Sharing good practice: resources and learning to support individual - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Sharing good practice: resources and learning to support individual employers

Thursday 06 February 2020

Housekeeping and introductions

Still Making it real: Think Local Act Personal (TLAP)

Martin Walker, TLAP Isaac Samuels, Deputy Chair, National Co- production Advisory Group

Martin Walker and Isaac Samuels

We are all ll connected

Overview

▪ What is Making it Real? ▪ What’s in for you? ▪ How to get involved

What is Making it Real?

▪ What good personalised care and support looks from a citizen’s perspective ▪ For all adults with care, treatment and support needs in different settings - applies across social care, health and housing ▪ Consistent with policy/legislation – addresses gap between personalisation ‘talk’ and lived experience ▪ About sharing power so people have choice and control over their lives - co-produced with people and organisations

MY SUPPORT, MY OWN WAY

Flexible and integrated care and support

STAYING IN CONTROL

When things need to change

THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT ME

Workforce

LIVING THE LIFE I WANT, KEEPING SAFE & WELL

Wellbeing and independence

HAVING THE INFORMATION I NEED WHEN I NEED IT

Information and advice

6

T h e m e s

KEEPING FAMILY, FRIENDS AND CONNECTIONS

Active and supportive communities

Built around I and We statements

I statements

What good personalised care and support looks like if it is working well

We statements What organisations and their people need to do to make sure actual experience lives up to the I Statements

For example...

I Statements I am valued for the contribution I make to my community I am supported by people who see me as a unique person with strengths, abilities and aspirations I am treated with respect and dignity We Statements

We have a ‘can do’ approach which focusses

• n what matters to people

We look for ways to involve people in their communities where they feel included and valued for their contribution

How to use it

▪ Purpose to help personalisation

• can and should be used flexibly
• not a rule book or toolkit

▪ Must involve people accessing your services/support in deciding how to use it

• co-production in action
• get staff involved as well

What’s in it for people?

▪ Help individuals and groups think about what’s happening locally ▪ How well are aspirations being met and whneeds to change? ▪ A basis for conversations with local services that focuses on making things better ▪ Supports co-production between people, commissioners and providers

What’s in it for organisations?

It can help to: ▪ look at current practice against the statements, identify areas for change and develop plans for action ▪ create a more positive and productive relationship with people ▪ help organisations meet legal requirements and contribute to raising standards ▪ for organisations that do not directly provide services, acts as a guide to their role in spreading personalisation

Good practice from around the country

• Think Local Act Personal Partners
• Quality Matters
• CQC, LGA, NICE, ADASS, Skills For Care
• Keyring, Community Catalysts, Shared Lives Plus– What does it

mean for our organisation?

• Making Space – The Making Change Group
• Shropshire – Rethinking Partnership Boards, redesigning Direct

Payment processes

• Norkfolk – A Making It Real Board
• Thurrock – It’s just across the water! – We (the Council) don’t have all

the answers…and we’re OK with that

• Wakefield and Bexley– A similar approach on ISF’s

An offer of support from NCAG

• Work with the LGA
• High impact change model/admission avoidance
• Digital social care innovation programme
• Other future programmes
• Work with ADASS – review of the Performance Framework (ASCOF)
• Work with individual Councils
• Shropshire
• Central Bedfordshire
• Norfolk
• Essex
• Lincolnshire

The Iceberg Effect…

Values

Coproduction Co-Creation

Conversations Sharing space Relationships Permission to fail Test things Curate Coach Sponsor Beliefs Its about PEOPLE Culture Ethics Principles Being Human

The TANGIBLE results of creating the RIGHT conditions Creating the RIGHT conditions

Lets dive in and explore!

Find out more: Making it Real website

www.thinklocalactpersonal/makingitreal makingitreal@tlap.org.uk

Local area co-ordination in Leicestershire

Simon Dalby, Community Delivery Manager, Leicestershire County Council

Local Area Co-ordination in Leicestershire

What is Local Area Co-ordination?

“Local Area co-ordination is focused on helping isolated, excluded and vulnerable people and communities to stay strong and in control. The aim is to divert people from formal services through sustainable, local individual and community solutions. Local Area Co-

• rdination builds the resources, networks and resilience of those who need help BEFORE

they hit crisis, and helps to foster an inclusive, friendly and supportive community around them” Local Area Co-ordination is about supporting people and their families to have a good life as part of their local community. Local Area Co-ordination is being led by an organisation Inclusive Neighbourhoods and the Local Area Co-ordination network. Originally developed in Western Australia in the 1980s Currently running in other areas of the country, including Derby City, Derbyshire, Suffolk, Swansea, Isle of Wight, Thurrock, Cumbria, Middlesbrough, West Midlands.

What does Local Area co-ordination do?

Supports around 60 individuals/families in their local communities, across age groups and service types, including older people, those with low level of mental health needs, learning disabilities, health challenges and those who are socially isolated. Local Area Co-ordinators are not based within Local Authority offices and are based within the community they work in, such as the local parish council office or community centre. Supports the development of effective networks to enhance social interaction and grows supportive relationships. Spends time to get to know and understand the person’s strengths and aspirations

What does Local Area Co-ordination do?

Help people to plan, choose and control their own life and support Identifies a range of community assets and resources which individuals can access Links individuals to sources of informal support from other individuals Helps individuals to access other relevant services where required Helps individuals to understand progress against their goals and vision

Asset Based Community Development

Local Area Co-ordination is about identifying the resources and assets within a community which can help to make the community more self-sufficient. It is a model which looks at what individuals and communities can offer, rather than focussing on what they need. Community Assets can be anything from existing sources of support (voluntary sector

• rganisations, community centres, faith groups/places of worship) to the support which can

be offered by individuals (families, neighbours and friends) This could include any of the following and more: ✓ Informal support and friendship ✓ Cooking ✓ Domestic, gardening or DIY chores ✓ Driving or accompanying people to appointments, shopping trips etc

Outcomes

Local Area Co-ordination has a board range of identified outcomes for both individuals and communities. Improved Health and Well-being-feeling safe and staying well and happy Better quality of life: improved confidence and independence Improved community links and social interactions Greater community cohesion, community capacity and resilience Positive use of community assets and resources Increased numbers of people engaging with natural supports and voluntary groups, training and employment Fewer hospital admissions and visits to the GP Local Area co-ordination will enable people to find practical ways of achieving their goals, their vision for a good life, thus preventing them from reaching crisis.

Leicestershire

A number of strategic partners are involved including: ✓ All departments with Leicestershire County Council ✓ Both East and West Leicestershire Clinical Commissioning Groups ✓ 7x District/Borough Councils ✓ Voluntary Action Leicester ✓ Leicestershire Police Local Area Co-ordination is a significant element of the unified prevention offer from Leicestershire County Council

Challenges/Opportunities

• Implementing LAC was challenging- but

created many opportunities

• Full citizen involvement and decision making
• Moving from glass half empty to half full
• Services moving from a deficit model to a

strength based approach

• Using findings to inform strategic

commissioning intensions

More Information

For more information about Local Area Co-ordination in Leicestershire please contact: Simon Dalby Community Delivery Manager Simon.dalby@leics.gov.uk 0116 3056650

www.leics.gov.uk/lac

Lunch and networking

Role of Acas and an Employment law update

Dwinder Virk, Deputy Director, ACAS East Midlands

working for everyone to resolve and prevent workplace problems

Role of Acas and an Employment law update

Who are Acas?

Who are we?

Our aim is to improve

• rganisations and

working life through better employment

Up-to-date Independent Confidential Practical Impartial

Who are we?

Prevent or resolve disputes between employers and their workforce Provide information advice and training

Settle complaints about employee rights Encourage people to work together more effectively

Individual conciliation

• Early Conciliation – a simple

notification to Acas gives the parties up to a calendar month, plus another 14 days to attempt to resolve their differences before a tribunal claim is made if both parties are willing to participate.

• Before a claim is made – if the matter

is not resolved at the Early Conciliation stage, parties can still try and settle their differences before a claim is lodged at the tribunal.

• When a claim is made – there is still

time to avoid the preparation time, cost and stress of a tribunal hearing through conciliation.

Individual conciliation

Benefits of conciliation

• Voluntary agreement by both

parties, it’s not imposed

• Quicker and cheaper for both

parties

• Fewer tribunal hearings
• Not in the public domain
• Less stressful for both parties

Mediation

Trained mediators Advice on a range of approaches Train and assess your mediators Skills in management Help you develop a workplace mediation scheme

Individual Mediation

2017/18

• Delegates report high levels of

satisfaction with the CIWM course with 95% ‘very’ satisfied

• 268 charged-for mediations in individual disputes

started in 2017/18 with a success rate of 89%

• Over 200 delegates trained on the

Certificate in Internal Workplace Mediation (CIWM) course in 2017/18

Helpline

• Approximately 730,000 calls answered by the

Acas Helpline in 2018/19

• The most common call topic was ‘discipline,

dismissals and grievances’ accounting for 37% of enquiries

• Almost half a million Helpline Online sessions
• 95% of callers satisfied with the overall service

received from the Acas Helpline in the last evaluation

8% 2% 5% 8% 10% 10% 14% 13% 18% 37% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Others Family friendly policies Maternity, paternity and adoption Diversity and discrimination Absence, sickness and stress Holiday and working time Wages and NMW Redundancies, layoffs and business transfers Contracts Discipline, Dismissal and Grievance

Helpline

Call subjects 2017/18

Source: As some calls relate to more than one of the specified core topics, the sum of percentages in this table exceeds 100%.

Update on Employment Law

Section 1 Statutory payments

Statutory rates

April 2019 Changes to Statutory Week’s Pay and Guaranteed Pay:

• Statutory max week’s pay- £525 (previously £508)
• Guarantee pay - £29 (previously £28)

Statutory rates

April 2019

• Statutory maternity/paternity/

adoption/ShPL pay £148.68 (previously £145.18)

• Statutory sick pay - £94.25

(previously £92.05)

• Lower earnings threshold - £118

(previously £116)

National Minimum Wage/ Living Wage

Adult rate (Age 21-24) £7.70 £8.20 Age 18-20 £6.15 £6.45 Age 16-17 £4.35 £4.55 Apprentice rate £3.90 £4.15 National living wage (Age 25 and over) £8.21 £8.72

April 2019 April 2020

Section 2 Changes in legislation

Good Work Plan

• Extend holiday pay reference period from 12 to 52 weeks –

6th April 2020

• Day one statement of rights for all workers – 6th April 2020
• Clarity for employment status tests
• The right for worker to request a more predictable contract

Written statement changes

From 6 April 2020:

• Extended to all workers, not just employees
• Principal document must be issued no later that

first day of employment/engagement

• Some information can be provided another

reasonably accessible document

• No need to issue to existing employees, unless

they ask for it

Changes and what could be on the horizon

• Executive pay ratio reporting
• Flexible working task force
• Shared Parental Leave and pay:

policy transparency

• Ethnicity pay gap reporting
• Plans to ban employers from taking

staff tips

Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave)

• To provide employed parents who lose a child

under the age of 18 with 2 weeks leave

• Day-one right
• Employees with a minimum of 26 weeks

continuous service will be eligible for statutory parental bereavement pay

• Small employers will be able to reclaim all

statutory bereavement pay and larger employers being able to reclaim most Expected to become law in 2020

Section 4 Recent developments

New Employment Bill

The main elements of the Bill are:

• Creating a new single enforcement body
• Ensuring that tips left for workers go to them in full
• Introducing a new right for all workers to request a more

predictable contract.

• Extending redundancy protections to prevent

pregnancy and maternity discrimination

• Allowing parents to take extended leave for neonatal

care: and introducing an entitlement to one week’s leave for unpaid carers

• Subject to consultation the Bill will make flexible working

the default unless employers have good reason not to

Acas – changes to Early Conciliation notification process

• Improved notification

process

• Improved case

management system

• Trialling different ways of

working

Section 5 Interesting case decisions

A Ltd v Z

Does an employer have constructive knowledge of a disability if the employee hides their disability?

NW Anglia v Gregg

Can employers conduct an internal disciplinary process when there is an ongoing police investigation?

Casamitjana v League Against Cruel Sports

Is ethical veganism protected as a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2020?

Further support

In-company training Website acas.org.uk Conciliation Tools and templates Mediation E-learning Helpline 0300 123 1100 Workshops and projects Advice

PA recruitment and staff retention

Steve Cotton, Personal Health Budget Lead, The Rowan Organisation

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

PA Recruitment & Staff Retention

Steve Cotton Personal Health Budget Lead The Rowan Organisation

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

Introduction:

• Who we are…
• What we are going to cover today…

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

Who we are:

• The Rowan Organisation is a user Led

Organisation (ULO)

• Registered Charity & Non-For Profit Organisation
• The user led approach runs right through the
• rganisation and our work and is central to our

values

• 75% of our Board are our service users
• Direct accountability
• Over 30 years of experience of providing services

that facilitate choice and control

• Providing Personal Health Budgets, Direct

Payment Support and Personal Budgets Support Schemes in England and Wales.

• Committed to the Social Model of Disability

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

Our Services

We provide a comprehensive list of support services which include…

• National Information and Advice Line
• Person centred Support Planning
• Local Employment support
• Recruitment Line
• Payroll services
• Managed Accounts (Including Pre-Paid cards)
• Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS)
• Signposting to Training
• Peer Support
• Supporting Practitioners & Social Workers
• TRO@Limited

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

Local Support

Our local Independent Living Advisors provide people in receipt of a DP or PHB all the tools and support required to manage their own support, including…

• Person Centred-Support Planning
• Budgeting advice and support
• Support to Identify a PA
• Recruitment of PA’s (including interview support)
• Job Descriptions and Contracts of Employment
• Being a good employer information and advice including

inductions and supervisions

• Advice on ELI and Healthcare Insurance
• Signposting to Training (with discounts)
• On-going Employment Support
• Safeguarding advice

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

Recruitment Service

In addition to our Local teams supporting with recruitment we have a dedicated Recruitment team at our head office who can support Employers remotely with their recruitments…

• Provide guidance on Job Descriptions and Adverts
• Advertise the vacancy on our portals (including Indeed),

website and ‘Find a Job’

• All applications are sent to our recruitment team
• Applicant queries are dealt with by the recruitment team
• All applications are forwarded to Employers on the

closing date

• Our National Information and Advice team can provide

remote support with shortlisting, interview questions and advice etc.

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

The Importance of PA’s

The right PA’s can transform your life, how your support is delivered and make you able to meet your outcomes

• Give you more Choice and Control over who supports

you – you choose who you employ

• You are in control of how you like things done
• Better contingency
• Better relationship between Employer and Employee
• PA is there for the time you are paying them for
• More likely and willing to carry out different tasks
• More cost effective than using an agency
• Your destiny is in your hands

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

How and where to find PA’s

In addition to our Local teams supporting with recruitment we have a dedicated Recruitment team at our head office who can support Employers remotely with their recruitments…

• Advertising in the right place…

– Job Centre and online – Online through recruitment sites – Indeed, Monster, CV Library

• Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, Website
• Word of mouth

– Family and Friends – Peer support

• Local shop adverts
• Newspaper adverts
• Local Schools, Colleges and University
• PA ‘Pools’ and PA Registers

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

How to create a good advert.

The advert has to attract people’s attention.

• An honest appraisal of what the job entails and the

support you require

• Detail Any specific requirements for the role e.g. driving
• Sell the good aspects of the role
• Highlight the benefits of working for you
• Include the hours and rates of pay
• Not too long as people lose interest

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

Things to look for when shortlisting applicants.

In addition to our Local teams supporting with recruitment we have a dedicated Recruitment team at our head office who can support Employers remotely with their recruitments…

• Any breaks in employment
• Application form/CV tailored to the Advert
• Experience can be great however sometimes getting

someone with little experience is beneficial

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

The interview

In addition to our Local teams supporting with recruitment we have a dedicated Recruitment team at our head office who can support Employers remotely with their recruitments…

• Put them at their ease – most people are nervous at

interviews, offer them a glass of water

• An ice breaker question can be really useful at the start
• Ask your support organisation for a list of example

questions

• Ask the same questions to all candidates
• Try to get them talking by creating a scenario and see

how they handle it

• Consider offering a trial shift if candidates evenly

matched

• At the end of the interview explain the next stages

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

Example Scenarios.

• You are a PA and arrive for your shift. On opening the front

door you see me on the floor. What do you do?

• You are a PA and arrive for your shift. You walk through the

front door and see…

• 1. The cat has been sick on the stairs
• 2. Your employer’s medication is due
• 3. The washing up is piled up in the sink
• 4. An elderly relative has arrived and asking for a cup
• f tea
• 5. The PA due on the next shift has just phoned in sick

so you need to arrange cover. How do you prioritise this situation?

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

How to retain your PA

Once you have found your PA it is very important that you retain them.

• Induction process & include a review at the end of their

probationary period

• Hold regular supervisions and maybe Annual Appraisals
• Develop and Personal Development Plan with your PA
• Invest in your PA with training opportunities
• Make them feel valued with praise when due
• Address any concerns you have with them immediately

and give them a chance to improve

• Treat your employee’s how you like to be treated

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

How to retain your PA

Once you have found your PA it is very important that you retain them.

• Induction process & include a review at the end of their

probationary period

• Hold regular supervisions and maybe Annual Appraisals
• Develop and Personal Development Plan with your PA
• Invest in your PA with training opportunities
• Make them feel valued with praise when due
• Address any concerns you have with them immediately

and give them a chance to improve

• Treat your employee’s how you like to be treated

The Rowan Organisation

Supporting Independence Through Choice

Thank you!

Break and networking

An empowering visual overview of your weekly activities and how your budget is allocated

To see at a glance the level of independence, community support and paid support

• Blue - Independent
• Aqua – good use of family, friends,

community support

• Green – Use of Assistive technology
• Staff ratio/support cost rainbow

By colour coding the level of ‘dependency/cost’, you can see at a glance how balanced and innovative the support package is Would you expect the colours to change at the next annual review?

Another way to use colour is to identify staff and Personal Assistants with a colour

• John (sleep in)
• Mum
• Bob
• Sarah
• John
• Marilyn

Visual Person Centred Reviewing

By comparing grids you can at a glance identify areas where:

• Progress can be celebrated
• Identify priority areas as they arise
• What’s working / What’s not working
• Ensure there is a good balance of activities to reflect

the outcomes in the care plan

• Review staff ratios in shared settings
• Summarise each PA’s weekly hours and pay
• Highlight opportunities to pool budgets

Start to build a grid

PA – Tom £9.55phr

Add New Support Type Make tea

Use the simple tools to describe the activity and the support used

As activities are added and tagged with their support type the software does all the calculations for you

Personal Assistant Micro Provider Rota

Staff Rota – Summary of hours worked

A summary sheet can be printed off and sent to your PAYE service

• Down load PDF summaries at any time and

email them to key people:

• Circle of Support
• Personal assistant rotas
• PAYE service
• Social worker

What are people saying...

• 247grid has partnered up with Mark Bates Ltd

Insurance

• Those who purchase Premium PA employers

insurance have access to 247grid for the first year

• After that an annual cost of £10 a year

www.247grid.co m

Register for a free trial now!

For more information

Please come and speak to me about 247grid amandatopps@hotmail.com 07821 090160 www.247grid.com

Action planning round table discussion

Skills for Care support for individual employers and those who support them

The information hub has links to practical advice, guidance and resources for: ▪ individual employers ▪ personal assistants (PAs) ▪ people who support individual employers and PAs.

www.skillsforcare.org.uk/iepahub

Information hub for individual employers and PAs

This toolkit includes information about: ▪ recruiting a personal assistant ▪ before your personal assistant starts ▪ managing your personal assistant ▪ training and qualifications ▪ sorting our problems. Email marketing@skillsforcare.org.uk for a free printed copy or visit www.employingpersonalassistants.co.uk

Employing personal assistants toolkit

This report (2019) explores more about the personal assistant workforce. www.skillsforcare.org.uk/IEPAreport

Personal assistant workforce report

140,000

PA jobs for direct payment recipients

18.4%

turnover rate for personal assistants

70,000

direct payment recipients employing their own PAs

Accolades awards

The awards recognise and celebrate great individual employers, that are committed to developing their own and their PAs skills. The application forms asks individual employers to tell us about: ▪ the things that they do to recruit the right people to be PAs ▪ how they manage them ▪ what they do to develop their PAs skills ▪ how they widen their skills as an employer. Entries open spring 2020. Visit: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Accolades

Accolades awards

Winner of the 2020 Accolade for the ‘Best individual who employer their own care and support’ award Richard’s House includes a team of personal assistants (PAs) that support Richard to live independently in his own home, and is supported by his Mum, Tess. The judges were particularly impressed by the in-depth recruitment process that Tess follows to ensure that they only recruit the best people for the job, and the ongoing learning and support they

• ffer to enable his team to support Richard in the way that he

wants and chooses. case study

User led organisation (ULO) funding

Each year, we disburse funding to ULOs to deliver training for individual employers and PAs. In 2019/20, we’ve funded 16 organisations to deliver a range of training courses, including: ▪ induction ▪ being a good employer ▪ peer support ▪ condition specific training ▪ health and safety. Find local ULOs and funded training: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/ULOfunding

User led organisation (ULO) funding

Applications will open at 10.00 on Wednesday 12 February 2020 and will be announced on our website and on our Twitter account. The closing date will be 16.00 on Thursday 12 March 2020.

User led organisation (ULO) funding

Funding within the Midlands

Disability Direct: Blue Sky Brokers in partnership with Community Action Derby www.disabilitydirect.com 01332 299449 info@disabilitydirect.com Surrey Independent Living Council (SILC) in partnership with Ruils (Richmond), LB of Croydon, Dudley CIL, Ealing CIL, Suffolk Independent Living and Your Support Matters CIC (Bury) www.surreyilc.org.uk 01483 458 111 admin@surreyilc.org.uk

ULO funding 2018/19

ULO funding 2018/19

The benefits ▪ Individual employers improve their leadership and management skills ▪ PAs increase their skills and knowledge and achieved a recognised qualification ▪ Improved working relationships ▪ Lowered PA turnover ▪ Shared experiences and knowledge through training ▪ Raised awareness and reach of ULO services

Individual employers can apply for funding to pay for training for themselves and their PAs. The funding can pay for the cost of: ▪ training (we fund lots of different training courses) ▪ travel to and from training ▪ hiring a replacement PA. Applications for the individual employer fund close at 17.00 on 28 February 2020 Find out more: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/IEfunding

Individual employer funding

Who can apply?

People who: ▪ live in England ▪ are an adult and employs their own care and support (also known as a personal assistant or PA) using a personal budget from social care or health or their own money ▪ are a parent of a child who is under 18 and receives their personal health budget as a direct payment and employs PAs.

What types of training can I apply for?

We fund lots of different training courses, and we look at each application on a case by case basis. ▪ Being a good boss ▪ Moving and handling ▪ First Aid ▪ Communication skills ▪ Social care qualifications ▪ Nutrition and hydration ▪ Induction training

The funding enabled the training to be delivered in my own home so it was personalised to my needs.

Individual employer funding 2018/19

229

Applications processed

184

successful applications

48 + 599

individual employers personal assistants

1,507 learning outcomes funded

“The funding was much appreciated by the participants, in particular to those PAs who previously have never attended any formal academic training sessions. The training has helped my PAs to reach their potential. This is just the start of their individual learning journey – they’ve already asked to do further training in the future and shown that they know how to provide practical support, and this training explained the theoretical knowledge in a formal education setting. I am so proud of their achievements. None of this would have been achievable without Skills for Care funding.”

Midlands

▪ 28 applications from 26 individual employers ▪ 15 were first time requests ▪ A third from PHB funded individual employers ▪ 121 PAs employed ▪ 21 applications were successful ▪ 113 learning outcomes expected ▪ First aid, Care Certificate, food safety, moving and assisting and lone working were most popular

Sector-based work academies for PAs

In 2018-19 we funded four organisations to test a sector-based work academy for PAs: Our online guide shares best practice from the pilots, and provides a step by step process that you can follow to set up and run an academy. www.skillsforcare.org.uk/SBWAforPAs

What is a sector-based work academy and how can it help?

A sector-based work academy is a type of pre-employment training programme that offers unemployed people the opportunity to do training and work experience. It could be one way to attract and recruit more people to become

• PAs. It also:

▪ gives people the chance to understand more about the sector and the PA role ▪ helps people to see if the role is right for them, and they’re right for the role ▪ helps employers to develop their skills and confidence.

The project aimed to develop a sustainable route into PA work, which will enable the continued growth of a diverse, skills and supported PA workforce. WECIL

Seminars to support PA recruitment

We run a series of seminars to support you to take a values-based approach to recruiting PAs. ▪ Finding the right people ▪ Values-based interviewing ▪ Valuable conversations www.skillsforcare.org.uk/events

Finding the right people

This seminar helps you to target, attract and recruit candidates who’ve got the right values and behaviours to deliver high quality, person-centred care. Activities include: ▪ why should people want to work for you ▪ where will I find the right candidates and how can I reach them ▪ applications and shortlisting ▪ interviewing and selection, including suggestions for running an assessment centre. Suitable for people involved in adult social care recruitment (e.g. the promotion of vacancies, shortlisting and selection process).

Values-based interviewing

This practical seminar explains the importance of and teaches a values-based interviewing style to help you to recruit PAs with the right values and behaviours. Activities include: ▪ learn a values-based interview style to draw out the values and behaviours of your candidates ▪ create an action-plan to implement a values-based approach to recruitment.

Valuable conversations: conversations that count with your team

This practical seminar explores how to effectively communicate to achieve better outcomes and contribute to a positive workplace culture. Activities include: ▪ arrive in the room, ‘deflating the balloon’ ▪ the one-to-one: ‘sandwich’ technique vs valuable conversation ▪ planning feedback ▪ effective questioning ▪ preparing for a valuable conversation.

Question of Care: new PA scenario

A Question of Care is an online, scenario-based quiz for people that are interested in working in social care. Employers can use it as a profiling tool during the recruitment process, to assess whether candidates have the right values and behaviours to work in social care. Visit: www.aquestionofcare.org.uk

Leaflet for social workers

Social workers might support people to assess and decide what care and support they want and need to access.

It’s important that people are told about all the options available to them, so that they can make an informed decision, including becoming an individual employer. This leaflet is for social workers and outlines the benefits of becoming an individual employer and how Skills for Care can help. Download: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/IEforSW or email marketing@skillsforcare.org.uk for printed copies.

Call out for individual employers and PAs for new photographs

We want to get some new photographs of individual employers and personal assistants (PAs) to use in our promotional materials, such as new guides, leaflets and social media images. If you enjoy being in front of the camera and would like to help, please get in touch. We’ll come and spend a day with you, with our photographer, and take photos of your and your PAs in your everyday setting. If you work with individual employers and PAs who might be interested, please pass on this information – or if your organisation delivers training sessions and you’d be happy for us to come and take photographs, please email us.

Personal assistants supporting people during a hospital admission: new guidance

When personal assistants (PAs) continue to support their employer during a hospital admission, this can have lots of benefits for the individual. This new guide outlines the benefits and shares learning and top tips about what works well, to help individual employers, local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to work together to put the right processes in place to make it happen. It's free to download here.

Isle of Wight example of using PAs in hospital discharges

https://youtu.be/4f2nGuN8u20

‘Roles, responsibilities, and relationships: hearing the voices of PAs and directly employed care workers’

https://doi.org/10.18742/pub01-005 The report provides a detailed overview of the PA role, and those who work as PAs, highlighting both the opportunities working as a PA can offer both employer and PA but also the problematic nature

• f aspects of the role. The report contains a shorter summary and

recommendations.

Contacts…

Head of Area (Midlands) Renny.Wodynska@skillsforcare.org.uk Worcestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Telford & Wrekin Claire.smout@skillsforcare.org.uk Derby City, Derbyshire, Nottingham City, Nottinghamshire, Lucy.McDonald@skillsforcare.org.uk Coventry, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire Clare.McKenzie@skillsforcare.org.uk Leicestershire, Leicester City, Rutland, Lincolnshire Matthew.Errington@skillsforcare.org.uk Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Stoke, Staffordshire Shirley.Way@skillsforcare.org.uk Birmingham, Solihull James.Drewry@skillsforcare.org.uk

Thank you, keep in touch!