Be Inspired! Shirley Ayres Consulting

What I believe to be one of the most exciting developments for social care has just been announced. The creation of a National Skills Academy for Social Care is a massive step forward in developing the skills of nearly 1.4 million social care workers. Finally there will be a “one stop shop” to enable employers, staff and service users to access information about learning and development opportunities.

There is, however, one confusing element that will need to be clarified – how will the social care academy link with the plethora of initiatives underway in children’s services? These include the Remodelling Social Work Practice pilots, the Newly Qualified Social Worker schemes and the development of Leadership and Management programmes for the children’s workforce. One answer may be found in the new Social Work Development Partnership Board a collaborative approach between the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) and Skills for Care (SfC) which aims to improve social work practice.

The numerous questions I am asked about training in the care sector highlight the current confusion about accessing relevant and timely information. For the first time there will be a national scheme to identify and quality assure trainers to support the drive to improve the delivery of teaching and learning, inside and outside the workplace. You will no longer have to wonder which, out of a confusing number of organisations, you should approach to help meet your training needs.

The Academy will provide exemplar programmes for the skills required across the whole workforce in the private, voluntary and public sectors. It will champion innovative solutions to the ways in which training and learning can be delivered and assessed. It will be the information and reference source for individuals and care providers to disseminate good practice in learning, training and education wherever it is fo

Developments will include:

Two new commissioning programmes at national level, available regionally, to ensure that employers are able to contribute to and respond to community and individual needs effectively and efficiently:

A new national scheme to encourage quality in training provision through an accreditation scheme for associations and providers of training.

A new programme of encouragement and support for employers who wish to have their in-house training accredited to national standards.

Signposting the funding available for training and for staff and leadership development.

The Skills Academy will be established as an independent, not for profit organisation on March 30 2009.

Some facts about the social care workforce

Adult social care supports those with a physical or learning disability, people with mental health problems, and older people.

70% of social care staff work in the independent sector (private or voluntary).

Care is provided by more than 35,000 different employers

Most establishments employ less than 10 people

1.5 million people currently work in adult social care including home care workers, care home staff, social workers.

Demographic changes including an ageing population will require a significant increase in the social care workforce. It is projected to group to 2.5 million by 2020.

83% of the social care workforce is female (rising to 90% in direct care)

The majority have limited qualifications

What will the Skills Academy offer?

The Skills Academy is exploring a membership model which will confer a range of benefits, including:

access to a repository of information on funding opportunities and routes for training and development

access to information about accredited training providers and accredited trainers

access to e-learning networks

access to regional learning networks

discounts for kite-marking and quality assurance services

a membership kite-mark for corporate branding

the opportunity to take part in piloting and other developments of programmes and services

the opportunity to influence the direction of the Skills Academy through the membership group.

The Skills Academy for Social Care – Why Now?

To hear the views of the steering group you can watch the introductory video

For more information about the Social Work Development Partnership

Tags: accreditation, commissioning programmes, exemplar programmes, kite marking, national skills academy for social care, one stop shop, quality assuring training providers, scie, skills for care, training in the care sector

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 The remodelling social work delivery project was established by the Children’s Workforce Development Council www.cwdcouncil.org.uk earlier this year. There are 11 pilot sites across England involved in the project and there are a number of different delivery options being explored. The Department for Children, Schools and Families wished to encourage innovation through the active engagement of the private and not for profit sectors in establishing new approaches to working with the most vulnerable children and their families.

The CWDC project runs until March 2011 with 11 local authorities from across the country developing a number of different delivery options. Each pilot will explore ways for social workers to look at new ways of organizing their working practices,  organize their staff teams more effectively; and look at how they can provide more ‘front line’ contact with children and young people.

Click here www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/social-work/remodelling for more information about the pilot projects

Interestingly a number of local authorities have decided to proceed with exploring this option outside of the pilot scheme.

The remodelling social work project forms one element of a broader programme of work supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and CWDC. This programme of work has been designed to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people in contact with social care and particularly with social workers. The overall programme will address three priority areas of quality of initial training, skills and qualifications; workforce capacity and remodelling; and recruitment and retention.

Social work models being developed in the delivery pilots

A number of developments and themes are being explored in the CWDC pilot projects.

Structures

o Creating a single entry point for children and families to receive integrated services across a broad range of needs.

o Improving the interface between children’s centres and social work services, forging closer links between universal and statutory services to ensure early intervention

o Addressing the difficulties in delivering children’s social care within a large rural community,

o Making more effective use of IT and mobile technology

o Developing models of multi-disciplinary working, by locating social workers in multi-disciplinary teams working with children in need.

o Physically locating social workers in schools, health centres, children’s centres

o Closer working between social workers and residential child care workers

o Creating practices which allow social workers to spend more time in direct contact with the children themselves and bringing a “whole” team approach to all work.

Models of Intervention

o Improving the speed and quality of assessment and decision-making about placing young people into care, avoiding placement in care where possible. If remaining in care is appropriate, ensuring that effective planning is in place to promote permanency and placement stability.

o Using social work models of practice such as BHLP and solution-focused interventions. (Interestingly CBT is not mentioned).

o Expanding the use of Family Group Conferences with children already in care.

o Multi-agency family support panels to consider children’s needs through the Common Assessment Framework and implement coordinated plans to meet those needs. Working across services through Youth Inclusion Support Panels,

Recruitment and Retention

o Reviewing and improving recruitment and induction practices. (This could be linked with the Newly Qualified Social  Workers pilots)

Creating social work consultant roles, which will have a responsibility for supporting social workers undertaking court proceedings, (especially those in their first year of practice or undertaking court proceedings for the first time).

o Developing new career pathways for practitioners

o Training in brief therapy social work interventions

o Improving skills and knowledge in assessment and risk management

Perceptions of Social Work

o Improving the communities understanding of the role of social workers

o improving both the visibility of social care, and access to it by the public,

Is this the start of a new era for social work? This is a very exciting development and we will keep you updated .

Tags: a different role for social workers, cwdc, recruitment and retention, remodelling social work project, social work practice

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What does it mean to be an advanced practitioner in social work and does this role include a professional responsibility for leadership? With the increasing focus on interprofessional and multi-disciplinary work in both adults and children’s services, comparisons will be drawn with allied professionals such as doctors, nurses, teachers and psychologists. The new roles of Approved Mental Health Professional, Best Interest Assessor, Independent Mental Capacity Advocates and Responsible Clinician detailed in the Mental Capacity Act. 2005.offer challenges and opportunities for social workers to  contribute their specialist skills and knowledge in a wider range of settings.

The Children’s Workforce Development Council strategy outlined in the Building Better Future – Next steps for the Workforce identifies the need to develop and pilot a framework for professional development for social workers, including those in specialist roles. This will set out the standards and competences expected at different career stages, provide a coherent career pathways, improved development planning and incentives for advanced social workers to remain on the front line.

The role of the advanced practitioner will be explored further in the 2nd UK Mental Health Social Work Continuing Professional Development Conference on Friday 11th July.2008. Social workers in mental health services require strong professional leaders to promote the values, skills and experience of the profession within multi-disciplinary environments. However, the concept of professional leadership in mental health social work is in its infancy and has not yet been universally adopted by employers. This conference will provide the opportunity for discussion and debate about this important subject. You can still book a place by downloading the forms here 

With 5 keynote speakers, 30 papers in 10 symposia and 2 lunchtime film shows the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, Making Research Count and the University of Bedfordshire are to be congratulated on providing such an extensive conference programme which will enable practitioners to reflect and share best practice in the mental health field.

The Professional Leadership symposium is one of ten symposia offered at the conference. The full programme can be viewed here This symposium will draw upon the experience of the MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children & Adults programme at the Institute of Psychiatry in developing professional leaders amongst mental health social workers. The key elements of professional leadership will be explored along with a vision for its future in mental health social work. Because professional leadership also includes the development of new knowledge through original research, research conducted by an advanced practitioner is included to exemplify professional leadership in action.

S8 Paper 1: Professional leadership in mental health social work: what does it mean and how do we achieve it? 

Martin Webber – Programme Leader, MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children & Adults, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London

Abstract

Mental health social work in England and Wales is characterised by uncertainty and low morale. The new Mental Health Act 2007 has opened up the Approved Social Work role to other mental health professionals leaving many to question what the unique contribution of social work to contemporary mental health services actually is. In the absence of a Royal College (provided for other mental health professions) or another authoritative body which defines and promotes social work practice in mental health services, it is largely up to individual practitioners to make and defend their contribution to multi-disciplinary teams.

In this paper I argue that professional leaders are in a strong position to promote good practice, develop the evidence-base for social work and help to define future roles for social workers within mental health services. Professional leadership is currently provided by advanced social work practitioners who can demonstrate an ability to offer advanced and reflective supervision, conduct original research and confidently assert the positive and unique contribution that social workers make to mental health services.

S8 Paper 2: Advanced practitioners: professional leaders in practice

Jack Nathan - Lead Consultant Adult Psychotherapist, South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Course Tutor, MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children & Adults, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London

Abstract

This paper will explore what it means to be an advanced social work practitioner in mental health services today. It starts by discussing previously published work by the presenter which looks at the way in which social workers can develop competency beyond Schon’s ‘knowing-in-action’ and / or ‘reflection-in-action’. For example, the essential elements of an advanced practitioner include:

• knowledge of theories informing social work practice;

• knowledge of the current evidence-base; and

• the development of new knowledge through original research, undertaken within the workplace.

These ideas will then be applied to contemporary mental health social work to identify the opportunities and challenges for professional leaders today and in the future.

Jack Nathans previous paper The advanced practitioner: Beyond reflective practice can be downloaded here. Advanced Practitioner (Jack Nathan)

S8 Paper 3: Professional leadership in action. Identifying the support needs of children whose parents have mental illness: a survey of mental health professionals’ attitudes in Kingston-upon-Thames

Karin Slack – Senior Practitioner in Social Work & Approved Social Worker, Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames

Abstract

This paper reports on a study published earlier this year1 that was conducted by  practitioner as part of the MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children and Adults programme at the Institute of Psychiatry. The study aimed to explore attitudes of mental health professionals in one outer London borough regarding support needs of mental health service users’ children, to test for associations between demographic and professional factors, and practitioners’ views and practices, and to highlight barriers to identifying/meeting the support needs of service users’ children.

All statutory mental health teams in the borough participated in a cross sectional survey. The response rate was 94 out of 150 (62.7%). The sample consisted of a diverse range of professionals, in both inpatient and community settings.

The study found that practitioners were in favour of supporting children. However, attitudes and practices were significantly associated with profession, setting, and whether the respondent was a care co-ordinator. Social workers were the least likely to indicate that it was not their role to do so. Few associations were found with demographic characteristics or experience. The perceived barriers to supporting children were highlighted in this study. Responding professionals considered supporting children important but did not necessarily consider it their role to do so. Training is needed to raise awareness about this issue.

We will be reporting on the key issues raised at the conference in the next week

Tags: institute of psychiatry, making research count, national conference, professional leadership in social work

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The Mental Capacity Act (2005) came into effect from April 2007 in England. The Act provides a statutory framework to empower and protect vulnerable people who are not able to make their own decisions. The provisions of the Act directly affect a great many people. The training of Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP), and Best Interest Assessors (BIA) and the new role of Responsible Clinician have particular relevance for social work.

We have drawn together a number of useful resources and weblinks relating to the Mental Capacity Act. Please feel free to post and share other useful resources and guidance.

The Care Services Improvement Programme (CSIP) have a dedicated website to disseminate further information as it becomes available. Training materials are to be developed and CSIP will be jointly hosting road shows to share  more detailed information. There are a number of useful resources to download from this site including a best practice tool to help statutory services assess their state of readiness for the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs has published the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice (302 pages) which can be downloaded from the DCA website 

The Code of Practice for the Mental Capacity Act was formally issued by the Lord Chancellor on 23 April 2007. It provides guidance and information on how the Act will work on a day to day basis for anyone who works with or cares for people who lack capacity, including family, friends and unpaid carers. Certain groups of people are legally required to have regard to the Code when acting or making decisions on behalf of people who lack capacity.

Robert Brown, Visiting Fellow and Keith Brown, Director of the Centre for Post Qualifying Social Work at Bournemouth University have published a paper on the Impact of Recent Changes in Mental Health Law and their Implications for Workforce Development which can be downloaded here. Brown and Brown Mental Health Law 2008.doc (173.50 kb)

More detailed information is contained in The Social Workers Guide to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Brown B and Barber P (2008) published by Learning Matters.

If you work with people who use services and carers a free learning pack has been published by embrace learning which contains learning points and useful facts about the Mental Capacity Act. which can be downloaded here. Embrace Mental Capacity Act Learning Pack.pdf (143.83 kb)

Embrace Learning also offer a useful free online self-appraisal tool. which will assess your own skills and knowledge in respect of the Mental Capacity Act.

Tags: approved mental health practitioner, best interest assessor, code of practice, essential learning, guidance, mental capacity act, responsible clinician, social workers guide, workforce implications

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Despite the billions of pounds spent on social care and the increasing number of organizations charged with responsibility for improving standards in care you may be surprised to know that we do not have an independent think tank dedicated to promoting and guarding the values of social care.

The Prime Minister launched the nationwide government consultation on how adult social care should be funded at the King’s Fund, an independent charitable foundation working for better health, especially in London. www.kingsfund.org.uk

Concern has often been expressed about the lack of leadership in social care. Just imagine how powerful and inspiring an independent voice for social care could be with a remit similar to the Kings Fund. The problem at the moment is a lack of joined up thinking across the care sector which leads to considerable duplication of resources, research and policy initiatives. This is compounded by the, what some may suggest, is the artificial division into adults and children’s services. Add in the quangos, sector skills councils, education sector, private companies, charities, social enterprises and philanthropy capital and there are a large number of potentially competing and conflicting interest’s to be addressed along with an interesting power dynamic.

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An independently funded social care foundation which is not subject to political whim or favour would be a powerful unifying voice for social care. With the capacity to undertake and publish original research, provide objective analysis and foster innovation this really could start to build a world class workforce. Building understanding, capacity and leadership is essential and we could make a start by amalgamating the proliferating National Centres for Leadership.

With thanks to the Kings Fund for what I believe should be the underlying values for the Social Care Foundation : independence, integrity, relevance, quality, partnership and promoting social justice. The Social Care Foundation could be a major and significant resource for social care available to people working in and receiving care services.

Who would like to endow the first one million pounds to make this vision a reality?

In the meantime I commend closer examination of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts (RSA) who are working to remove barriers to social progress. www.rsa.org.uk

For more than 200 years, the RSA has provided a platform for leading public thinkers. thought-leaders and practitioners to explore some of the biggest challenges facing society. That tradition lives on in their diverse and challenging free events programme.  The distinguished and diverse roll call of speakers has recently featured, amongst others, Kofi Annan, Wangari Maathai, Al Gore, Simon Duffy and Jeffrey Sachs.

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Despite the billions of pounds spent on social care and the increasing number of organizations charged with responsibility for improving standards in care you may be surprised to know that we do not have an independent think tank dedicated to promoting and guarding the values of social care.

The Prime Minister launched the nationwide government consultation on how adult social care should be funded at the King’s Fund, an independent charitable foundation working for better health, especially in London. www.kingsfund.org.uk

Concern has often been expressed about the lack of leadership in social care.

Tags: barriers to social justice, be inspired, independent voice, independent voice for socal care, kings fund, rsa, social care foundation, think tanks

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Tags:barriers to social justice, be inspired, independent voice, independent voice for socal care, kings fund, rsa, social care foundation, think tanks
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