Leading Change, Adding Value in the social care sector
In this latest Leading Change, Adding Value blog, Sharon Blackburn, Policy and Communications Director for the National Care Forum and Graham Woodham Programme Head at Skills for Care for Regulated Professional Workforce discuss how Leading Change, Adding Value supports the unique and key contribution of nursing and care staff working within the social care sector.
Adult social care is a growing sector that, in 2017, had around 21,200 organisations and 41,000 care providing locations. Some 42,000 registered nurses and an estimated 830,000 care workers form part of a workforce of around 1.6 million jobs (The state of the adult social care sector and working in England, September 2017). As we move towards greater integration, it is vital that the vitally important contribution those nursing and care staff colleagues make to managing the complex care needs for thousands of people every day is recognised.
Leading Change, Adding Value is the national framework for all nursing, midwifery and care staff. The framework highlights the need to apply the same importance on measuring the outcomes of work as well as demonstrating quality. All nursing and care staff within the social care sector have a key leadership role in identifying and addressing unwarranted variation – where there are differences in care, experience or outcomes. The framework supports all staff, wherever they work, whatever their role, to improve the outcomes and experiences of people who use services, and the use of resources
A central product of Leading Change, Adding Value is the Atlas of Shared Learning – a growing collection of case studies that clearly illustrate and quantify the contribution of nursing, midwifery and care staff in demonstrating the delivery of the Five Year Forward View (FYFV) and other national, regional and local policy initiatives.
Within the Atlas we are delighted to see an increasing number of case studies demonstrating nursing and care staff leadership in the social care sector. It is inspiring to read case studies such as the work of the Senior Learning Disability Nurse (SLDN) and Senior Nurse Specialist in Palliative Care from the Hertfordshire County Council Community Learning Disability Nursing service addressing unwarranted variation in end of life care for people with learning disabilities through the education of staff and adapting the end of life model used in care homes.
Or how a senior support worker at a Belong Wigan care village has led a project to introduce an exercise instructor role to support mobility and independence for elderly residents in a dementia care setting, after identifying best practice in this area. The project has improved residents experience of care within the village and increased residents’ independence with positive feedback from residents including:
Since attending this gym I have found great improvement in my mobility and hope to continue to do so, from a very grateful 96 year old lady.
Another example is at Castle Supported Ltd, a charity providing personal care to adults with a learning disability living in their own homes. Recognising unwarranted variation, care staff at the organisation engaged with people who have learning disabilities to introduce co-production to further develop and improve services. The programme has led to improved outcomes, experience and better use of resources.
These example case studies not only demonstrate the quantifiable contribution and leadership of nursing and care staff within the care sector, they also highlight the complexity of care delivered to a range of individuals, in a range of settings.However, there is more to do so we can further demonstrate this crucially important leadership, impact and contribution. We would therefore encourage you and your colleagues to visit the Atlas of Shared Learning and consider submitting your work as a potential case study.