The care exchange from Skills for Care

Listen to Nicola Airey and Justine Jones who talk to us about how useful they have found utilising the care workforce pathways within their organisation.  Nicola, Head of Talent Development at the National Care Group, explains how the pathway helps identify staff's career aspirations and development needs, leading to increased professional qualifications and career progression. Justine, Registered Manager at Oak House, shares her positive experience with staff engagement and development through one-to-one career conversations.   Resources  Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification  

Cheryll Champion, an ex CQC inspector working as a quality and compliance lead joins the podcast to talk about what she learnt as when her organisation was inspected under the single assessment framework, how she ensured that it was clear how the evidence linked to quality statement and the importance of knowing the regulations. Cheryll also speaks passionately about creating a culture that enable the people they support and colleagues to be themselves.  Resources Local networks for managers  Creating a positive workplace culture seminar  Care workforce pathway for adult social care: overview - GOV.UK  Home - The Care Workers Charity 

Series 5 of the care exchange has launched with a special live episode chatting to James Bullion from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). James covers many different topics including talking about his role as Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and Integrated Care at the CQC. Listen as he speaks about the CQC’s plans for making improvements, how it is important to learn from things going wrong and how to ensure consistency. Resources The Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care Local authority assessment reports - CQC Go Online: Inspection Toolkit

Our final episode of the current series of the care exchange, we are joined by Zoe Fry OBE from the Outstanding Society.    Hear Pia, Wendy and Zoe reflect on previous episodes and discuss lots of interesting topics including:  Different ways to train leaders and staff   Proactively preparing staff for CQC assessments    Having conversations about LGBTQ+

Listen to Claire Callaghan talking about why her staff never want to leave and how she has not spent a penny on recruitment in years.  She credits this to a great recruitment process, a person-centred induction and a ‘listen to’ culture.  Claire also talks about their organisational commitment to diversity in the workplace and the support they provide around LGBTQ+, neurodiversity and menopause  Resources Induction toolkit (skillsforcare.org.uk)  Data and publications (skillsforcare.org.uk)  Using social media for care recruitment (skillsforcare.org.uk) 

Listen to Colin Scott talking about how he has used the Skills for Care LGBTQ+ learning framework in his care home for older people to create a culture where people can be themselves.   Colin is the registered home manager of The Maples Residential Care Home, and he talks about   how he has made changes throughout the service with surprising results and how he has worked to engage people, their families and the staff. Colin also encourages placements and volunteer opportunities for younger people and discusses how this benefits his service  Resources  Confident with difference  LGBTQ+ learning framework  LGBTQ+ Good and practice webinar  LGBTQ+ Inclusion in the workplace course  

Hear from Isabel De La Haye, a recently qualified solicitor who talks a lot about the new CQC assessment and shares her tips on how you can prepare for any forthcoming assessment by understanding your current position. She talks about the importance of checking the factual accuracy of your CQC report and understanding how your rating is created.   Resources: Data Security and Protection eLearning - Digital Care Hub  Digital Care Hub - Run by social care providers for social care providers.   Digital, data and technology (skillsforcare.org.uk)  Integration (skillsforcare.org.uk)  Local networks for managers (skillsforcare.org.uk) 

Maddie Watts, the owner and Registered manager of the outstanding rated Inchwater home care chats to us about the preparation she is doing for assessment under the new single assessment framework and how to evidence good practice for CQC. Maddie talks about evidencing feedback of partnership working with other professionals and the benefits of reflective conversations to the continuous improvement journey.  Resources Go Guide: Single Assessment Framework edition (skillsforcare.org.uk)  Inspection toolkit (skillsforcare.org.uk)  Being prepared for CQC inspection seminar (skillsforcare.org.uk) 

We chat to Jodie Allen-Cawley, Head of Quality and Health and Safety at Lifeways.    Jodie talks about why co-production is the key to providing quality care and how it works in partnership with the people you provide care to. She explores how the ‘I statements’ and ‘we statements’ align with the new CQC Single Assessment Framework and, as a quality lead, how to evidence personalisation and co-production.   Jodie also shares the huge range of co-production initiatives and processes that are taking place at Lifeways from their quality checkers, to involving people in the recruitment process and embedding co-production as day-to-day business within the culture of the organisation.   “Ensure the people you support are at the heart of everything you do, then build outwards from that.” 

We chat to Samantha Crawley, CEO of Bracebridge Care and Director of The Outstanding Society.   She talks about why registered managers strive for Outstanding, and the impact of the culture of a service on CQC ratings. Samantha also shares some great ideas about how to tackle difficult team dynamics and she how uses an assessment centre approach to help with recruitment. You can also find out why she gives a free audio book subscription to managers in all her homes.   Resources Culture toolkit Registered manager membership S4 E2 Full transcript    

Series 4 Episode 1: What is your favourite chocolate bar? Series 4 kicks off with a fascinating conversation alongside Neil Eastwood, CEO and founder of Care Friends recorded with a live audience!   Listen to Neil talk about the secrets to recruitment including having a narrow and wide focus on attracting job applicants and how to connect with people in your local community. Neil also shares lots of tips on how to improve your recruitment and retention processes including texting, hosting a dog show, reserving parking spaces, welcome cards and even providing a favourite chocolate bar!  Resources Recruitment and retention in adult social care: Secrets of success  Values-based recruitment I Care…Ambassadors  S4 E1 Full transcript

Series 3 Episode 9: With good culture you can achieve anything In the final episode of this series, we are joined by Zoe Fry OBE from the Outstanding Society who is also the host of the ‘Care Insights’ podcast. Together we look back at guests that have featured on both podcasts, and we reflect on the importance of positive leadership, leading by example and having a good workplace culture. We also discuss the benefits of looking outwards and learning from others. Resources S3 E9 full transcript

Series 3 Episode 8: Our aim is to break down barriers In this episode we talk to Aeon Anderson from the African Caribbean Community Initiative about lots of things including: what it’s like to manage a service that supports people from an African Caribbean background with mental health issues how to recruit the right staff, manage a diverse team and ensure that the staff feel supported planning and delivering learning and development that meets the needs of the individual staff members whether they are new to the service or have worked there a long time. Aeon has been the Chair of the Registered Managers Network for a number of years now and was nominated for the West Midlands Registered Manager of the year award 2023. Aeon has received numerous awards including: Alicia Spence Award 2023 for supported housing services to mental health - A.C.C.I. Annual Gala and Awards Winner of the Wolverhampton Registered Manager of the Year 2023. (The West Midlands Care Association & Wolverhampton City Council) Resources Confident with difference: our confident with difference resource supports you to consider how well diversity is embraced within your organisation and how you could improve. Guide to developing your staff: our guidance can help you plan, deliver and evaluate the learning and development you provide for your staff. S3 E8 full transcript

Series 3 Episode 7: Power our carers through renewable energy Good Oaks Home Care is the first UK carbon neutral home care company. Ben Ashton, the co-founder and director joins us to talk about what you have to do to become carbon neutral, why it is so important and how it fits so well with values-based recruitment and retention. Ben also talks about his positive experiences and shares his learnings of recruiting internationally. Resources RM membership : become a member of our growing community of registered managers and gain access to exclusive resources to support your role and service through membership.  RM webinar on CQC single assessment: view our recorded webinar to gain insight into the new CQC Single Assessment and gather practical tools and advice about the new CQC inspection focus and Quality Statements. International recruitment: take a look at various sources available to you to help you recruit internationally. S3 E7 full transcript GoodOaks Academy offer a free online e-learning platform for the care sector, from registered managers to informal carers. Topics range from Healthy Eating in Older People through to Having Difficult Conversations. For more information take a look at the website.   

Series 3 Episode 6: Sometimes we need to take a breath and see the bigger picture As registered managers, it’s easy to get caught up in the daily running of the service and not be aware of the bigger strategic changes taking place. Jo-Anne Wilson, the registered manager of a Royal British Legion Nursing home joins us to talk about her work with the Integrated Care Board and the Social Care Nursing Advisory Council, being part of a documentary on dementia care and how she supports staff wellbeing with her 300 staff. Jo-Anne has a huge passion for raising the profile of social care and, of course, we couldn’t chat to Jo-Anne without asking her about getting her recent MBE from King Charles! Don’t forget you can nominate your colleagues for the Chief Nurse Adult Social Care Award which is open to all social care workers and nursing working in Social Care in England. Resources Integration: integration is joint work across social care, health services, housing organisations and other service providers, who are now working together through their integrated care system (ICS) to join up the care and support they provide locally. Our resources have been developed specifically to help you to consider how to work across organisational boundaries to deliver seamless care Dementia: take a look at the resources and qualifications available to help you deliver better care for people living with dementia. S3 E6 full transcript

Series 3 Episode 5: It doesn’t matter the colour of the cat… In this podcast, we talk about compassionate leadership with Rosemary Pavoni who is a retired registered manager. She believes that “It doesn’t matter the colour of the cat as long as it catches the mouse” – in other words, it doesn’t matter why you practice compassionate leadership as long as it achieves its goal. Rosemary talks about her career and how she learnt that compassionate leadership is crucial in staff wellbeing, retention and in creating safe supported cultures. She discusses learning from mistakes, the importance of learning and development for new managers and how she misses being part of a team. Resources People performance management toolkit:  a useful resource detailing everything you need to know about people performance management. Culture toolkit:   take a look at our range of resources and toolkit to help you achieve a positive workplace culture. Supporting the development of leadership skills: this resource pulls together all the resources and programmes available from Skills for Care to support leaders.  Leadership CPD modules: find out more about the leadership programmes and continuing professional development (CDP) modules delivered exclusively by Skills for Care endorsed providers. S3 E5 full transcript

Series 3 Episode 4: Be less British, be more American    How do you become rated Outstanding in all five domains – not once but three times?    Hayley Taylor and Dan Gower-Smith from Avenues South East join the care exchange and talk about how they did just that. They share how they ensured that their values are embedded into everything they do throughout the organisation, the importance of culture and the work they do with families. They share the ‘smile moments’ they have experienced and the importance of celebrating the things that do go well, but also talk about learning from things that don’t go to plan and how they love to use a spreadsheet for everything! Resources Learning from events: this 35-minute interactive digital module is designed to support managers and leaders in all adult care settings carry out learning reviews. Inspection toolkit: take a look at the two versions of the Good and Outstanding inspection toolkit now available. S3 E4 full transcript

Series 3 Episode 3: I compare being a care home manager to a football manager Multi award winning registered manager Ben Miller from Castleford House joins the care exchange for an extended chat about making continuing improvements to his service, to his recruitment strategy and to his role as a leader. Ben shares how his thirst for learning has resulted in a complete transformation of recruitment, retention and culture within his service. He talks about how he has used podcasts and research about social care and other sectors to think about how to make changes and offers some top tips about how managers can use social media to both recruit staff and showcase the excellent work they have done within their service.  Watch Ben talk about the changes he made to his recruitment and retention strategy in a recording made prior to coming on The care exchange. Resources    Digital learning modules for managers: The eLearning modules include real-life examples of good practice that learners can connect with, relate to, and learn from. They’re interactive; keeping people engaged throughout using activities, videos and providing time and encouragement to reflect. Good and outstanding care: take a look at our range of resources to help you achieve Outstanding in your next CQC inspection. S3 E3 Full transcript

Series 3 Episode 2: I love data! Paul Tolley, CEO of New Directions Rugby, shares how much he loves data and the importance of using workforce data within your service. He talks about partnerships - partnerships with volunteers, your local communities and other registered managers and the added value this provides to your service. We also hear how important it is to be part of your local community, how peer partnerships can prepare you for CQC inspections and how partnerships can ensure that you are proud of your service. Resources    ASC-WDS: a free, online data collection service that covers the adult social care workforce in England. Join over 20,000 care providers using the service to manage staff records, training and qualifications information and gain access to the Workforce Development Fund.  Workforce Development Fund (WDF): claim funding towards training and qualifications for your team   Registered Manager Networks: our networks are a place for managers to come together with other managers within their local area to share knowledge, connect with peers and learn with others.  S3 E2 full transcript

Series 3 Episode 1: It’s not a soft cushion, scented candles approach to leadership  Starting this series with a thought-provoking conversation is Professor Michael West OBE who discusses compassionate leadership.   He describes how ‘listening with fascination’ is so crucial for managers and explains how to create more effective compassionate teamwork. He also talks about how to support a stressed workforce and why it’s so important to practice self-compassion. Resources Does team size matter?  Compassionate Leadership by Professor Michael West  Listening with Fascination is included in Nancy Kline’s book Time to Think S3 E1 full transcript