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This issue features information about funded Internship places tailored for adult social care staff, make you sure think about taking up this valuable offer. There is also a link to the new adult social care workforce strategy for England, published by Skills for Care.
We do our best to keep the content and structure of our PEN website up-to-date in these fast-changing times and your suggestions on how to improve the website are always welcome.
Funded Internship Places in September
There are up to 5 places available starting in September, for staff working in, or with these setting (e.g. care homes, extra care, or assisted living) to take part in a fully funded research internship for up to 30 days or 225 hours, which can be take flexibly over a 9-month period.
This internship is aimed at supporting people working in older adult social care to find out more about how research can improve the lives of the people they work with. This internship is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and led by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula. For more information see leaflets:
Staff taking part will have access to:
- A personalised package of training and development to fit your needs and interests.
- A research mentor, that you can meet regularly from a local university.
- Opportunities to meet other staff to share learning and opportunities, both locally and nationally
Who would this opportunity be good for:
- Staff working in or with older adult care settings, such as those in care homes, extra care, or assisted living who are based in Devon, Cornwall or Somerset
- Available to take part between September 2024 – March 2025
You don’t need to have:
- Any research experience.
- Any particular level of education.
Any questions please do not hesitate to get in contact with Alice : a.garrood@exeter.ac.uk
County Care Home forum cancelled in July
Please note that there will be no County Care Home Forum in July or August as we break for the summer. The next Forum will therefore take place on Tuesday 24 September from 2-3pm. An invitation to register for the webinar will be released nearer the time.
Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England published by Skills for Care
The Skills for Care national workforce strategy that Devon’s Ian Hobbs was involved in was launched last week at: https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Workforce-Strategy/Home.aspx
This will seek to influence a new government that recognised the workforce challenge in its manifesto and the King’s Speech yesterday as part of the planned Employment Rights bill although the mechanisms by which improved pay and terms and conditions will be determined, enforced and funded are unclear.
The backdrop will be familiar and recommendations are extensive, with detail including costing in some but not all cases.
Of particular interest will be:
- The options for improving pay
- Enforcement of NLW and paid travel time
- A sectoral minimum wage
- Pay differentials to secure and reward experience
- The plan for improving domestic and reducing the reliance on international recruitment
- Requiring CQC to focus more on workforce recruitment and retention, training and development in its assessments
- Suggestions for improving the recruitment and retention of the professional workforce (SWs, OTs, Nurses)
- A funded training and development programme for the sector
- A recognition of the workforce challenges in coastal and rural areas
- The piloting of a care technologist role
For further information please contact Skills for Care Contact us (skillsforcare.org.uk)
Wellbeing Buddy Training in August and September - Reminder
The Devon Wellbeing Hub are offering a one-day course to train colleagues to become Wellbeing Buddies. Wellbeing Buddies (also known as Wellbeing Champions) support the wellbeing of colleagues within their organisation.
Training dates available for colleagues who are interested:
- Tuesday 27 August – 9.30am-4.30pm
- Tuesday 24 September – 9.30am-4.30pm
The sessions will take place in person at Health Innovation South West, Pynes Hill, Exeter.
The training will be led by our Colleague Wellbeing Practitioners.
Please note, colleagues will need to get approval from their line manager and complete the attached ‘Wellbeing Buddy Agreement’ form before signing up. Once complete, this will need to be sent back to dpt.devonwellbeing@nhs.net with the session they’d like to attend. More information can be found in this PowerPoint.
Digital Voice Telephony Roadshows in September
Telecoms companies in the UK are replacing the technology they use to provide fixed telephone networks (landlines). For most, the upgrade is expected to be complete by 2025, with a deadline of 2027. New digital phone lines will mean better-quality sound and will support a wider range of functions. However, the change does mean that the phones most people currently have wouldn’t work in a power cut. Even with the power on, some of the devices that vulnerable people have connected to their phone line, such as alarm systems and telecare devices might not work reliably unless they’ve been checked and modified.
Because of that, BT/virgin want to create a separate workstream for vulnerable people and have contacted DCC to ask us to share with them the phone numbers of people we commission Technology Enabled Care & Support (TECS) for, so that they can remove these people from the mainstream programme whilst a more careful and slower programme of upgrade is rolled out for these individuals. We’ve agreed to that share, and are in the process of returning the attached data sharing agreement so that we can instruct our TECS provider to share the numbers that we are the data controller for.
Some of your organisations could therefore be considered as the data controllers for these customers.
Digital Voice is coming to a town near you Come and speak to us about our new home phone service, Digital Voice Landlines in the UK are going digital by the end of January 2027.
Although the landline isn’t going away, we know that you might have questions or would like to know more about this industry-wide change.
Throughout September, a team will be heading to towns in Devon who can tell you what Digital Voice is, why the change is necessary and what it means for you. You don’t have to pre-book, just turn up…
- 24 September 10am-2pm at Plymouth Central Library, Taylor Maxwell house, 167-171 Armada Way, Plymouth, PL1 1HZ
- 26 September 10am-3pm at Mercure Exeter Rougemont
- BT Truck, 18-19 September 10am-4pm at St John's Garden Centre, St John's Lane, Barnstaple, EX32 9DD
- BT Truck, 17 September 10am-4pm at Morrisons Car Park, Stucley Road, Bude EX23 8UA
- 13 September between 10am-4pm at Launceston Library, 1 Bounsall's Lane, Launceston, PL15 9AB
- 19 September 10am-4pm at Seaton Library, 23 Queen Street, Seaton, Devon, EX12 2NY
- BT Truck, 20 September 10am-4pm at Tiverton Pannier Market, Fore Street, Tiverton, EX16 6NH
- BT Truck, 10 – 11 September between 10am-14pm at The Salvation Army, 29 Market Street, Torquay, TQ1
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