Skills for Care

Skills for Care
Type Company limited by guarantee and Registered Charity
Registration no. Company ref 3866683
Charity ref 1079836
Location
Key people
 Dame Moira Gibb, Chair
Sharon Allen, CEO
Revenue
£32.5m (2012)[1]
Employees
183 (2012)[1]
Volunteers
24 (2012)[1]
Website www.skillsforcare.org.uk

Skills for Care is the strategic body for workforce development in adult social care in England. They help create a better-led, skilled and valued adult social care workforce. They provide practical tools and support to help adult social care organisations in England recruit, develop and lead their workforce.They work with related services to ensure dignity and respect are at the heart of high quality service delivery.

Vision

Help with recruitment and retention in social care

Effective recruitment and retention of a caring and skilled workforce is central in delivering high quality care and support.

Finding and keeping workers is an online site to support adult social care employers with recruitment and retention, offering useful tools to deal with some of the most common issues.

If you employ your own care and support staff as an individual employer there is a dedicated information hub to help. It provides support for individuals who would like to find a personal care assistant and helps them to be a good employer. It also has information for people wanting to become a personal assistant, and organisations who support individual employers and personal assistants.

Skills for Care also work to raise the profile of different adult social care careers through their free Think Care Careers website and by encouraging the best workers to become I Care...Ambassadors sharing their frontline experience.

They celebrate the ‘best of the best’ adult social care providers at the  annual Accolades awards showcasing their achievements and sharing innovation. 

To access these resources go to: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/recruitmentandretention

Learning and development in social care

Skills for Care believe everyone working in adult social care should be able to take part in learning and development so they can carry out their role effectively. This will help develop the right skills and knowledge so they can provide high quality care and support.

To ensure staff get the start they need Skills for Care has produced resources to help with the Care Certificate, the minimum standards that should be covered as part of induction. They have guides which support the assessment of workers to ensure they are meeting the required standards and their on-going supervision.

To ensure social care employers have a capable, confident and skilled workforce they should continue to develop staff beyond induction. Skills for Care have funding available to support workers to complete further training and qualifications.

They also have tools and resources to help organisations set up an Apprenticeship programme.

To make it easier to find quality learning and development providers Skills for Care endorse learning providers and display them in a searchable online directory.

Employers can use our range of practical publications such as the dignity training pack or the seminar programme to support the learning and development of their workers.

Skills for Care have also produced an online ‘Recommendations for CQC providers’ guide to help Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated providers understand how their products and services can help around areas of workforce development. 

Leadership and management in social care

Leadership and management matters because high quality care and skilled, qualified and confident leaders and managers go hand in hand.

Skills for Care has created a variety of development programmes, tools and resources to support leaders and managers at all levels.

Registered managers play a pivotal role in providing quality adult social care and they provide a wide range of support, products and services to help with the issues

If you become a member of the National Skills Academy then you’ll benefit from access to exclusive resources, support and discounts.

www.skillsforcare.org.uk/leadershipandmanagement

Statistics about the social care workforce

Each day, thousands of decisions are made across adult social care that shape and influence how we deliver care.

Skills for Care provide sound research and robust data to help employers to make plans based on hard facts - not just anecdotal evidence.

The National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC) is the leading source of workforce intelligence for the adult social care sector in England. It holds details of more than 25,000 social care providers and their workers, producing rich data that informs and drives future workforce planning. 

Skills for Care can help adult social care employers investigate, analyse and discover information to identify or solve specific issues they may have.

www.skillsforcare.org.uk/nmds-sc

Support for social workers

Skills for Care help employers of social care workers to train and develop their staff.

The Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE)

The ASYE is a twelve month programme for assessing newly qualified social workers (NQSWs).

It supports the NQSW during their first year in employment, helping them to develop their skills, knowledge and professional confidence.

Skills for Care can provide information and resources to help employers implement the ASYE in adults and child and family services.

Recruitment and retention of social workers

They can help you find and commission social workers to meet the requirements of the Care Act. Their effective deployment of social workers and workforce capacity planning resources can help employers to meet local and national demand for social workers. They can also help if you employ social workers in private, voluntary and independent sectors.

Developing social workers

The standards for employers of social workers in England outlines employers responsibility to provide social workers with a flexible approach to continuing professional development (CPD).

Creating social work leaders and managers

Their Social work leadership toolkit and 360 development tool can help employers to develop their staff as front line managers, advanced social work practitioners and social workers strategic level.

The 360 development tool  is linked to the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) and uses surveys to help staff understand their strengths and where they need to improve to become a social work manager. 

Find out what’s happening in your area

For local and national information and updates about social work you can get involved in our social work area forums.

Working in social care

Social care offers a rewarding career with many different job roles and lots of opportunities for progression.

There are lots of different ways to start a career in social care. You don’t necessarily need any qualifications or previous work experience to get a job in social care. It doesn’t matter about your background or how old you are; somewhere in your community there’s a job that you can do to help others. What’s really important is your values and attitude towards working with people who need care and support. 

There are also lots of opportunities to do an Apprenticeship in social care. This means you gain qualifications whilst working and earning a wage.

Find out more about working in social care from www.skillsforcare.org.uk/thinkcarecareers

Finding help and support

Skills for Care has teams across England who can signpost adult social care workers and employers to relevant information, tools and the availability of funding for learning and development. You can find out how to contact your local team by visiting www.skillsforcare.org.uk/areas

Skills for Care can also provide individual tailored solutions to support adult social care businesses to deliver high quality care now and in the future.

Their publications and seminars cover a range of different topics including Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections and service improvement, finding and keeping the right staff and the transition to integrated care and support.

To find out more visit www.skillsforcare.org.uk/solutions.

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Charity overview for 1079836 - SKILLS FOR CARE LTD". Charity Commission. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
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