Complaints Handling Procedures – events

A series of events is being planned to help implement the model Complaints Handling Procedures for the NHS and Social Work. 

These events are being run jointly by the Scottish Government, NHS Education for Scotland (NES), Scottish Social Services Council, Scottish Public Services Ombudsmen, the Care Inspectorate and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. 

The events will be held in February and March in the following locations:

  • Edinburgh (20 Feb)
  • Aberdeen (21 Feb)
  • Crieff (8 March)
  • Glasgow (21 March)

For further details please see below:

University of Stirling – 2018 Dementia event

In the new year, the University of Stirling will be staging a 2 day event to showcase ongoing work by the Dementia and Ageing Research Group and the Dementia Services Development Centre.

The Dementia @Stirling #DARG18 event will take place on the 7th & 8th February at the Iris Murdoch Building at the University.

For more details on this free event, including the full programme and how to book your place to attend, please visit the registration page for Dementia Care, Design and Technology.

 

Cognitive Stimulation Therapy – Workshops

We have been advised by NHS Education Scotland (NES) that there are a few places still available on their planned Cognitive Stimulation Therapy workshops which are taking place in January 2018. The deadline for applying for a place is January 5. Please see below for details on locations, dates and how to secure a place. 

 

Partnership to promote AHP student placements

Promoting the value and importance of Allied Heath Professionals (AHPs) student practice education within the social care sector.

Scottish Care are delighted to be working in partnership with the Care Inspectorate, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and other organisations to highlight the success of AHP student placements in care homes and care at home organisations throughout Scotland.  Throughout November we will be showcasing successful placements as well as engaging with providers and stakeholders to identify how we can promote greater cross-sectoral working.  The link below provides more information about this important initiative.   You can also find out more on Twitter #AHPCare

http://www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/ahppe/national-programme/student-placements-preregistration/ahp-placement-experiences-(1)/care-and-care-at-home.aspx

 

For more information please contact Katharine Ross – [email protected]

SSSC Information Events for Scottish Care Members – Update with latest dates

The SSSC Register for Care at Home and Housing Support opened on 2nd October 2017.

As registration will be a new process for many workers employed in our member organisations, we have been working alongside SSSC colleagues to set up a series of information events across the country. The purpose of these events is to advise providers and individual staff members of their responsibilities with regards to registration. Support will also be provided along with advice on where to find resources to help make the registration process as straightforward as possible for new registrants and the organisations they work for.

Following the events for Care at Home/Housing Support services, secondary events will be arranged to explore the challenges of Post Registration Training & Learning (PRTL). These will be open to all providers – Care Homes as well as Care at Home/Housing Support.

To register to attend these free events please contact the relevant Local Integration Lead via email. Their details are contained within the events section of our website and you can click through to this below:

 

Scottish Care comments on Care Inspectorate Report on Workforce Shortages

The Care Inspectorate has published a report ‘Staff Vacancies in Care Services 2016’

This report highlights that over 80% of care services in Scotland are judged to be good, very good or excellent in respect of the quality of care they provide. Inspectors regularly identify that stable and consistent staff teams are an important component of high quality social care which supports people well.

However more than a third of social care services across Scotland have reported unfilled staff vacancies in the past year. Some key figures from the report revealed:

  • At 31 December 2016, 41% of services with vacancies reported having problems filling them; up 2 percentage points from the previous year.
  • Particularly high proportions of the following types of services reported problems filling vacancies: care at home services (64%), care homes for older people (57%), care homes for adults (49%) and housing support services (48%).
  • Aberdeen (57%), Perth and Kinross (52%) and Fife (51% of services) had the highest proportion of services reporting that vacancies were hard to fill.
  • Too few applicants with experience (58%), too few applicants in general (58%) and too few qualified applicants (50%) were the most common themes within most service types reported for why vacancies were hard to fill.

Karen Reid, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate said:

“Most people in Scotland experience high quality care which is down to the dedication, professionalism and commitment of the social care workforce. Our evidence shows that people benefit from an effective and stable staff team which allows people experiencing care to build trusting relationships with the people supporting them.”

These findings completely mirror the research which has been conducted by Scottish Care in the last year. They highlight a real crisis in recruitment and retention, not least in older people’s care.

Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO of Scottish Care, in responding to the report said:

“Social care in Scotland faces a fundamental crisis. The Care Inspectorate report together with our own work at Scottish Care states quite clearly that we are at the point of services becoming unsustainable and unable to deliver given the current recruitment and workforce crisis. The entire fabric of social care will begin to disintegrate without serious intervention and this will have a profound effect on the sustainability of wider health and social care supports.

Scottish Care has been warning about the workforce crisis for some time. We have spoken out about the unsustainable levels of contracts for care at home and housing support provision which are forcing many organisations to turn down work or leave the sector completely. Care homes are equally faced with the combined challenges of new regulation, workforce vacancies, increased use of agencies, Brexit and levels of fee income that are simply not sufficient.

The average social care worker earns the Scottish Living wage [£8.45 an hour. Given that you can earn a few pounds more stacking shelves in a supermarket. It’s not really surprising that individuals are choosing less demanding jobs that offer more money.

We’ve reached a point where we need to undertake an urgent review of how we give value to those who work in the sector. We need to offer them a proper sense of worth and the feeling that they are contributing to the greater good of society. Ultimately, we need to improve pay. When you have bills to pay, you’re going to go to a job that pays you more, no matter how rewarding you find social care.

Social care needs to become a priority for the whole of Scotland and not just a party political issue. We cannot continue to deliver quality care on the inadequate resources the public purse is contributing. Given the equal realities of austerity and the choices that that has led to it is time for all of us to start talking not about what we can afford but what the true cost of care is. Care with dignity should not be at the cost of a stretched and dedicated workforce. It is time to care about care.”

#careaboutcare