Care Academy Blog

Thursday, November 17, 2011

We are pleased to welcome our latest client; The Good Care Group, who have chosen Care Academy to help them deliver Common Induction Standards training to their carers. The Good Care Group is a young and exciting company and we are excited about working with them over the coming years.

The Good Care Group is the professional provider of high quality live-in care for elderly people that allows them to live safely and comfortably in their own home, maintaining dignity and independence. Our expertly trained professional carers provide a range of tailored care at home services, everything from companionship, personal care, domestic duties and social activities, through to specialist dementia care and care for those requiring post-operative rehabilitation or for those living with Parkinson’s.

Providing our service throughout England, we are not an agency and all our professional carers are exclusively employed by us – we know that this enables us to deliver the very highest standards of home care. To find out more, please visit their web site.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The introduction of the Autism Act 2009 is likely to herald a new era for adults with autism. The act places significant statutory guidance on local authorities to raise awareness and understanding of autism via dedicated training programmes.

A key outcome of the act, is the requirement it placed upon the government to produce an adult autism strategy by 1st April 2010. The strategy document was duly published on 3rd March 2010 and provides a clear message that local authorities and NHS bodies must improve:

1. Training for staff.
2. Identification and diagnosis of autism.
3. Planning of services for people with autism.
4. Local leadership.

What Does Strategy say about Autism Training?

The strategy makes some fairly explicit statement’s regarding the provision of autism training for all frontline staff. More specifically, the guidance categorically states that local authorities and the NHS:

1. Must provide autism awareness training for all frontline staff.
2. Must provide specialist autism training for key staff, such as GPs and community care assessors.
3. Cannot refuse a community care assessment for adults with autism based solely on IQ.
4. Must appoint an autism lead in their area.
5. Have to develop a clear pathway to diagnosis and assessment for adults with autism.
6. Need to commission services based on adequate population data.

Implementation

As is plainly obvious, the Autism Act is likely to have some very far reaching implications for the delivery of local health and social care provision. It is generally acknowledged that frontline staff working across both health and social care have limited understanding of autism and therefore the strategy specifically recommends:

'We recommend that autism awareness training should be included within general equality and diversity training programmes across all public services'. (2.8)

'We believe it is therefore essential that autism awareness training is available to everyone working in health or social care' ... (2.16)

'We will work with PCTs and local authorities to identify priority groups for training'. (2.20)

'We recommend that autism awareness should be an essential part of the training given to staff carrying out community care assessments'. (2.24)

It will come as no surprise to many to realise that no additional funding is being made available to deliver the Autism Strategy, with local councils, the NHS and care providers being required to fund training and development initiatives via re-deployment of existing resources.

Here at Care Academy we have witnessed a significant increase in the number of clients wishing to utilise Care Academy to help deliver their Autism training. Our dedicated course; ‘Supporting People with Autistic Spectrum Disorder’ meets the Skills for Care Knowledge set and is suitable for staff who have either a direct or indirect role in supporting people with autism.

In summary, the course outline is as follows:

1. Introduction to Autism.
2. Laws and policies associated with supporting someone with Autistic Spectrum Condition.
3. Supporting someone with an Autistic Spectrum Condition.
4. Supporting the person with Autistic Spectrum Condition through good practice.

To find out more about ‘Supporting People with Autistic Spectrum Disorder’ please click here to view the course outline or alternatively you can contact us via our online form.

Further background information on the act can be found at www.autism.org.uk/working-with/autism-strategy.aspx

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Care Academy is launching an initiative aimed at partnering with Local Authorities to provide unpaid carers with the opportunity to access our high quality e-learning portfolio free of charge. The programme will be launched early in 2011 and will be co-ordinated at a local level, accessed via a dedicated website and co-branded with each local authority partner.

Figures released by Carer's UK, place the total number of unpaid carers currently numbering around 6 million, many of whom experience a wide range of health, social, financial and career barriers. This number is expected to increase significantly over the coming years.

Here at Care Academy, we have first hand experience of the size of this problem, frequently receiving calls direct from carers, often in some distress and looking to access our e-learning course's to help them develop their knowledge in specific areas such as autism and dementia so they can better support their dependents and loved ones.

Although we are keen to help, we recognise that we are not best placed to support individual carers and provide the wide range of advice and support they require. However, through our partnership with local authorities we hope to be able to provide one small piece of the jigsaw towards helping them develop their knowledge, understanding and possibly gain accredited qualifications to recognise the invaluable work they provide.

In order to kick-start the initiative, we aim to get local authorities on-board, providing them with access to a dedicated website along with up to 50 free user licences to be assigned to unpaid carer's within their region.

In the first instance, we will be limiting participation to 20 local authorities, some of whom will be our existing client's, to enable us to evaluate the overall operational effectiveness of the programme with a view to rolling out nationally later in 2011.

If you work within a local authority and would like to participate in this exciting initiaitive then please feel free to contact us directly on Tel:0161 228 1712 or via our online form.

Friday, December 03, 2010

Care Academy is pleased to announce the launch of their refreshed 2010 Common Induction Standards.

After many months of hardwork, Care Academy has finally completed the cross-mapping exercise mentioned in our earlier post and completely updated our learning content to meet the requirements for the expanded 8 standards. Interestingly, the outcomes have increased from around 70 to 161 - a 130% increase and now includes dementia, nutrition, equality and diversity to name just a few. This will undoubtedly put increased pressure on training resources especially as induction still has to be completed within 12 weeks!

To further assist Care Academy clients' with the transition away from the old standards we are also launching an online CIS pre-assessment tool. The CIS pre-assessment tool will enable new employees to be comprehensively assessed and the outcomes used to determine their individual leaning plan. This will streamline the whole induction process and ensure prior learning and achievement is duly recognised.

To discuss the refreshed 2010 Common Induction Standards or to find out how Care Academy can help your organisation please contact us directly on Tel: 0161 228 1712 or use our online form

Care Academy is pleased to announce that we are currently developing the UK's first fully online City & Guilds accredited Dementia Qualification which will be available from January 2011.

The Level 2 Award in Awareness in Dementia Care is made up of 4 mandatory units:

1. Dementia awareness
2. The person centred approach to the care and support of individuals with dementia
3. Understand the factors that can influence communication and interaction with individuals who have dementia
4. Understand equality, diversity and inclusion in dementia care.

Notably, the Level 2 Award will count as 8 credits towards the new Health and Social Care Level 2 Diploma (the NVQ replacement) forming a key component of the new Dementia Pathway.

Currently 700,000 people in the UK have dementia and this figure is expected to double over the next few decades.

The qualification in awareness of dementia is aimed at occupational areas across all service user groups and ages, working in statutory (including NHS), private and voluntary agencies. This also includes healthcare/care assistants, support/key workers, family support workers and team leaders/first line supervisors.

Additionally, it's been confirmed that the Dementia Award will be eligible for TSI funding until 2011 at a rate of £80.00 per unit (That's £320.00 in total!) - so it's advisable to get your registrations in early!

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

Thursday, December 02, 2010

We are pleased to welcome a number of new client's who have chosen Care Academy to help deliver their regulatory and compliance training including:

The Salvation Army is one of the largest, most diverse providers of social services in the UK after the Government. Founded in East London in 1865, they are now working in 120 countries worldwide.

As a church and registered charity, they demonstrate our Christian principles through social welfare provision. Worldwide there are over 1.6million members, with programmes including homeless centres, drug rehabilitation centres, schools, hospitals and medical centres, as well as nearly 16,000 church and community centres. The work of The Salvation Army is funded through donations from its members, the general public and, where appropriate, local authority and government grants.

To find out more please visit their web site:
www2.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf

Deafblind UK was launched in 1928 by a small group of deafblind people and their carer's to offer mutual support and understanding in the face of conditions they found 'unjustifiably cruel and hard.' Since then, Deafblind UK has developed into a national charity chaired by a deafblind person.

To find out more please visit their web site:
www.deafblind.org.uk/

Linc-Cymru specialises in the affordable housing, social care and health sectors in Wales. We are a socially responsible business and all profits are reinvested for the benefit of our customers rather than being distributed to shareholders. Established in 1977, they are an Industrial and Provident Society registered with the Welsh Assembly Government.

To find out more please visit their web site:
www.linc-cymru.co.uk/

The Care Alliance for Workforce Development (CAWD) works to improve the services on offer to people who use services and carers.  It does this by working in a collaborative, flexible and responsive manner to improve the skills and knowledge of the social care workforce. CAWD engages with employers of all sizes from across the social care sector and encourages service users and carers to get involved.  CAWD also delivers on a range of activities on behalf of Skills for Care Yorkshire and the Humber, which cover a number of the Putting People First work-streams.

To find out more please visit their web site:
www.cawd.org.uk/

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Care Academy is pleased to announce that following an open tender process we have been selected to provide North Yorkshire County Council with a 'Managed Learning Environment and E-Learning System'.

The contract will run for a period of three years and will support up to 10,000 learners including council staff and private, independent and voluntary organisations within the region.

Care Academy was ranked against other leading social care e-learning providers against a wide range of criteria including:

• Evaluation of E-learning environment.
• Scope of E-learning packages available.
• Evaluation of e-learning content by subject matter experts.
• Reporting capabilities.
• Training, Support and maintenance.
• Management/Software upgrades.
• Standards, Security, Validation and Audit.
• Functionality / User Interface.
• Usability and Accessibility.
• Future Proofing/ Sustainability.
• Risk Awareness.
• Added Value.

E-learning programmes to be delivered include:

• Common Conditions.
• Common Induction Standards.
• Dementia.
• Skills for Care Induction.
• Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
• End of Life Care.
• Infection Control.
• Learning Disability Award.
• Medication.
• Mental Capacity Act.
• NVQ Health and Social Care Knowledge sets.
• Safe Food Hygiene.
• Safeguarding Adults.
• Skills for Life (including literacy, numeracy and ICT).
• Technical Certificates.
• Therapeutic Activities.

Naturally we are pleased to be working closely with North Yorkshire County Council and the award has generated a significant amount of interest from other authorities with whom we will be holding discussions over the coming weeks.

Request for further information should be directed to our head office: Telephone: 0161 228 1712.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Care Academy is pleased to announce the launch of a dedicated suite of e-learning courses designed to enable Scottish care providers meet their obligations when providing induction training to new care workers.

Based upon The Scottish Social Service Council (SSSC) 'Preparing for Practice' guidance, Care Academy's e-learning offers a comprehensive range of course's including:

Course 1
Preparing for Practice – Introduction

• Welcome to the Organisation.
• Values of Care.
• Support and Supervision.

Course 2
Introduction to Social Service Practice (Pt 1)

• Your Role as a Carer.
• Personal Care.
• Worker Relationships.
• Person Centred Planning.
• Risk Assessment.

Course 3
Introduction to Social Service Practice (Pt 2)

• Adult Support and Protection.

Course 4
Introduction to Social Service Practice (Pt 3)

• Communicating Effectively.
• Principles of Good Record Keeping.

Course 5
Preparing For Practice - Service Specific issues

• Death, Dying and Bereavement.
• Effects of the Service Setting.
• Intro to Dementia.
• Intro to Autism.
• Intro to Mental Health.
• Intro to Learning Disabilities.

Course 6
The Workplace 1 - Moving and Handling

• Introduction to Moving and Handling.
• Moving and Handling of Objects.
• Theory of People Moving.

Course 7
The Workplace 2 - First Aid

• Principles of First Aid.
• Vital Statistics - Basic Life Support.
• Practical First Aid.
• Consciousness.
• Administration.

Course 8
The Workplace 3 - Safety at Work

• Introduction to Health and Safety.
• Fire Safety.

Course 9
The Workplace 4 - Infection Prevention and Control

• Overview of how infections spread.
• Types of infection and how they are transmitted.
• Good hygiene.
• Hand washing procedures.
• Needle-stick – risks and precautions.
• Needle-stick – what to do should you have an accident.

Course 10
The Workplace 5 - Safe Handling of Medication

• Legislation.
• Policies and Procedures.
• Drug Classifications.
• Routes of Administration.
• Risk Assessments.
• The 5 Rights.
• Storage and Disposal.

Course 11
The Workplace 6 - Safe Food Hygiene

• Legislation.
• Policies and Procedures.
• The importance of Food Safety.
• Your Responsibilities.
• Food Poisoning.
• Food-Bourne Disease.
• Bacteria.
• Food Contaminants and Prevention of Illness.
• Temperature Control.
• Food Storage.
• Personal Hygiene.
• Reporting Illness.
• Cleaning Methods.
• Refuse and Waste Management.

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

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

In the last month we have seen a number of new clients choose Care Academy to help deliver their regulatory and compliance training including Enham, Care Staff Solutions, L'Arche, Insignia and Nursing Solutions.

Enham's vision is a society where disabled people are valued as individuals and are enabled to achieve their full potential through the choice of independence and the opportunity to work.

From housing and employment to personal development and care, Enham delivers a wide range of essential services that provide choice and empower people to make their own decisions about their lives.

Enham also operates a number of Commercial Enterprises. These provide direct employment opportunities for disabled people, improve access to essential products and services and generate income to support Enham’s charitable objectives.

To find out more please visit their web site: www.enham.org.uk

Carestaff Solutions is a local company in the North West that specialises in providing temporary Support Workers in the local area. We recruit temporary staff close to our service user base and consequently pride ourselves on our 100% reliability record.

We aim to work in partnership with our clients in order to provide a consistent and reliable service that compliments existing ones.

Carestaff Solutions provides an on-call service from your local office staffed by trained consultants who can deal with any emergencies which may arise - we never close!

To find out more please visit their web site: www.carestaffsolutions.co.uk

L'Arche is a family of 130 communities in 30 countries worldwide. In L'Arche communities people with learning disabilities and their assistants live and work together. L’Arche means ‘The Ark’ in French. L'Arche has nine Communities in the UK. Another 2 are being planned. They are all ordinary houses and real homes. More than 100 people with learning disabilities live there.

To find out more please visit their web site: www.larche.org.uk

Nursing Solutions is both a registered Nursing Agency and Domiciliary Care Agency with offices in the south west of England and Wales. Nursing Solutions recruits and supplies all grades of Qualified Nurses, Healthcare Assistants and Support Workers to a variety of care settings including nursing and residential homes, hospitals, Local Health Authorities and Local Government. To find out more please visit: www.nursingsolutions.co.uk

Thursday, March 18, 2010

In order to comply with The Health and Social Care Act 2008, many of our customers are currently busy preparing to register with Care Quality Commission (CQC) by October 2010. The new system promises to bring many significant changes, not least, a much more robust system of monitoring, compliance and enforcement against a whole new set of regulations. Unannounced inspections are set to replace scheduled visits from inspectors which in the words of CQC:

Registration means that all health and adult social care providers will be required to be registered with us if they provide regulated activities.

Registration isn't just about the initial application for registration. We will:

• Continuously monitor compliance with essential standards as part of a new more dynamic, responsive and robust system of regulation.
• Seek information from patients and public representative groups, and from organisations such as other regulators and the National Patient Safety Agency.

If we have concerns that a provider is not meeting essential standards of quality and safety, we will act quickly, working closely with commissioners and others, and using our new enforcement powers if necessary.

Effective Policy Management Key to Success

Most organisations appreciate that effective policy management is key to preparing to meet the new regulatory environment. At a corporate level, having a robust policy management system goes to the very heart of good governance and yet many care providers fail to ensure their key policies and procedures are delivered, tracked, understood and accepted by their workforce. At a workforce development level, many of the new regulations will demand that care workers have received appropriate training, including access to appropriate policies and procedures such as Administration of Medication and Infection Prevention and Control.

The key question is: 'Are you confident that both your training and policies and procedures are delivered in a manner that will withstand scrutiny under the new regime'?

Step Forward Policy-Safe

A simple yet extremely effective online solution to all your policy management headaches.

In short, Policy-Safe enables customers to develop an organisation-wide policy management solution which provides:

• Senior Management with clear, demonstrable evidence of meeting governance accountabilities to industry regulators.
• Compliance Managers with end-to-end control over policy communications and immediate visibility of potential risks and breaches.
• Policy Administrators with instant efficiencies and cost savings from automated policy life-cycle management.

Key features and benefits of using Policy-Safe include:

Benefits

• Demonstrate rigorous governance and control.
• Respond dynamically to regulatory changes.
• Avoid compliance and security breaches arising from lack of policy awareness.
• Identify and correct inadequate customer support processes.
• Cut costs resulting from operational inefficiencies.
• Retain complete visibility and control over policy-related risks.
• Prevent damage to reputation and brand.

Policy creation

• Ability to support collaborative drafting of policies.
• Importing of existing policies held as Microsoft Word or PDF documents.
• Ability to easily assign different attributes and properties to different documents.
• Privacy and confidentiality ‘Chinese Walls’ between operational departments.

Policy review

• Workflow processes for approval and sign-off.
• Automatic reminders to policy administrators to review policies.
• Automated version control.

Presentation of policy documents

• Controlled presentation of documents to employees via links from within Care Academy.
• Single or multiple documents in one publication (batch).
• Timescales for agreement.
• Facility to schedule policy communication in advance.
• Automatic presentation of policies to employees when changing roles in the organisation.
• Role-based communication i.e. different documents to different groups of employees.
• Access for employees to a personalised policy library.

Testing Awareness

• Optional testing of employee understanding of a policy.
• Variable pass marks.
• Flexible actions in the event of poor policy comprehension e.g. re-do, mark as non-compliant.
• Ability for users to see the results of tests if required for use as a learning aid.
• Surveys for gathering information.

Auditing and Reporting

• Comprehensive management information and audit trails on compliance.
• Security on reporting e.g. restrict the Compliance department to running reports on just compliance-related policies.
• Export reports.

To find out more about Policy-Safe please call 0161 228 1712 or contact us via our on-line form.