Care Academy Blog

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

They say that news travels fast on the web, although sometimes it takes a while to reach our consciousness. This is just such a story. 

We recently discovered that one of our clients (Carewatch Kingston upon Thames) is not only performing extremely well against a back-drop of regulatory change and uncertainty, but positively flourishing. Following their last Care Quality Commission inspection, Carewatch were awarded a coveted 'three-star excellent service' rating with a glowing report stating:

The provider is clearly committed to ensuring that people receive a high quality of
service from well trained staff. This ethos is communicated clearly to the managers and
staff working within the service.
 
A good training programme is in place alongside regular carers meetings, supervision
and newsletters.

It's even more pleasing, when Care Academy is cited (By Care Quality Commission Inspectors no less!) as playing a small yet significant part in helping them achieve their success - an accolade not many e-learning providers can claim!

For those who would like to find out more - please read on.

Back in the summer of 2009 Veronica Miller, owner of Carewatch Kingston upon Thames decided to investigate how e-learning could help her business address five key issues:

• Ensuring care workers are compliant with the latest mandatory training.
• Managing and delivering training programmes across a workforce with diverse training needs.
• Accessing specialist training courses at an affordable price.
• Preparing and collating management reports in readiness for industry inspections (Care Quality Commission).
• Training administration was inefficient and time intensive.

After conducting a thorough review of the market, Veronica decided that Care Academy offered by far the best overall package in terms of content, innovation and value for money. Just over six months later and with a very successful Care Quality Commission inspection report under their belt, Carewatch Kingston have every right to be pleased with their three star rating - just reward for all their hard work and commitment.

To read about the impressive results Carewatch has achieved in the short time since introducing Care Academy, click here to download our case study.

To discuss how Care Academy can help transform your organisation please contact us on 0161 228 1712 or via our online form.

 

Friday, April 30, 2010

Since the launch of the 'Putting People First' many organisations have been struggling to understand what exactly 'Personalisation' means and more importantly how to plan and implement changes accordingly.

'Making It Personal: A Provider's Journey From Tradition to Transformation' provides a fascinating insight into how leading learning disability provider 'Dimensions' has re-invented itself to meet the challenges in delivering 'Personalisation'.

'Since 2008, Dimensions has been grappling with the challenge of delivering personalised services. Leaving aside the debate about the future of residential care, they decided to transform their organisation to one that responds flexibly to individuals with a budget who will want bespoke support. Dimensions felt that if they did not consider and respond to the shift in power from the professionals to the customer, they would not survive.'

Written by Executive Director Steve Scown, the tone is charmingly frank and open detailing;

'how Dimensions changed what they offer people and their families by breaking down every aspect of their ’bundled’ support packages. He talks about developing a more sophisticated cost model for one-off, fixed-term and on-going personalised support components. He also explains how Dimensions is developing a web portal that means everyone - the people they employ, the people they support and their families - will all have the same means of accessing all information.'

This book is essential reading for anyone grappling with putting 'Personalisation' into practice and provides reassurance that you are not alone!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Following the launch of our earlier Infection Prevention and Control e-learning offer we were inundated with requests to participate from organisations of all sizes. However, with only 25 corporate licences available, inevitably some customers were going to be disappointed! Those lucky enough to secure access included; Crossroads Care, Nursing Solutions, Bickham House, Linc-Cymru Housing Association, Alternative Futures Group, First Choice Homecare and Recruitment and Jewish Care.

For many, this was their first opportunity to experience the benefits of delivering training via e-learning and was particularly timely given the importance Care Quality Commission (CQC) are placing on IPC training!

To date, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many of the lucky organisations looking to extend their use of Care Academy to deliver both mandatory and specialist training.

Typical of the feedback we have received includes:

'All 26 staff have now completed on time (Infection Prevention and control).....some staff used the computer for the first time ever, grappling with the mouse, was a feat in itself. Once again thank you'.
(Bickham House)

Building upon the momentum developed by our first IPC promotion, we are again offering 25 corporate licences to new customers who will be able to train up to 50 users per licence. As before, these are offered on a 'first come first served basis'.

As an added bonus, we will also provide access to our innovative policy management solution Policy-Safe ensuring the successful applicants are able to demonstrate 'best-practice' to industry regulators.

To discuss the offer in more detail, please contact us on 0161 228 1712 or download our application form.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Care Academy is pleased to announce the launch of our latest course, 'Understanding Challenging Behaviour in Care' which whilst being important in it's own right, is perfectly timed to compliment our Level 2 Dementia course.

Given the estimate that some 70% of people living with dementia will exhibit some form of challenging behaviour during their lifetime, it will come as no surprise to discover that it's a subject high on many care providers agenda.

Challenging Behaviour is a complex subject, so it's reassuring to know that our course meets the requirements of Skills for Care Induction Standards, with the key learning outcomes being:

• Explain what challenging behaviour is and possible reasons for it occurring. 
• List the different types of challenging or aggressive behaviour.
• Understand how to manage challenging/aggressive behaviour.
• Understand the importance of your own personal safety when working alone.
• Describe how to identify the risks and how to apply risk assessment procedures to your work.

To find out more about Care Academy please call 0161 228 1712 or contact us via our online form.

Monday, November 02, 2009

The governments first national dementia strategy; 'Living well with Dementia: A National Dementia Strategy' is intended to introduce a structured universal framework for the awareness, training and associated care provision across the health and social care sectors.

The document makes stark reading, with the 700,000 people currently living with dementia set to double within our lifetime to 1.4 million and in doing so, costing the UK economy around £17 billion a year.

The strategy identifies some 17 key objectives, the most pertinent here being:

Objective 11: Living well with dementia in care homes

Improved quality of care for people with dementia in care homes by the development of explicit leadership for dementia within care homes, defining the care pathway there, the commissioning of specialist in-reach services from community mental health teams, and through inspection regimes.

Objective 13: An informed and effective workforce for people with dementia

Health and social care staff involved in the care of people who may have dementia to have the necessary skills to provide the best quality of care in the roles and settings where they work. To be achieved by effective basic training and continuous professional and vocational development in dementia.

Clearly, purchaser's and commissioners will be expecting to see evidence of care providers ability and committment  to delivering against these objective's. Specifically, two areas are worthy of particular note:

• Home care: with two thirds of dementia sufferers living at home, specialist dementia teams are likely to be in high demand.

• Residential care: Similarly, it is estimated that some two thirds of people living in care homes will have dementia. Again, care staff will be required to receive specialist dementia training.

In response to these development's, Care Academy has developed a level 2 Dementia course that not only meets the Skills for Care knowledge sets but has also been cross referenced against the recently released QCF dementia units.

Skills for Care knowledge sets for dementia can be found here: Skills for Care.

By mapping our Dementia course to the proposed QCF units, candidates can be totally confident about it's accuracy and they will also be able to progress onto the full certificated qualification once details have been ratified by Skills for Care.

To find out more about Care Academy please call 0161 228 1712 or contact us via our online form.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

With the threat of swine flu now seeming no more than a distant memory, Infection Prevention and Control is still very much a hot topic for the Care Quality Commission. In their recent report; 'Working Together to Prevent and Control Infections', CQC suggest that infection prevention in care homes is inadequate, with many failing to follow guidance documents published by the Department of Health; 'Essential Steps' which provides practical advice on infection control and ' Infection control for care homes'.

In August, the Department of Health launched a consultation on revising the infection control guidance for care homes as part of a wider review on a new code of practice for health and social care providers on infection prevention and control. The draft code contains details of how providers should comply with registration requirements which will come into force for NHS providers in April 2010 and adult care providers in October 2010.

To help organisations prepare to meet their compliance requirements, Care Academy has decided to offer new clients free access to our dedicated 'Infection Prevention and Control' online learning until March 2010.

The course is designed to meet Skills for Care knowledge set for Infection Prevention and Control, covering:

• The cause and spread of infection.
• Preventing and controlling the spread of infection.
• Management of infectious outbreaks.
• Roles, responsibilities and boundaries (this module requires the student to 'understand the organisation's key policies and procedures').

Upon completion, users will be able to download a certificate of completion for their portfolios and managers will be able to access detailed management reports on-demand.

Additionally, as part of this promotion, we will also include access to our unique 'Policy-Safe' solution, enabling client's to deliver, track and confirm acceptance of key policies and procedures which is crucial to achieving compliance. 

The Infection Prevention and Control course will be made available to the first 25 organisations on a 'first come first served' basis and will include a maximium 50 user licence.

To discuss in more detail or to claim your free access, please contact us on 0161 228 1712 or via our online form.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Following our original post; 'Confusion over Administration of Medication' we have been inundated with requests to purchase our 'Administration of Medication' training course from both single site operators right through to major PLC's. Whilst the recent BBC news item; 'Fears over care home drug errors' has no doubt helped to raise the issue amongst the wider public, the main driver for most of our current clients is the need to meet expectations of CQC inspectors. Care providers are now being asked to demonstrate appropriate training to support Administration of Medication over and above the Safe Handling of Medicines which forms part of the standard Common Induction Standards.

It's reassuring for our clients to know that Care Academys Administration of Medication course outline has been reviewed by CSCI (now CQC) who confirmed (when supported with appropriate workplace supervision) meets the specification required for any inspection.

To find out more about our Administration of Medication course please contact us on 0161 228 1712 or via or online form.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

New Administration of Medication Course Launched
The handling of medicines by care workers is often difficult to manage due to a lack of guidance and confusion regarding the level of training required. Many care workers fail to recognise the difference between “administration” and “assistance” (often referred to as “prompting'). A common misconception is that training provided as part of the Common Induction Standards (CIS) requirement is sufficient. Unfortunately this often focuses on the Safe Handling of Medicines commonly referred to as Level 1 and not “Administration of Medication” which is a Level 2 requirement. Care Academys’ “Administration of Medication” course meets the requirements for Level 2 training which should be supported with workplace supervision to ensure best practice.

Failure to recognise the difference between “Administration” and “Assistance” can leave both care workers and service users at significant risk and ultimately lead to claims of negligence and non-compliance. Following recent Care Quality Commission (formally CSCI) inspections, a number of our clients have had to review their training as well as their policies and procedures to ensure the correct level of training is provided. By deploying our latest course in conjunction with our unique Policy-Safe solution, Care Academy users have been able to respond and implement changes with the minimum of fuss.

Care Academy's Administration of Medication course outline has been reviewed by CSCI who confirmed (when supported with appropriate workplace supervision) meets the specification required for any inspection. In outline, the course covers the knowledge requirements for Health and Social Care NVQ 3 optional unit 375 including:

• Legislation and organisational policy and procedures.
• Drug storage (such as medical and legal regulations, local pharmacy policy).
• Drug handling, preparation and administration.
• Health and safety when dealing with drugs (e.g. COSHH).
• Theory and practice.
• Care and support.
• Pharmacology.
• Materials and equipment e.g. medication aids.
• Reporting, recording and documentation.

If you would like to find out more about our Administration of Medication course please contact us.

For further reading on Administration of Medication:

• The Administration of Medication in domiciliary care
• Training care workers to safely administer medicines in care homes
• Medication in Extra Care Housing

Friday, June 19, 2009

Care Academy has recently launched our Administration of Medication training course.

The course covers the Knowledge requirements of the Health & Social Care NVQ optional Unit 375, including:

• Legislation and organisational policy and procedures
• Drug storage (such as medical and legal regulations, local pharmacy policy)
• Drug handling, preparation and administration
• Health and safety when dealing with drugs (eg COSHH)
• Theory and practice
• Care and support
• Pharmacology
• Materials and equipment e.g. medication aids
• Reporting, recording and documentation

Written by industry experts and reviewed by CSCI (now CQC), the course will ensure staff receive training in line with national minimum standards and when supported with workplace supervision, will exceed inspection requirements.

To find out more about our Administration of Medication course please contact us.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) recently announced the completion of stage 3 of its Sector Skills Agreement, bringing together research from stages one and two to analyse the gap between demand for skills and the supply of training.

The full report – Delivering the Big Deal – sets out the skills challenges and priorities for the children’s workforce identified during the SSA process and outlines how these will be addressed. Not surprisingly, the priority areas for skills covered in the report include recruitment and retention, workforce skills, qualifications and training, funding for training and development and workforce intelligence.