Be Inspired! Shirley Ayres Consulting

The internet revolution has transformed the way in which research and professional knowledge can be accessed and used to enhance social work practice and social care services.

Tags: elearning, internet social worker, post qualifying awards, professional practice, scie, Social Work

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A very timely BBC 2 documentary in which businessman Gerry Robinson explores what can be done to help improve services within care homes dedicated to looking after people with dementia.  I have always found Gerry Robinson’s  approach thoughtful and probing and I am delighted he is exploring an area of care which both requires and deserves more scrutiny. If you work in this area or are faced with making a decision about finding care for a person with dementia I recommend that you watch this programme which is available for the next seven days on BBC iplayer.

The Alzheimer’s Society states that ‘In less than two generations one in three of us will either have dementia ourselves or be related to, or caring for, a person with dementia.’ The significance of this statistic and the implications for society require a transformation of perceptions and strategies. One of the biggest challenges facing society today is the funding and care of older people, a growing number of whom will have dementia. 

“We are in the dark ages of dementia care”, “Keeping people alive rather than helping them to live”, “dementia farms” and “granny warehousing” some of the terms used in the programme to describe current provision. Shameful comments about how we treat some of the most vulnerable people in society but does it have to be like this? One of the major challenges with ¼ million people in dementia care homes is that they are mostly paid for out of public funds but run by private companies. 

Should we be shocked that anyone can buy a care home provided they have the money, do not have a criminal record and can demonstrate that they are suitable to be a “registered person” with the Care Quality Commission?  Yes the services are regulated but there are no minimum standards in terms of the specialist dementia knowledge and skills required. It would appear that homes are judged on their capacity to manage risk rather than the fundamentals of care which can leave residents spending hours just staring at the walls.

“Life could be so much better” is the conclusion from the first programme. It is not that complicated to make a difference: staff who feel valued and have additional training in understanding dementia, one to one contact and encouraging the involvement of family and friends and involving residents in the running of the home all create a more positive and rich experience. 

When my mother had dementia we were fortunate in finding an excellent home. I would have no hesitation in recommending Lakeside Nursing Home  SE19 2DR. The manager is passionate about ensuring that dignity and respect underpin the quality of care provided. The ethos of the home centres on the recognition of the individuality of the resident and the importance of actively involving friends and families.

When looking for a residential care home I always advise people to start by reading the latest report and quality ratings from the Care Quality Commission which provides a number of useful indicators. There is a big question about whether any of us would want to place a vulnerable person in a dementia home with a rating of poor or adequate and should local authorities even be suggesting this as an option?
  
The Social Care Institute for Excellence has an excellent online resource in the Dementia Gateway if you work with people with dementia in nursing, residential or domiciliary settings. There are lots of practical tips, tools and activities in the sections below that will help you with your daily work. Each section has been written by a national dementia expert so you can be sure the information and guidance is up to date and reflects what we know about best practices in dementia care. Another section lists Useful Dementia Resources where you can find out more about dementia, research studies, reports and policies, resources for people with dementia, carers and professionals

What training is provided for staff is an important question to ask when considering a dementia care home placement. Encouragingly there are a lot of training programmes available to address the skills and knowledge gaps identified by Gerry Robinson.

The Open Dementia e-Learning Programme is aimed at anyone who comes into contact with someone with dementia and provides a general introduction to the disease and the experience of living with dementia. This programme is designed to be accessible to a wide audience and to make learning as enjoyable as possible and so allows users to fully interact with the content and includes video, audio and graphics to make the content come alive. In particular the programme includes a considerable amount of new video footage shot by both the Alzheimer’s Society and SCIE where people with dementia and their carers share their views and feelings on camera.

Skills for Care have developed a Knowledge Set for Dementia Care. Knowledge sets provide key learning outcomes for specific areas of work within adult social care. They are designed to improve consistency in the underpinning knowledge learnt by the adult social care workforce in England. In addition to the knowledge set documents, staff can download a ‘progress log’. Both documents are freely downloadable at  Skills for Care. The progress log will be required for each individual worker/learner for each knowledge set. Individuals can keep copies of their progress logs showing their ‘signed off’ progress for their NVQ portfolios.

The Alzheimer’s Society provide factsheets which cover a wide range of dementia-related topics. The online sheets can be saved as a PDF or emailed to a friend.

The Open University has produced a free leaflet, Dementia Care: Sustaining The Person Within, to accompany the programmes. It lists the help and support available when making decisions affecting the care of people with dementia. Centred on the life story of one woman with dementia, the leaflet explores challenges and opportunities for good practice, from a diverse range of perspectives of people involved in dementia care. The aim of the booklet is to encourage people to ask: What is good quality dementia care? How can it be provided? What resources are needed? What organisational cultures are needed to achieve this type of care?

I have always believed that how we care for the most vulnerable members is the mark of a civilised society.  It is in all of our interests to ask questions and challenge poor and inadequate care services on both a personal and a professional level. I would like to see exemplars of best practice promoted and published by the Department of Health. This would establish a benchmark of what we should be aspiring to now and in the future. Public funding is an important consideration but is it the only critical factor in delivering quality care? Research which explores the link between costs and quality care would be a useful starting point.

What will it take to sort out our care homes? An interview with Gerry Robinson in the Daily Telegraph

Tags: alzheimer's society, BBC documentary, care quality commission, dementia care, education and training, encouraging innovation, free on line learning, Gerry Robinson, leadership, mental health, residential care, safeguarding adults, scie, skills for care, Social Work, vulnerable people

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ALISON’s newest free interactive multimedia e-learning course explains the simple and inexpensive principles that help create a safe and comfortable computer workstation environment. With information, instruction and training, this Health & Safety training course will help individuals avoid accidents, injury and ill-health possibly caused by bad posture or the likes of repetitive strain injury (RSI) and other poor habits formed around the office or home computer.

The course will be of special interest to employers, especially those in small & medium enterprises as a tool to assist in meeting health and safely obligations in the workplace. ALISON provides free group management functionality that allows any trainer, tutor or teacher to create a learning group to which they can invite learners. The benefit is that all tracked learning by the learners of the group can then be easily documented, in terms of lessons covered, grades achieved and time spent.

Enrol on this free course today at ALISON

Welcome to ALISON  which enables anyone, anywhere, to educate themselves for free via interactive self-paced multimedia.

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Tags: alison, elearning, ergonomics, free on line learning, health and well being, internet social worker, scie, Stress busters

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“Attention has become the scarce resource of the information economy” Wired Magazine

One of my favourite sayings because it is a reality that there is so much information available on the internet that it can become overwhelming. Every organisation I am connected with now sends out an e-Letter. Improving access to, and use of, knowledge and information has been identified as a priority for improving care services. But identifying the resources which will add value to your knowledge and skills is a major challenge.

The national Child and Maternal Health Observatory (ChiMat) provides information and intelligence to improve decision-making for high quality, cost effective services. It supports policy makers, commissioners, managers, regulators, and other health stakeholders working on children’s, young people’s and maternal health. One of the key roles for ChiMat is to act as a signposting organisation for relevant work in the areas of children, young people’s and maternal health and to identify and support potential synergies in national work between government departments and other agencies.

The ChiMat Knowledge Update is one e-Bulletin that I always read. This free online resource provides a snapshot of current issues, news, research, policy and practice across the wide area of children and young people’s services. It is an excellent example of joined up thinking in health and social care. 

Sign up for the weekly ChiMat Knowledge Update here

Recent Knowledge Updates have included information about:

National Indicators datasets
Access to information about national indicators which range from National Indicator 58 – Emotional Behaviour of Looked After Children through to National Indicator 62 – The percentage of children looked after at 31 March with three or more placements subsequently adopted in that placement. Access the ChiMat Data Atlas here

In the News
Community Care: BASW brands integrated children’s system a failure
The British Association of Social Workers has branded the implementation of the computerised integrated children’s system (ICS), which records details of children receiving social care, a “systematic failure”. Access the article here

CWDC: Dawn Primarolo launches Young People’s Workforce Reform Programme
An important chapter for the young people’s workforce, and those it serves, begins today, as Children and Young People’s Minister, Dawn Primarolo launches the Young People’s Workforce Reform Programme. Access more information here

Supporting social care for families and children: An introduction to SCIE’s resources
A new booklet presenting SCIE’s range of resources for families and children’s social care. Access here

BASW and ADCS call for no-blame approach in SCRs
Social workers and directors of children’s services have called for serious case reviews to use a no-blame “systems approach” as developed by the Social Care Institute for Excellence. Access here

Hidden Children –separated children at risk
Professionals ‘missing opportunities’ to help hidden children exploited for sex and forced labour. Children and young people trafficked into the UK, or exploited after their arrival, are struggling to get help from authorities responsible for their welfare, according to new research from The Children’s Society. Access more information here  
 
Guides and Practice
Commercial and Procurement Skills for Commissioners of Children’s Services
This page links to a set of guidance documents designed to help commissioners understand and apply commercial and procurement skills in their work. The documents cover the key principles of procurement, an overview of both strategic procurement and the contracting process, an overview of resource mapping and a basic jigsaw tool designed to help commissioners understand the key principles of change management.  Access here 

Policy and Reports
Community engagement key to Enfield’s JSNA strategy
The London Borough of Enfield has teamed up with the local primary care trust (PCT), NHS Enfield. They have placed community engagement at the heart of their joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA). This cas study gives an account of this process and includes key learnings for other councils. Access here

Meeting the specific needs of children with disabilities
The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes presents the latest guidance on the importance of ‘differentiated’ services for disabled children. Access here  

Research
Exploring family environment characteristics and multiple abuse experiences among homeless youth
A qualitative study of homeless youth to examine how they describe past instances of abuse, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and to explore family characteristics in their home environment. Identifies themes relating to the home environment, such as home instability, abandonment and substance abuse; also identifies themes around abuse, including intrafamilial abuse, rejection and carer abuse.
Access here

Consultations
Safeguarding Targets and Indicators
The National Safeguarding Delivery Unit (part of the Department for Children, Schools and Families) has launched a consultation on Safeguarding Targets and Indicators. Deadline for responses is 8 December 2009. Access here

Events and Training
Five Years On: What’s Changed for Children and Young People?
London, 8 December 2009
Participation Works and 11 Million are holding a one-day conference to review the changes that have taken place since the Children Act 2004. The conference will identify what has worked well and what still needs to be done to ensure that the views and opinions of children and young people help to shape and influence policy and practice. This is a unique opportunity to find out what works in participation and help you to meet the duty to listen to and involve children and young people and to champion their interests. Access more information here

Shirley Ayres Consulting are committed to development through communication in the care sector. With extensive experience in knowledge management and communications we believe that a skilled and knowledgeable workforce, up-to-date with the latest legislation, policy and best practice, enables staff to make the most effective use of their time. This promotes the best outcomes for children, young people, their families and carers.

Tags: advanced social work practice, apho.org.uk, ChiMat, cwdc, DCSF, health and social care, health and well being, integrated working, knowledge management, research, scie, Social Work

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The formal launch of the final report of the Social Work Task Force will take place on Tuesday 1 December 2009 at Central Hall, Westminster.  This event will be the first opportunity to hear the contents of this report. Registration is required by Thursday 26 November.
This report will set out in detail the recommendations to Government for a programme of comprehensive reform of the social work system in England. Delegates at this event will be the first to hear the contents of the report, as well as a presentation by Moira Gibb, Chair of the Social Work Task Force, and to hear the Government’s response. Members of the Task Force will explore the contents of the report and answer questions. Register here

Indications about the final recommendations:
• The profession needs a stronger, more coherent voice
• A new organisation to support social work which could take the form of a National College for Social Work (interesting to contemplate the future roles of the GSCC, Skills for Care, Children’s Workforce Development Council, Social Care Institute for Excellence and the National Skills Academy for Social Care)
• Different progression routes and career pathways for social work – (management should be one of a number of routes)
• Development of the Advanced Professional Social Worker role
• The importance of high quality CPD (and presumably implications for the current GSCC PRTL)
• A post-qualifying framework which is linked to career progression 
• Support for social workers in improving their basic skills, where required (how basic?)
• Reforms to include guidance on supervision and caseloads
• Recommendations about the ICS and the need for development of IT systems which support social workers as well as providing management information
• A pre-qualifying year and a license to practice
• Closer collaboration between employers and educators (since these partnerships already exist at qualifying and post-qualifying level it will be interesting to see how the recommendations will promote more effective joint working).

Social Work Task Force Website

Tags: advanced social work practice, cwdc, DCSF, education, gscc, ICS, Leadership and Management, Learning and Development, post qualifying awards, professional practice, scie, skills for care, Social Work, social work skills

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Where do the post qualifying awards for social work fit within the new CWDC and Skills for Care education and training frameworks?

“We will never ensure quality training, support and supervision for social workers without the active commitment of employers. The pressures that many social work teams are under won’t ease unless there is real investment by employers in developing and supporting their workforce.” Rosie Varley Chair GSCC in a speech at the GSCC Annual Conference 2009

If you are one of the thousands of PQ award holders you may be as puzzled as I am about the current low profile of the post qualifying awards. Admittedly there has been only a limited amount of research about the impact upon practice of completing a post qualifying award in social work. However, the findings consistently affirm the value of the awards in developing advanced practitioner skills and knowledge. High quality social work requires high levels of professional expertise – this has been known for many years. The real challenge is how we equip social workers with the skills and knowledge to consistently deliver best practice in social work.. We certainly need more research to identify where best practice is happening and whether practitioners with a post qualifying award are making a difference.

It is worth reading “Supporting and Promoting Advanced Social Work” published by the Institute of Psychiatry/Kings College London available here . This publication provides a number of case studies from former students and employers about the benefits of completing an Advanced Award in Social Work. The MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children and Adults teaches practitioners innovative skills in mental health social work that are informed by research. Students not only refresh their knowledge and learn and practise new skills – they are also taught to critically appraise relevant empirical research studies and undertake their own original research. Past students have gone on to influence the development of policy and practice in their agencies, been promoted to leadership positions and offered advanced supervision to less experienced colleagues.

The Interim Report of the Social Work Task Force (SWTF) states that “current arrangements for education, training and career progression are not producing – or retaining – enough social workers suited to the full demands of frontline practice”. Research is required to evidence the links between PQ attainment and the recruitment and retention of social workers. “What support is available for my continuing professional development?” is certainly one of the questions that I would be asking a future employer. More information about the work of the Social Work Task force can be obtained here.

Sadly the challenges facing access to Post Qualifying (PQ) education and training have not radically changed over the last ten years. Funding, capacity issues and the lack of a national performance indicator are big disincentives for employers to invest in staff undertaking post qualifying awards in social work. The not for profit sector, with even less access to funding, are struggling to support staff wanting to undertake PQ. This is further complicated by the number of agency social workers employed by local authorities. There is no consistency in the access they have to continuing professional development opportunities.

Recognition or incentives vary considerably amongst employers because PQ is not systemically linked to re-registration, pay structures or workforce development. It is not clear why the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) did not link the post qualifying awards to the emerging career framework or the Newly Qualified Social Work (NQSW) scheme. I hope that the increased focus on the importance of the Advanced Social Work Practitioner role will provide the necessary impetus for the cultural shift required.

The SWTF Interim Report criticises the current PQ framework for not meeting employers and social workers’ needs for specialisation. Amongst the gaps identified are therapeutic work, emergency duty work and operating in dangerous family environments. A brief look through the London PQ Programmes Directory highlights the diversity of courses available which range from the MSc in Inter-professional Practice through to the Post Graduate Diploma Applied Systemic Theory.

This suggests a problem with the structure of the regional partnerships between employers and universities rather than an unwillingness of the universities to respond to employer demands. The criticism does not seem to take account of the innovative new courses which have been developed by employer and university partnerships including modules on Protecting Vulnerable Children and Personalisation. There is also the reality that universities have to make a business case for developing new programmes – if the demand is there undoubtedly new programmes can be developed. There are costs involved and the numbers may be so small in one region that it may not be financially viable. The growth of eLearning modules increasingly offered by a number of universities may fill the gap. Read about the Research methods and critical appraisal for social workers e-learning short course here

A number of universities have integrated the NQSW outcomes to the post qualifying framework. Arguably, the CWDC and Skills for Care could have demonstrated their commitment to the post qualifying awards by including them in the original brief for developing the NQSW rather than left as an afterthought.

Useful information about PQ including “Making Sense of the Post Qualifying Awards – a brief Guide for London Employers” can be obtained here.

The Social Work Task Force believes that “to be successful the post-qualifying training framework needs to be linked much more explicitly to career structures, progression and Post Registration Training and Learning (PRTL) requirements for registration with the GSCC. Its success will be dependent not only on the standards and quality of the training and materials, but also on the shared engagement of employers and professionals: both sides must make the commitment of time and resources that will be necessary”.

I believe that it is equally important to value and learn from the experiences of the thousands of social workers who have already completed a post qualifying or advanced award in social work.

My top ten suggestions for promoting the post qualifying awards

 A research study to be commissioned to examine the following areas. A quantitative study to determine the number of social workers undertaking, or who have completed, a post qualifying award. A qualitative study to explore the benefits and challenges for employers and social workers of the post qualifying framework. An employer’s study to identify how the achievement of an award is linked to pay scales, career progression and the workforce development strategy.

 The development of an online resource to enable social workers who have completed an original research project as part of their Advanced Award to share their findings.  Maybe this could be hosted by SCIE with a regular feature on Social Care TV? 

 A national communications strategy to promote awareness of the benefits of undertaking a PQ Award. The Social Work Development Partnership to encourage all of the regions to provide a rolling programme of PQ Information Seminars.

 Producing a monthly eLetter which regularly updates all stakeholders about PQ Developments. This could be incorporated into the GSCC Social Work Connections eLetter.

 Making the links between the post qualifying framework and the different initiatives developed by Skills for Care and CWDC to strengthen the recruitment, retention and continuing professional development of social workers. 

 An online survey to be undertaken to determine current levels of awareness and registrations for PQ awards in local authorities, the health service and the private and voluntary sector.

 Social workers who have completed a post qualifying award to be encouraged to become PQ Champions. There is an interesting article about this in the June 2009 London PQ Bulletin

 Information about the range of post qualifying courses to be made more widely available through the development of a National Directory of Post Qualifying Courses  updated annually. The names of universities offering Approved PQ Courses are listed on the GSCC website.  More detailed information about London courses can be downloaded here London PQ Programmes Directory

 A survey to establish what support is being provided by Recruitment Agencies for temporary staff who wish to undertake post qualifying studies. Maybe the Association of Social Work Employment Businesses (ASWEB) could undertake this survey?

And finally an Annual Conference to update employers, practice teachers, front line social workers and people who use services about PQ developments, to celebrate PQ achievements and to promote best practice. You can read about the very successful  conference “Professional Leadership – The Challenge for Advanced Practitioners” which was reported in the April 2008 London PQ Bulletin.

Millions of pounds have been invested in the post qualifying framework over the past fifteen years. Thousands of social workers have invested their time and money in completing a post qualifying award. I hope that the Social Work Task Force will ensure that this investment is embedded into future social work practice.

Tags: advanced social work practice, cwdc, gscc, institute of psychiatry, post qualifying awards, professional practice, scie, skills for care, Social Work, social work task force

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This SCIE at a glance summary presents an overview of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 which is important to health and social care practice in England and Wales. The MCA promotes and safeguards decision-making within a legal framework by: empowering people to make decisions for themselves where possible, protecting people who lack capacity; allowing people to plan ahead for a time in the future when they might lack the capacity. Download here

For further information on the Mental Capacity Act and the role of IMCAs, visit www.scie.org.uk/mca and www.scie.org.uk/imca. You will be able to access guidance materials and further links.

SCIE are to be commended on the ”at a glance summaries”  which help practitioners understand quickly and easily the important messages in a number of key areas. A full list of the very useful “at a glance” series is available here

Tags: ICMA, mental capacity, mental capacity act, safeguarding, scie, Social Work

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This new SCIE resource introduces a range of guidance materials and links to support the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). The section is in the early stages of development, but will eventually provide an accessible resource that people will visit as their “first port of call” when looking for information about the MCA.

SCIE has also launched some new materials twhich have been commissioned by SCIE and the Department of Health with the aim of helping the people responsible for implementing the Act to understand its requirements. Some of the materials focus on a particular field (e.g. end of life care,

learning disabilities or mental health), others offer more general guidance. There are also links to materials about the MCA that have been produced by other organizations including Alzheimer’s Society, Mental Health Foundation and the Royal College of Psychiatrists

Given the potential of the MCA to touch the lives of millions – particularly those who live with learning disability, dementia or mental health problems and those working and caring for them – the resource will provide the opportunity to link related policy areas together. Examples include the development of the National Dementia Strategy and SCIE’s practice development work on restraint, due to be launched in late summer 2009. http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/misc/mca/index.asp

Tags: information portal, mental capacity act 2005, new resources, scie

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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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Confused about the many organizations responsible for improving social work services? Welcome to our guide to the key players in the social care sector in England and the surprising range of organisations who have an influence on social work and social policy developments.

Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) – www.adcs.org.uk

ADCS is the national leadership association in England for statutory directors of children’s services and other children’s services professionals in leadership roles. The ADCS Virtual Staff College promotes the professional development and competence of all staff working in the strategic management and operational delivery of education and children’s services in local authorities and their stakeholders. The College works in partnership with other organisations to deliver professional development opportunities, seminars, courses, activities and other tools to meet the needs of public service professionals.

Association of Directors of Adult Services (ADASS) – www.adss.org.uk

ADASS represents all the directors of adult social services in England. It evolved from the former ADSS (Association of Directors of Social Services) when responsibilities for adults and children’s services within top tier local authorities were split between two new departments – one for adults and one for children.

British Association of Social Workers www.basw.co.uk

BASW is the largest association representing social work and social workers in the UK. BASW offers support and advice and publishes The Code of Ethics for Social Work, which sets the professional standard to which all BASW members subscribe.

CSIP – http://www.csip.org.uk/

The Care Services Improvement Partnership supports positive changes in services and in the wellbeing of vulnerable people with health and social care needs. CSIP publishes the most accessible, comprehensive and free eBook on Commissioning.http://www.icn.csip.org.uk/betterCommissioning/index.cfm?pid=858 

Children’s Workforce Development Council – http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk

CWDC exists to improve the lives of children, young people, their families and carers by ensuring that all people working with them have the best possible training, qualifications, support and advice. It also helps children and young people’s organizations and services to work together better so that the child is at the centre of all services.

Children’s Workforce Network(CWN) www.childrensworkforce.org.uk

CWN is a strategic body, bringing together the relevant Sector Skills Councils and other partners. It is an Alliance committed to creating and supporting a world-class children’s workforce in England.

Members of the Children’s Workforce Network

Children’s Workforce Development Council – www.cwdcouncil.org.uk

Cultural and Creative Industries Skills • www.ccskills.org.uk

General Social Care Council – http://www.gscc.org.uk/

General Teaching Council for England – www.gtce.org.uk

Improvement & Development Agency – www.idea.gov.uk

Lifelong Learning UK – www.lifelonglearninguk.org

National College for School Leadership – http://www.ncsl.org.uk/

Nursing and Midwifery Council – www.nmc-uk.org

Skills for Health – http://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/

Skills for Justice – http://www.skillsforjustice.com/

SkillsActive – www.skillsactive.com/

Training & Development Agency for Schools – http://www.tda.gov.uk/

Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) – www.csci.org.uk

CSCI inspects and reports on care services and councils to improve social care and stamp out bad practice. An invaluable resource if you need to check out a care home or care agency.

Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform  – http://www.berr.gov.uk/

BERR works to create the conditions for business success and help the UK respond to the challenges and ensure business success in an increasingly competitive world.

Department for Children, Schools and Families – http://www.dfes.gov.uk/

DCSF aims to make England the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up.

Department of Health – http://www.dh.gov.uk/

DH provides health and social care policy, guidance andG

Guidestar UK – www.guidestar.org.uk

A free and comprehensive website providing a source of high quality information on more than 167000 UK registered charities

Improvement & Development Agency – http://www.idea.gov.uk/

The IDeA works for and leads local government improvement to enable councils to better serve the community. Councils are supported and challenged and good practice is disseminated. The IDeA also promotes the development of local government’s management and workforce. The IDeA is owned by the Local Government Association

International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) – www.ifsw.org

IFSW is a global organisation striving for social justice, human rights and social development through the development of social work, best practices and international cooperation between social workers and their professional organisations.

Joint University Council for Social Work Education Committee (JUCSWEC) – http://www.juc.ac.uk

JUCSWEC is a representative body of UK Universities involved in delivering social work education and provides an important forum for profile raising, information sharing, advocacy and strategic planning for social work practice and education. It has made significant contributions to the review of social work in England (Options for Excellence) and Scotland (21st Century Review). The current chair is Michael Preston-Shoot (University of Bedfordshire). JUCSWC have published a Code of Ethics for Social Work and Social Care Research.

Learning and Skills Council (LSC)- http://www.lsc.gov.uk/

The Learning and Skills Council have a single goal: to improve the skills of England’s young people and adults to ensure a workforce of world-class standard. The LSC is committed to improvement of the further education and training sector to raise standards and to make learning provision more responsive to the needs of individuals and employers. Information is provided about financial support for learners and LSC publish a useful jargon buster

Learn To Care www.learntocare.org.uk

Learn to Care represents people engaged in the management and implementation of workforce development in the personal social services.

Making Research Count – http://www.uea.ac.uk/swk/MRC_web/public_html/

Making Research Count is a national collaborative research dissemination initiative, established by a consortium of nine Universities and developed by regional centres. These university based regional centres have formed collaborative partnerships with member agencies, to promote and develop knowledge-based practice and improve services in social work, social care and its interface with health and education. Each regional centre has established a unique approach to knowledge based practice based on the needs of local partnerships. The network has brought together the Universities of Bedfordshire, Brighton, Central Lancashire, East Anglia, Keele, King’s College London, Salford, York, the Open University and their social care and health agency partners. 

New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) www.philanthropycapital.org/

NPC was set up by a group of City financiers to provide independent advice on charity giving for wealthy individuals and foundations. The founders believe that providing donors with information on the results achieved by charities — and helping charities themselves to get better at focusing on how they change lives — could help to create change. They share a desire to make a positive difference: whether that is through understanding the root causes of societal problems, discovering excellent charities and helping them get the funds they deserve, or helping donors maximise the impact of their donations. NPC have developed criteria for assessing highly effective charities, find out which charities have met this standard so far.     

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) – http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/

Oftsted inspects and regulates to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. The new Ofsted brings together the wide experience of four inspectorates to make a greater difference for every child, and for all young people and adult learners, in England. Ofsted inspect an extensive range of services including: child minders and nurseries, early education, children’s social care, adoption and fostering, Cafcass, schools, teacher training providers, training providers for international students and education ansd training providers funded by DCFS and other government departments.

Research in Practice – http://www.rip.org.uk/

Research in practice supports evidence-informed practice (EIP) with children and families and is the largest children and families research implementation project in England and Wales. Established in 1996 it is a department of The Dartington Hall Trust, it is run in collaboration with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, the University of Sheffield and a network of over 100 participating agencies in the UK.

Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)  – http://www.thersa.org/

For more than 200 years, the RSA has been a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress. Their approach is multi-disciplinary, politically independent and combines cutting edge research and policy development with practical action. The tradition lives on in the free events programme which provides a rich and diverse platform for leading public thinkers. 

Skills for Care – www.skillsforcare.org.uk

Skills for Care are the Sector Skills Council who work in consultation with employers, education and training providers, service users and carers, Skills for Care aims to modernise adult social care in England, by ensuring qualifications and standards continually adapt to meet the changing needs of people who use care services.

Skills for Care and Development (SfC&D) – www.skillsforcareanddevelopment.org.uk

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. SfC&D is licensed by government to represent the interests of some 60,000 employers and 1.6 million workers across the UK. These staff are employed by a range of organisations – both public authorities and independent organisations, often commissioned by the public sector to deliver social care services but sometimes acting directly for people who receive the services.The Alliance works closely with service users and carers, education and training providers, national stakeholders and the health sector to develop an appropriately skilled and qualified workforce to meet the UK’s current and future social care needs.

Skills for Health – www.skillsforhealth.org.uk

Skills for Health are the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the UK health sector. They cover the whole sector and aim to develop solutions that deliver a skilled and flexible UK workforce in order to improve health and healthcare.

Social Care Institute for Excellence – www.scie.org.uk

SCIE aims to improve the experience of people who use social care by developing and promoting knowledge about good practice in the sector. Using knowledge gathered from diverse sources and a broad range of people and organizations, SCIE has developed an extensive resource bank which is shared freely, supporting those working in social care and empowering service users. Check out the audit tools available at the People Management website.   

Social Enterprise Coalition -  http://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/

The UK portal for social enterprise information and resources. Social enterprises are profit-making businesses set up to tackle a social or environmental need. The social enterprise movement is inclusive and extremely diverse, encompassing organisations such as development trusts, community enterprises, co-operatives, housing associations, ’social firms’ and leisure trusts, among others. These businesses are operating across an incredibly wide range of industries and sectors from health and social care, to renewable energy, recycling and fair trade.

Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP) – www.swap.ac.uk

SWAP is the UK subject centre for social policy and social work, one of the Higher Education Academy’s 24 discipline based centres. SWAP aims to enhance the student learning experience by promoting high quality learning, teaching and assessment. SWAP has a lot of useful resources to download including publications, teaching resources, digital learning and themed resources.

Social Workers Educational Trust (SWET) www.socialworkerseducationaltrust.org

Established by BASW in 1972 the Social Workers’ Educational Trust supports qualified social workers to develop their knowledge, skills and practice. Research is encouraged into social work practice and education. SWET provides small grants to individuals undertaking post-qualifying studies and more substantial research scholarships are awarded annually through open competition

Check out our jargon buster if you are still puzzling about the differences between a sector skills council and a regulator. The Big Question -  has the separation of adult and children’s services, the development of new Trust arrangements and the division of responsibilities for social care regulation and workforce development contributed to the vision for “joined up” services across the care sector?

Post a Comment below or Contact Us to suggest other useful organisations for the resource bank.

Tags: adas, adcs, basw, csci, csip, cwdc, cwn, dfes, doh, gscc, ifsw, jucswec, ofsted, scie, skills for care, skills for health, swap

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