90% of staff are happy in their work less than half believe their work is appreciated by the general public.

The survey of 500 care workers carried out by Skills for Care found only 39% felt their work was appreciated and many felt that there was little understanding of the value of their hard work.

“This survey is the largest ever study of adult social care workers in England and it has revealed that we have some difficult challenges ahead of us over the next decade,” says Skills for Care Chair Donald Hoodless.

“The fact that a sizeable majority of the one million people who work in social care in England feel their work is undervalued reinforces the problems we have in making sure their work with some of the most vulnerable people in our society is properly recognised by the general public. “We are going to need more and more care workers to meet the needs of an aging population and the general public’s negative view of care work means it will be difficult for the sector to recruit people returning to work or young people to replace those staff. It is good news that the workforce is happy in their work but it does raise serious questions about whether they have the skills to cope with the significant changes in our sector, particularly with the greater emphasis on personalised care for a more articulate group of people who use services some of whom are now directly employing their own staff.”

The adult social care workforce accounts for nearly 5 per cent of England’s workforce, spread over more than 25,000 employers. Skills for Care members are drawn from groups representing public, private and voluntary sector care employers, along with representatives of staff, trainers, service users and informal careers. Social care includes residential care, domiciliary care and social work with all its specialists.

The Department of Health have invested significant sums through Skills for Care making sure that staff can access the training they need to do their job to the highest standard possible and it’s encouraging that the majority now have NVQ level 2 qualifications and are accessing training and development reviews.

“It’s worth remembering that 80% qualified staff and only 20% with no qualifications at all is almost the exact opposite of the workforce profile we had before Skills for Care invested time, money and strategic thinking into developing a better trained workforce which will ultimately benefit people who use services. But as we increase numbers of trained staff we need to have a full debate about how we make sure we boost the financial incentives for getting a qualification as our research shows there is only a maximum 6% percent difference in pay rates between qualified and non-qualified staff which is far too low.”

“Skills for Care is not complacent about the state of training within the care sector but is encouraged that significant investments in the development of three quarters of a million workers is beginning to deliver a well trained workforce able to meet the needs of a highly diverse group of people who use services across England.” http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/view.asp?id=966

Tags: happy in their work, social care staff, undervalued by the public

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Advanced practice in social work can be a driving force in meeting the expectations of people using services, delegates at a recent conference on professional leadership heard. The conference was organised by the Advanced Practice Social Work Network and supported by Skills for Care London and the Childrens Workforce Development Council.

Speaking to more than 100 delegates, Fiona Hill, director of Brent Mental Health User Group (BUG), said constructive partnerships can be formed with people using services who have appropriate knowledge and skills in service development and improvement.

Such partnerships can yield creative and modern approaches to the challenging agenda of service provision, commission and delivery, she added.  The use of a multi-disciplinary approach and the incorporation of the recovery approach offer opportunities for advanced practice.

The one-day conference entitled “Professional Leadership – The Challenge for Advanced Practitioners” was jointly organised by Skills for Care (SfC), the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) and the Advanced Practice Social Work Network (APSWN).

Hill said that mental health users want to be recognised as part of the multi-disciplinary team involved in their care, with social care and health professionals prepared to use a range of creative approaches.

People receiving services often want to be enabled to identify for themselves the factors which help them deal with their mental illness and improve their wellbeing and health.

Mental health users are not often encouraged to develop their strengths and resilience or to take creative risks that are positive as people who use services are more likely seen as “isolated individuals” rather than in the context of their lives, she added.

Positive change can be achieved by professionals working together with people using services to pro-actively gather information about evidence-based practice and seeking out opportunities to modernise service provision which is focused on outcomes of those using services.

Areas for Development

The development of organisational commitment to, and ownership of, evidence-based practice; increased use of evidence-based approaches amongst staff; and greater access to research evidence and evidence-based practice materials are three key areas for development in social care.

Addressing delegates on developing evidence-based practice in a UK children’s charity, Tony Newman, assistant director of research and development at Barnardos outlined several proposals for senior management to help stimulate organisational commitment.

Staff should be provided with time and opportunities to develop critical thinking, discussion of research should form part of staff supervision and appraisal sessions; and research competencies included in job descriptions.

He also suggested that social care management should maintain strategic links with research institutions, as well as build evidence into service planning and review and support effective evaluation of outcomes of practice.

In identifying the various challenges for the UK social care sector which would help to strengthen the research capacity, Newman said, creating and sustaining management ‘buy in’ was important, as was linking what social work professionals do with why they do it.

The sector needs to go beyond dissemination of evidence and instead increase its focus on how evidence can be applied in practice application to practice.

A challenge also exists in addressing the perception that some practitioners have towards research and to tackle the shortfall in the skills and knowledge of the social care workforce, added Newman, who told delegates that was required was sustained support and follow through from senior management within organisations.

Opportunities exist in competitive tendering, “New Philanthropy” and an increased emphasis on evidence; existing expertise and resources; links with social work training and PQ requirements, and a demand by government for policy focused research.

Transcendent knowledge

Experienced professional practice requires an ability to juggle and apply knowledge from a range of sources, in what is often complex and changing situations, Jan Fook, professor in social work studies at the University of Southampton, told delegates.

Speaking on the role of the advanced practitioner in integrating knowledge in practice, Fook said the implications for knowledge were transcendent. 

Professional practitioners had the skill to negotiate meanings in context, to invert knowledge hierarchies, and to engender a sense of professional integrity.

Fook heads the Southampton Practice Research Initiative Network Group (SPRING), to develop and resource practice research initiatives in partnership between practitioners and academics, and to profile the use of innovative methods in practice research.

Joan Orme, professor of social work at the University of Glasgow, chaired the conference. Other speakers included John Nawrockyi, director of adult social care at the London Borough of Greenwich, who presented an employer perspective on PQ higher awards and the contribution that advanced practitioners make to social work practice.

Malcolm Payne, director of psycho-social and spiritual care at St Christopher’s Hospice gave a moving account of the role of the advanced social work practitioner in supporting individuals and their families come to terms with terminal illness and death. Christine Holland, consultant social worker, North Essex Partnership NHS Trust gave a first-hand account of her role as a consultant social work practitioner, and its implications.

A range of professionals from health and social care settings conducted workshops on a number of issues covering inter-professional practice, leadership and management, practice education, mental health, and children and young people’s services.

Delegates were able to have key questions on the higher awards in the PQ framework addressed by a panel of social care experts including Amanda Hatton from Skills for Care; and Jan Hill, Skills for Care London sub-regional PQ lead for the north-east.

The conference took place on January 31 in London.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Sadly there are only a limited range of funding sources available to support students undertaking Post-Qualifying awards in social work within the revised PQ Framework. At a time when resources are being limited it should be a matter of concern to the profession that there are no ring fenced funds for post qualifying education and training in England. Whilst some employers are very generous there is a marked lack of consistency about access to post qualifying training especially at higher specialist and advanced level. Voluntary organisations are particularly hard pressed to support their staff.

Maybe we need a performance indicator or benchmark for the investment in post qualifying training made by social work employers or do we still have to argue the business case?

Funding sources in England include:

Local Authority Grants

From April 2008, the Adult Social Care Workforce contribution (Department of Health) and Children’s Social Care Workforce contribution (Department for Children Schools and Families) will form part of local authorities non-ring fenced Area Based Grant.   These grants are to assist with the training and development of the social care workforce, and it is recommended that local authority employers support post-qualification training via these grants. These funding streams replace the National Training Strategy and Human Resource Development Strategy grants previously provided. 

Post Qualifying Bursary Fund

Skills for Care and the Children’s Workforce Development Council jointly offer bursaries for PQ Awards in social work for candidates who do not have an employer including locum, freelance or independent social workers. For further information about eligibility contact your regional office at www.skillsforcare.org.uk or www.cwdcouncil.org.uk

Career Development Loans

Social workers can apply for an interest-free Career Development Loan (CDL) of between £300 and £8,000 to fund vocational, work-related courses. These are available through Barclays Bank, The Co-operative Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland as a result of an arrangement with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for candidates who are unable to pay for the course themselves; are not eligible for any other funding; and are intending to work in the European Union upon completion. See www.direct.gov.uk/cdl for details.

Educational Trust and Grant Funding

Educational trusts are charitable organisations that award grants for educational purposes to organizations or individuals. Eligibility criteria for funding are varied with limited criteria, such as only assisting study for a particular profession; at a specific academic level; or relating to a specific geographical area. Some universities offer bursaries. Further information from public libraries or the university you are interested in attending.

Social Workers’ Educational Trust (SWET)

SWET aims to assist qualified social workers to develop their knowledge and skills; encourage research into social work practice; and educate the public about the nature of social work. Small grants up to £300 are available for social workers with at least two years post qualifying practice. The Trust also grants more substantial annual research scholarships. www.socialworkerseducationaltrust.org.uk

Tags: career development loans, local authorities, pq funding, swet

Related Posts:

• 2009 Research Scholarships from the Social Workers Educational Trust
• See Me Now
• £5.5 million allocated to new Social Work Partnership but is this enough?
• Social Workers Educational Trust – providing support for post qualifying studies

Employers, higher education institutions, practitioners and other stakeholders are being invited to join the Advanced Practice Social Work Network (APSWN), which offers a collective and independent voice for the professional leadership of social work in the UK. The APSWN seeks to support advanced practitioners in social work and specifically aims to:

1. Advocate for improved funding structures for Post Qualifying (PQ) education to support the professional development of advanced practitioners;
2. Engage employers in discussions about the training needs of their advanced practitioners and encourage them to continue supporting advanced level PQ programmes;
3. Engage employers and other stakeholders in the design of advanced level PQ programmes;
4. Support HEIs in developing new advanced level PQ programmes;
5. Advocate for advanced practice positions such as Consultant Social Workers;
6. Develop the research capacity of advanced social work practitioners;
7. Engage with organisations to help bridge the gap between research and advanced practice in social work;
8. Engage with the workforce development agenda and policy initiatives such as the White Paper ‘Our Health, Our Care’ and Building Brighter Futures: Next Steps for the Childrens’ Workforce

Further information from Martin Webber at: martin.webber@iop.kcl.ac.uk.

Tags: advanced social work practice, independent voice, leadership, professional practice

Related Posts:

• National Continuing Professional Development Conference for Social Workers~14th September 2010
• Shape the new College and build a strong voice for social work
• Social work practitioners develop a caseload management system
• 50,000 social workers join the Advanced Social Work Practice Network on LinkedIn in 2010
• Launch of the Final Report of the Social Work Task Force

With over 1.6 billion registered email addresses in the world and increasing use of the internet, there are plenty of opportunities to study on line in your own time and at your own pace. An increasing number of organisations provide eLearning opportunities which range from updating your knowledge of the law through to preparing for the European Computer Driving Licence. 

The Social Care Institue for Excellence (SCIE) offer a number of invaluable and free resources on line which provide innovative solutions to ensuring that your knowledge and skills remain up to date. A note to SCIE – please provide a certificate to download after completing the programme which can be included in the Post Registration Training and Learning folder.

“Law is often seen as alien to social work values, a tool of oppression and control. However, it is possible to see law as a source of empowerment, if a way can be found through the maze where legal rules, organisational contexts and professional practice meet.” Learning, teaching and assessment of law in social work education

Suzy Braye and Michael Preston-Shoot, October 2006 Online at SCIE’s website

The Law and Social Work

This is a very interactive programme using audio and video, which brings alive key aspects of the law applied to social work practice. Ten modules which explore accountability and intervention, courtroom skills and experts by experience using case studies, quizzes and self assessment tools. This resource was developed for student social workers but is equally relevant to qualified social workers, especially if you are supervising a student on placement. I particularly enjoyed the win a million gameshow! http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/elearning/law/index.asp

An introduction to the mental health of older people

This interactive programme aims to raise awareness of key issues, research, messages, policies and approaches relating to the mental health of older people and, in so doing, positively impact on practice. Ten modules cover everything from attitudes and images to ageing through to understanding dementia. Informative and thought provoking and an invaluable resource. http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/elearning/mentalhealth/index.asp

NEW Poverty, parenting and social exclusionThese new e-learning resources are intended to help people working in social care to understand the link between poverty, parenting and social exclusion. The nine training resources include quizzes, videos and case studies of families affected by poverty. http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/elearning/poverty/index.asp

 How are these resources helping your practice? What further e-Learning resources would you like SCIE to develop? Let us know your thoughts.

Tags: dementia care, law, poverty and exclusion, scie, social care institute for excellence, social workers

Related Posts:

• Can Gerry Robinson fix Dementia Care Homes?
• Radical proposals in the new health White Paper
• Shape the new College and build a strong voice for social work
• SCIE publish an updated edition of Personalisation: a rough guide
• Social Care TV now online

The demographic time bomb of the baby boomer generation and their expectations and aspirations suggest the need for a radical rethink of how care services are delivered.

The move towards person centred and self directed support suggests the need for many smaller providers able to tailor services to the needs and expectations of individuals rather than the prescriptive and often limited services currently offered.

But there is a paradox which sits uncomfortably amidst the vision. The growth in emphasis upon commissioning services assumes that there is a “market” in social care. Arguably we do not have a market in social care because of the limited resources available, how the services are financed and where the money is located. This certainly does not encourage innovation and creativity and there is little incentive to understand and provide what the user actually wants and needs to improve the quality of their lives.

The Remodelling Social Work Delivery Project announced by The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) could be an exciting opportunity to test out new approaches to social work deployment so that staff expertise can be used more widely, to enable better direct work with clients. It is hoped that the pilots will improve the retention and recruitment of social work and social care staff, allow more early intervention work with clients, involve non-social work staff, trainees and social work students on practice learning placements and form part of integrated services and arrangements.

Tags: children's workfoce development council, cwdc

Related Posts:

• DCSF cuts will target field forces
• Home alone: your guide to keeping your child safe and other parenting resources
• How radical are the recommendations from the Social Work Task Force?
• Introducing ChiMat – an invaluable resource for children’s services
• Launch of the Final Report of the Social Work Task Force

According to a survey by Infosecurity Europe, 45% of female office workers were so desperate to get their hands on a free bar of chocolate that they were prepared to give up their computer password to a complete stranger. Here at MT we laugh in the face of traditional gender stereotypes – but some clichés obviously exist for a reason…

To mark Information Security Awareness week the company’s staff posed as market researchers outside Liverpool Street station in London and asked passers-by for personal details, to prove how easy it would be for computer hackers to trick their way into our IT systems.

Some of these loose-lipped respondents also happily gave up their name, date of birth, address and telephone number – all perfect fodder for the identity thief, as well as the hacker. Apparently these people were surprised to learn they’d been duped on the grounds that the ‘researchers’ were ‘so well dressed and honest’ that they didn’t look like criminals. Presumably they’re under the impression that all hackers hang around in those grey overalls with pointy arrows on them.

Although fewer people gave up their passwords this year (just 21% compared to 64% last year, suggesting we’ve become slightly less gullible in the last 12 months) we’re still amazed that so many people fell for the stunt. OK, so we all love a freebie – we pile our supermarket trolleys with products on ‘buy one get one free’ promotions and stuff our shelves with books on ‘three for two’ offers. But surely most people have realised by now that you very rarely get something for nothing?

And we imagine that employers will read all this with horror. After all, nobody wants to be the next big data loss story, after the opprobrium heaped on HSBC and HM Revenue & Customs recently. Although it does make us wonder – how many chocolate bars did it take to lose those missing data disks…?

Follow article link >>.

Tags: chocolate, data protection, management today

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts