Skills for Care - Workforce development and planning
Skills for Care is the national strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England. It supports organisations across the social care sector with guidance on best practice, tools, resources and workforce intelligence.
Funding
Investing in workforce development helps retain staff and secure the right skills and knowledge to deliver high quality care and support. Adult social care employers can claim funding fir training from the Department of Health and Social Care’s Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS).
The scheme is open to all employers of services providing social care support to adults in England. The offer covers a broad range of adult social care qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules.
To claim funding, employers must be registered with the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set. This is a free online data collection service which helps care providers run their business and manage their staff training needs.
The data collected is vital to the Government, the Department of Health and Social Care, local authorities and the Care Quality Commission as it allows them to plan, fund and monitor the sector.
Support for leaders and managers
Dedicated support and information for registered managers includes an advice line, webinars and podcasts, WhatsApp and Facebook groups as well as locality and specialism-based networks.
Support for nurses
We provide a range of resources from guidance, webinars, and networking groups to support employers and nurses as well as newsletters to keep up to date with news and events from the sector.
Recruitment and retention
There is a range of evidence-based tools and resources to help each organisation attract and keep people with the right values.
Workforce development
Specialist learning and development for social care staff delivers the right skills and knowledge for high quality care. Comprehensive guidance covers induction and Care Certificate, apprenticeships and programmes for senior leaders and mangers. There are tools and materials across an A to Z of care topics and a directory of endorsed social care training providers.
Quality and inspections
Whether establishing a new service, seeking to improve quality or working for an Outstanding rating there is practical guidance to support all organisations to meet Care Quality Commission Standards.
