Welcome to this fortnight's edition of the Skills for Care London e-news.

Over the coming months we will be sending a regular bulletin listing all the latest news, views and updates. We hope that you find it useful and informative, and we welcome your contributions.

news headlines 

 Nominate your organisation now

Entries are now open for the Skills for Care Accolades 2010 celebrating the very best practice in social care workforce development by employers across England. The awards are celebrated in partnership with the Department of Health.

If you provide a high quality service and invest in training, qualifications and development for your staff we want to hear from you. You can also nominate another organisation or employer that you think would be a worthy winner of an Accolade.

To enter and for further information please see the Accolades 2010 webpage.  Various sponsorship opportunities for the event are also available.

The 2010 awards will take place on the November 25th at The Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair, London.

• Accolades 2010 nominations - London workshop

To showcase the high level of innovative and quality progress by the workforce in the adult social care sector taking place within the capital in 2010, we would like to put forward as many nominations from London organisations as possible.

Skills for Care London want to support employers by providing hands on advice and information on the application process, categories as well as the benefits of the accolades to your organisation (including long term benefits). To do so, we have a set a lunch time briefing for the Accolades 2010 nominations process.

The briefing will take place from 12pm-2pm on Tuesday, 30th March 2010 in Central London and will include a light lunch and networking opportunity. If you would like to express an interest in attending, please email your name, organisation and contact details to Cheryl Gregory – cheryl.gregory@skillsforcare.org.uk

•  National Management Trainee Scheme

The National Skills Academy for Social Care launched the National Management Trainee Scheme in 2009. It was the first management scheme in the sector and saw 20 graduates placed in 20 different host organisations across the country learning the skills necessary to be leaders in the social care sector.

They are getting ready to begin the next round of recruitment for the scheme and are planning to open the application process at the end of March 2010.

To offer to host a graduate for the National Management Trainee Scheme, or to promote the Scheme in your University, please see the National Skills Academy website for more information.

consultations

• Feedback on 'A Guide to Workforce Planning for Providers of Adult Social Care' events

Skills for Care is working with ADASS to develop a series of easy-to-use tools to embed future workforce commissioning across the sector. As part of the development of the InLAWS project we have developed a draft 'Guide to workforce planning for providers of adult social care' designed for busy employers who need help to plan their workforce.

If you would like to take part in the consultation or encourage your employers to feedback please find information on how to do so here.

• Care Quality Commission: Consultation on assessments of quality 2010/2011

The Care Quality Commission will use many methods and tools to achieve its aim of 'making care better for people', including carrying out a programme of assessments of quality.

The CQC's assessments of quality will:
- complement the registration programme, which assesses and enforces essential standards of quality
- assess the quality of care over and above those essential standards and drive improvement

This consultation details how the CQC proposes to assess the quality of:
- Councils as commissioners
- PCTs as commissioners
- NHS trusts and PCTs as providers
- Adult social care organisations as providers

It also outlines their plans for how they will report findings and the special reviews they propose to carry out in 2010/11.

Take part in the CQC assessments of quality consultation here. Closing date is April 27th 2010.

• Department of Health: consultation on issues concerning the current charging arrangements for residential social care

The Department of Health began a 12 Week consultation on 29 January 2010 concerning the charging arrangements for residential social care.

Views are sought on proposed amendments to the residential charging arrangements suggested by a stakeholder group.

Take part in the DH consultation on issues concerning charging arrangements for residential social care here. Closing date is April 23rd, 2010.

events

Feedback from workshops:

At each of the workshops run by Skills for Care London we distribute evaluation forms to be completed by the participants. This information is used by Skills for Care London to evaluate how the workshops are run, the information that has been included, and the presentations that are delivered on the day; and to determine ways to improve on future workshops. An example of some feedback that was recently received for a workshop held in the North East region of London indicated that the participants were happy with the information provided with comments like 'useful and relevant workshop in an area where guidance not easily available' and 'lots of information to take in, but gives food for thought and how I am going to cascade the information down to my staff'.

• London E-learning in End of Life Care

The National Care Association are coordinating a regional launch of the e-learning tools for end of life care for London which is taking place at the Grand Connaught Rooms on March 25th, 2010.

E-learning in End of Life Care for All (e-ELCA) is a free on-line resource to
help train and educate health and social care staff delivering end of life care.

For more information please see the launch programme and for how to register for the event please see the launch flyer.

• Jobcentre Plus Awards 2010 - London Region

Jobcentre Plus would like to invite you to be part of their Awards 2010 celebration. The Jobcentre Plus 2010 Awards give you the chance to showcase the achievements of your business, your people, and your partners.

The event in London will take place on July 6th, 2010, with the venue to be announced at a later date.

The awards are open to all employers and there are five category options which you can enter on a region/country basis. Entries will be accepted between 1 and 28 March 2010.

For more information please see the Jobcentre Plus website.

To amend your contact details, be added to our distribution list, or to provide us with your feedback, please e-mail sfc.london@skillsforcare.org.uk