The Talent for Care: A National Strategic Framework to Develop the Healthcare Support Workforce

Source: Health Education England (HEE) and the Talent for Care programme partnership

Link to main document (supporting information available on a section of the HEE website)

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: October 2014

Summary of driver:

Talent for Care is part of Health Education England’s Framework 15, a national guide to action in all aspects of workforce planning, education and training across health and care, and focuses on the support workforce (those in Agenda for Change roles banded 1-4 and their equivalents).

The support workforce makes up 40% of the total NHS workforce and provide around 60% of patient care, yet this group receives less than 5% of the national training budget.

Health Education England is working with various national, regional and local partners to change this picture, to increase investment in the support workforce and to spread good practice and innovation.

Key features of driver:

Talent for Care focuses on ten strategic intentions under the three primary themes of Get In, Get On and Go Further:

Get In:

• Broaden the ways into training and employment in the NHS, especially to attract more young people and improve diversity within the workforce
• Increase the chances for people to try new experiences of working in the NHS
• Engage more staff to act as NHS Ambassadors who can promote NHS careers to schools, colleges and local communities

Get On:

• Challenge and support every NHS employer and contractor to implement a development programme for all support staff that is over and above annual appraisals and mandatory training
• All new Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers to achieve the new Care Certificate and, for those that want it, a universally recognised Higher Care Certificate (as of October 2015, work on the Higher Care Certificate is on hold while the Care Certificate is embedded)
• Double the number of HEE funded or supported apprenticeships by March 2016 and establish an NHS Apprenticeship offer

Go Further:

• Simplify career progression with new roles and pathways to promotion, including more part-time higher education as a route into nursing and other registered professions
• Agree with employers and education providers a universal acceptance of prior learning, vocational training and qualifications
• Support talent development that identifies and nurtures people with the potential to go further, especially for those wanting to move into professional and registered roles

Making it happen

• The national Talent for Care programme partnership will support this framework with a national campaign. They will publish information, support pilot projects and spread good practice to continue building the engagement and commitment of all healthcare communities

Primary audience: LETBs, Education and Training departments, Trade Unions

Impact on library policy/practice:

Library workforce:

Whilst the strategy is mainly aimed at the support workforce providing care, there may be implications for the library workforce, with more emphasis on the development and training of para-professional staff, development of career pathways, and more recognition of Certification as a way into professional roles.

There may be a need to provide increased opportunities for work experience or placements within library services.

Library services:

There may be new roles and ways of working within health services that require changes to our membership criteria, such as more apprentices, placements or work experience candidates. There may also be an increase in support workers doing part-time higher education courses as a route into registered professions, and these may require more support for information literacy skills.

Library resources:

There may be a need to supply more knowledge resources at a suitable level for healthcare support workers, especially as they undertake more development and training. Once the Higher Care Certificate is launched, libraries may want to look at resources to support it.

Whilst healthcare support workers are not included as a named group in the ‘Increase in use’ metric of K4H, this is a group that is traditionally under-represented in library usage and there is an opportunity to promote libraries as ideally placed to help support them. This may be through other means than just books, and could include making our spaces available for informal meetings, provision of WiFi, provision of IT training facilities, or signposting to help and support. The challenge may be to translate this into metrics we can use to show our impact.

Date last updated: October 2015

Due for review: October 2016

Group member responsible: JC

Raising the Bar. Shape of Caring:

Title of driver: Raising the Bar. Shape of Caring: A Review of the Future Education and Training of Registered Nurses and Care Assistants

Source:  Link to main document:

Publication format:  PDF

Date of publication: March 2015

Summary of driver:

A review chaired by Lord Willis on the current education and training for care staff and registered nurses which recognises the importance of providing the correct education and training for registered nurses and care assistants.

The review states that the health system cannot continue in its present state. Registered nurses and care assistants are the largest workforce group and need to be part of the radical solution in which healthcare changes from an illness-based, provider-led system to a patient-led, preventative model.

Registered nurses and care assistants will play a more enhanced role in the community and helping patients with both preventative care and self-care and will need the skills to deliver this change in working practice.

The recommendations in the review have been based on the need to celebrate and promote existing good practice and to generate a research culture. The majority of the recommendations are aimed at HEE.

This review references HEE’s National Strategic framework 15, HEE Talent for Care Strategy, HEE Research and Innovation Strategy and other HEE documentation as well as the NHS England ‘Five Year Forward View’.

Key features of driver:

The following eight themes are discussed:

• Valuing the care assistant role
• Widening access for care assistants who wish to enter nursing
• Developing a flexible model
• Assuring a high-quality learning environment for registered nurses
• Assuring high-quality, on-going learning for registered nurses
• Assuring sustainable research and innovation
• Assuring high quality funding and commissioning

Each theme has a set of recommendations and examples of good practice in relation to the theme.

Primary audience: HEE, NMC, LETBs, NHS England, Higher Education Institutes, NHS Trusts, NHS staff.

Impact on library policy/practice:

This driver links to library policy and practice by offering opportunities to promote information skills training to the staff groups involved. This would support staff in maintaining the portfolio skills passport and the Care Certificate.

There are opportunities to link into the lifelong learning and information literacy aspects of the report and promote the services that we already deliver. Using the technology available, we could consider delivering some services such as training in a different way to help those users in the community.

Other ways that this driver impacts on library policy and practice include:

• Critical appraisal training
• Journal clubs
• ‘Training the trainer’ events- to help those staff who are teaching patients how to use technology to get the best evidence available, in order to allow them to self-care
• Sessions on new technologies and how to use them- e.g. apps. E-learning platforms/remote access issues
• RSS/Journal ToC’s etc. for the latest research to provide better patient care
• Opportunity to strengthen links with Research and Development department

Specific quotes that can be mapped back to LKS.

Page 26, on information literacy  ‘nurses and care assistants must receive appropriate training to ensure that they and their patients can access the best evidence and information available, in order to underpin their practice through the use of up-to-date prescribing practice, technology and treatment interventions, enabling excellent self-care and professional care’.

Page 57, when talking about a flexible workforce the report mentions ‘broad research awareness and the ability to engage in critical inquiry and adopt ‘curiosity’

Page 61, on education programmes and employers are asked to ‘encourage employers to support care assistants and registered nurses to remain within their employment by providing them with opportunities to advance their careers and to engage in life-long learning’.

Date last updated: July 2015

Due for review:  July 2016

Group member responsible: LK

 

Cavendish Review

Title of driver: The Cavendish review: an independent review into healthcare assistants and support workers in the NHS and social care settings

Source: Department of Health

Link to main document

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: July 2013

Summary of driver:

This independent review makes a number of recommendations on how the training and support of both healthcare assistants who work in hospitals, and social care support workers who are employed in care homes and people’s own homes, can be improved to ensure they provide care to the highest standard.

The review proposes that all healthcare assistants and social care support workers should undergo the same basic training, and get a ‘certificate of fundamental care’ before they can care for people unsupervised.

The review was carried out in the wake of the Francis Inquiry into Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust.

Key features of driver: 

The review makes 18 recommendations for under the headings ‘Recruitment, Training and Education’, ‘Making Caring a Career’, ‘Leadership, Supervision and Support’ and ‘Time To Care’

Primary audience: NHS Trusts and Social Care employers, Health Education England

Impact on library policy/practice:

Libraries may need to look at providing more resources to support HCAs undertaking the proposed certificate of fundamental care. There may also be an increased use of e-learning and libraries may need to look at e-learning facilities, and how learners are supported.

Libraries could provide information skills training aimed specifically at HCAs, such as is being done at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust with a good takeup.

Libraries may be involved in induction processes, recruitment fairs and the like.

Date last updated: March 2014

Due for review: March 2015

Group member responsible: JC

A mandate from the Government to Health Education England

Title of driver: Delivering high quality, effective, compassionate care: developing the right people with the right skills and the right values: a mandate from the Government to Health Education England: April 2013 to March 2015

Source: Department of Health

Link to main document

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: May 2013

Summary of driver:

Details of the strategic objectives of the Government in the areas of workforce planning, health education, training and development for which Health Education England and the LETBs have responsibility.

It sets out the need for Health Education England to work with a wide range of partners involved to ensure they effectively support the aim of having the right numbers of staff, with the right skills and values, to deliver high quality healthcare and public health.

Key features of driver:

Annex A (p.34) has a number of short-term deliverables for Health Education England to meet, under the following headings:

• Support for service priorities
• NHS values and behaviours
• Excellent education
• Competent and capable staff
• Flexible workforce receptive to research and innovation
• Widening participation
• Working in partnership – patient voice and local accountability
• Value for money, transparency and fairness

Primary audience: Health Education England and LETBs (Local Education and Training Boards)

Impact on library policy/practice:

May have implications for the numbers of trainees in different areas, such as emergency medicine, health visiting, dementia care, undergraduate nursing and HCAs.

There are to be minimum training standards for HCAs.

The deliverables could have implications for library stock (for example, more books aimed at HCAs), and the level of support required by different user groups such as HCAs that have not traditionally been major library users.

Date last updated: March 2014

Due for review: March 2015

Group member responsible: JC