I Care Awards 2012

We are delighted to invite you to participate in the ‘I Care Awards 2012 ‘ which promotes excellence in the social care sector. The event will take place on December 5th 2012 in the Liverpool Marriot Hotel.

We are asking Social Care providers in the private, voluntary and independent sectors, whose staff support people in Liverpool, to submit nominations for a range of categories, which celebrate best practice in the workforce. Additionally, you can invite people who use your services to nominate a worker under the Service Users Choice category.

Nominations have to be returned to Mikaela Williams-Brown , 5 De Havilland Drive, Estuary Business Park, Speke, Liverpool L24 8RN or mikaela@lscpinfo.co.uk by 5p.m. on Wednesday 7th November 2012. Shortlisting will be completed by 20th November 2012.

The aim of these awards is to recognise and celebrate achievements of the workforce, whilst acknowledging the everyday activities workers undertake to improve the quality of life of many vulnerable individuals.

The categories for the 2012 awards are: 

1. Outstanding Care/Support Worker working in a Nursing/Care Home environment 
2. Outstanding Care/Support Worker working in the Community 
3. Outstanding Care/Support Worker working with People with Learning Disabilities/ Physical Disabilities/ Sensory Impairment 
4. Outstanding Care/Support Worker working with People with Mental Health Problems 
5. Outstanding “Newcomer” to social care 
6. Outstanding award for continued professional development 
7. Outstanding Award for ‘Dignity’ 
8. The Service Users Choice – Outstanding Employee selected by Service Users & Carers 

This is your opportunity to ensure that someone from your organisation is recognised for their outstanding work that they do as a winner of one of the awards.

Complimentary tickets will be given to each shortlisted nominee and further tickets can be purchased at a cost of £40.50 per ticket. Tables can be purchased on request, please contact Mikaela Williams-Brown for further details 0151-427-7044.

For more information please take a look at the documents below:

Rules of Entry

How to Enter

Category List

Nomination Details

Service User Nominations

End of Life Conference

Bookings now available for a regional event hosted by the National End of Life Care Programme entitled, ‘Quality Care at the End of Life’. The theme is ‘working together’ and our focus is achieving quality support for the person and their carers at the end of life and building sustainable high quality end of life care support. 

The day will include presentations of initiatives in the region concerned with strengthening social care at the end of life and their integration with healthcare.  The day hopes to attract delegates from all parts of social and health care and there will be opportunities for discussion and networking which we know are often the most valuable parts of these events.   

09:30 - Registration       

10:00 - Start

15:30 - Close

to register, visit www.eventprouk.com and click “Events Registration” you will then be asked to log on using the details:

Username: EP2208 
Password: END201112

Then you can follow the instructions to register for the event on 20th November 2012 at The Met Hotel, Leeds

Your delegate type will always be “delegate” unless you have been previously informed to register as an alternative. 

Please ensure you press CONFIRM at the end of the registration process, this will finalise your registration. Once this is done you will receive an email to the address you submitted. If you do not receive this within 24hrs, please contact Eventpro UK 

Please note: there is no charge for the day but a ‘no show’ penalty fee will be applied if you fails to attend without prior notification.  If you have information about a project or initiative that you would like to present or circulate, please contact Rosie on admin@eolc.nhs.uk. 

Skills for Care Dementia Funding

LSCP have been granted the Workforce Development Dementia Fund (WDDF) contract which offers enhanced payments for employers whose staff have completed dementia related qualifications.

The requirements for this funding are identical to the Workforce Development Fund (WDF) contract which LSCP is currently administering, for more information about WDF and meeting the eligibility criteria please refer to our previous blog post.

Once you are eligible to claim WDDF/WDF you must send evidence of your completed units to LSCP, the evidence we require for WDDF is the certificate of completion for the qualification which you are claiming for. This evidence may be sent either by email (admin@lscpinfo.co.uk) or by post (Liverpool Social Care Partnership, 5 De Havilland Drive, Estuary Business Park, Speke, Liverpool, L24 8RN). We will not accept FAX submissions for evidence.

For a list of units which are eligible to claim enhanced funding please refer to this list. For a list of payment amounts depending on the qualification type,please refer to this document.

As usual if you have any questions you may email us at admin@lscpinfo.co.uk or give us a call on 0151 427 7044.

How to complete a WDF Partnership Form

To register for Workforce Development Funding you will need to complete a ‘WDF Partnership Membership Form 2012/2013”. Firstly you will need to download a copy of the form, it is best to download this form directly from the Skills for Care website to ensure that you have the most up to date version of the form. You can download the form from this website:

http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/funding/workforce_development_fund/accessing_wdf.aspx 

At the time of writing this post the most up to date version is v1.1 and can be downloaded by clicking here.

Once the form has been downloaded you will need to open the .PDF file withAdobe Acrobat Reader. There are other .PDF reading software packages available, however if you wish to use electronic signatures it is advised that you use the Adobe software.

Once the document has been opened you will see something like this:

It is important that you read this document thoroughly before attempting to sign as there are a number of agreements that are being made by signing and submitting this document to join a Partnership. Once you have read through the document and you are happy to proceed you may begin entering your data as required.

The first piece of data in the top right corner of the document is the NMDS-SC ID Number, as shown here:

Your NMDS-SC ID is possibly the most important piece of information contained in this document. Skills for Care will need this identification number to ensure that you have adequately updated your National Minimum Data Set to reach the minimum 90% completion in order to obtain Workforce Development Funding. Failure to supply this number will result in your application for membership being denied.

Generally these numbers begin with a letter (usually F) followed by 5 or 6 numerical digits. If you have not yet obtained an NMDS-SC ID then you shouldvisit the NMDS website and register. If in doubt you may call the NMDS helpdesk on 0845 873 0129.

The rest of the information is fairly self explanatory, please note that the Name of our partnership is the Greater Merseyside Care Partnership.

You may also enter secondary address details which will be used as your preferred contact information. This may be helpful if you are registering an establishment but would still prefer all communication to go through a head office.

If you have multiple establishments which you would like to register for membership, there are additional pages provided (example below) which allow you to enter the basic information required to register these establishments (Name or Establishment, NMDS-SC ID and the address of the establishment. If you do not have multiple establishments you may ignore all but the first page.

Once you reach the bottom of the first page you will notice that there is a space for a signature, and when you hover over this space with your mouse it will say “Click here to Sign”, as shown below. 

Please note that at this point you may prefer to print off the document and sign it with ink by hand. This can then be sent via post to:

Liverpool Social Care Partnership,
C/O Crossroads Care
5 De Havilland Drive
Estuary Business Park
Speke,
L24 8RN 

Alternatively you could scan the document back on to your computer and email it to:
admin@lscpinfo.co.uk

OR you may fax your Partnership Form to 0151 427 7044. 

However, with this new version of the Partnership Form there is also the option to digitally sign the form with an encrypted code, to do this you will need to click on the signature portion of the form, the following window will appear:

If you have not done this process before you will need to click “A New Digital ID I want to create now”, then click Next.

You will be given a number of options about what type of Digital Signature you would like to create, we recommend you choose the PKCS#12 Digital ID File for maximum compatibility. Once selected, click Next.

Next you will need to enter all of your information.

The bottom three parts of this form (“Enable Unicode Support”, “Key Algorythm”, “Use digital ID for:”) do not need to be changed. Once this form is completed click Next.

You will now be asked where you would like to save your digital ID file. If you are unsure where to save this file you can leave the default location provided, however be sure to make a note of this location for future reference!

Be sure to choose a password you will remember and then click Finish. The “Sign Document” window will appear.

From this window you have the option of selecting one of the Digital ID’s that are registered to your computer (or creating a new one!). Enter your password and then press the “Sign” button when ready. You also have the option to Lock Document After Signing. This is advised in most cases but be sure that you have fully completed the document before selecting this option!

Once this is done the signature portion of the document will look something similar to my signature below:

You may close the document and attach it to an email to:

admin@lscpinfo.co.uk

Your application will be received and registered with Skills for Care, if there are any issues you will be contacted. For more information you can contact John on 0151 427 7044.

Good Practise Event 2012

We are now accepting bookings for our Good Practise Event 2012, you can download the booking form / flyer here.

Please return the booking form to john@lscpinfo.co.uk.

WDF 2012 Documentation

Liverpool Social Care Partnership is glad to announce it is administering the Workforce Development Fund for Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley, Cheshire East and Cheshire West & Chester under the Greater Merseyside Care Partnership.

Workforce Development Funding (WDF) is available to any employer whose staff has completed social care QCF or NVQ training which has been completed and verified after 1st January 2012 up until 1st March 2013.

Currently the funding is granted at £12.75 per credit for each QCF unit and £68 per NVQ unit. For more information about the units that are available for funding you down download a list here.

To claim Workforce Development Funding you must meet the requirements set out by Skills for Care / Department of Health. The first requirement is completion (to 90%) of your organisations National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC). For more information on NMDS-SC please refer to the Skills for Care website ( http://www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk/ ) If you need any further help or guidance you can contact me by emailing john@lscpinfo.co.uk or alternatively calling the help desk on 0845 873 0129.

You will also need to complete a Partnership Form and a BACS form to register with LSCP for the processing of funding claims.

For more detailed information please refer to the documentation available for download below:

Employers:
Employer Fact Sheet
Step by Step Guide for EmployersTraining Provider Fact Sheet 

LSCP Case Study
LSCP Claim Guide 

Other Information:
List of Acceptable Units for ClaimingExample of an NVQ Unit Summary SheetExample of a QCF Unit Summary Sheet

Partnership Form*
BACS Details*
*Once these documents have been completed you should return them to admin@lscpinfo.co.uk

If you have any questions to queries on the claiming process please contact LSCP on 0151 427 7044 or email admin@lscpinfo.co.uk.

Fully Funded Qualifications / Backfill ClaimsIt is also possible to claim for any costs that you as an employer have had as a result of sending your staff onto training, this could include staff replacement costs to cover any rota changes for when staff attend training. For more information please contact LSCP on 0151 427 7044 or email admin@lscpinfo.co.uk

Dementia Fund
 At LSCP we have also won the contract to administer the Workforce Development Dementia Fund which offers extra funding for any dementia units that are completed and claimed, currently we are still waiting for the contract for this funding so no details are available. If you would like to be added to our mailing list and updated when further news is available please email john@lscpinfo.co.uk.

Changes to CRB & ISA

From 1 September, organisations will have to follow the new identity guidelines when submitting CRB check applications.

On 28 May 2012, the CRB introduced new identity checking guidelines designed to make it more difficult for individuals to conceal previous criminal records by changing their identity.

These new guidelines have been running in parallel with the existing guidelines since 28 May to give organisations time to comply with the new guidelines and to introduce them into their identity verification procedures.

From 1 September, organisations will have to follow the new guidelines.

The set of scenarios developed to help organisations comply with the new guidelines has been expanded and now contains clear flow charts and more scenarios for each of the three routes as well as examples for checking non-UK applicants.

From 10 September, the Protection of Freedoms Act introduces a number of changes that will affect the CRB checking service

These changes include:

• a new definition of regulated activity
• the introduction of a new minimum age for CRB applicants
• a new right for applicants to ask for a review of information released by the police

Full details of these changes can be found in the CRB and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 section on the CEB website.

ISA Independent Safeguarding Authority

Some of the changes coming into effect on 10 September will also affect the work of the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

Disclosure and barring

As part of the coalition agreement, the government committed to reviewing and reforming the vetting and barring scheme and criminal records regime, scaling them back to common sense levels.

This will ensure there is a continued service to help safeguard vulnerable groups including children from those people who work or volunteer with them who pose a risk of harm, while operating in a way that reduces the burden on employers and

Key changes to disclosure and barring

The key changes to the disclosure and barring scheme include:

• abolishing registration and monitoring requirements
• redefining the scope of ‘regulated activities’ - those are the activities involving close work with vulnerable groups, including children, which a barred person must not do
• abolishing ‘controlled activities’

But a barring function will be maintained.

The provisions also mean that the services of the Criminal Records Bureau and Independent Safeguarding Authority will be merged and a single, new non-departmental public body created.

The new organisation will be called the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The planned operational date for the DBS is December 2012.

So, at a glance…

Major Changes in September 2012

• New definition of regulated activity.
• Repeal of controlled activity.
• Repeal of registration and continuous monitoring.
• Repeal of additional information.
• Minimum age (16) at which someone can apply for a CRB check.
• More rigorous ‘relevancy’ test for when police release information held locally on an enhanced CRB check.

Not Changing:

• You must make appropriate referrals to the ISA
• You must not engage in regulated activity someone whom you know has been barred by the ISA.
• Everybody within the pre-September definition of regulated activity will remain eligible for enhanced CRB checked, whether or not they fall within the post-September definition of regulated activity.

We have asked ISA to undertake some workshops for us this autumn/winter and we are just awaiting some dates.

The following documents may be downloaded for further information:

Disclosure Barring Presentation

External ID Validation

CRB Changes FAQ

CRB Changes Guidance

ID Check Scenarios

Changes Leaflet

WDF / NMDS 2012

If you have applied, or wish to apply for Workforce Development Funding (WDF), please read the following information regarding eligibility.

This year, Skills for Care have tightened the requirements for funding, and are clamping down on paperwork. Any paperwork that does not meet the specified standard will be rejected, no funding will be awarded.

NMDS
For more information please visit http://www.nmds-sc-online.org.uk/

National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) completion is a requirement for WDF.

If you completed NMDS during last year’s TSI funding (2010/11):

If you have completed your NMDS to receive funding for last year’s TSI funding (2010/11) and your NMDS completion was recognised between 1-4-10 and 31-3-11 then your ‘COMPLETE’ NMDS status will remain valid until 30-9-11. You may submit claims up to this date. Claims must be completed and submitted to Skills for Care before this date. Because of the amount of administration required, any submissions based on a 2010/11 NMDS COMPLETE will need to be submitted to Liverpool Social Care Partnership before 17:00PM 1-9-11. Any claims submitted after this date will not be accepted. Please continue to read the rest of this email as there are other requirements for consideration.

If you have completed your NMDS to receive funding for last year’s TSI funding (2010/11) and your NMDS completion was recognised after 1-4-11 then your ‘COMPLETE’ NMDS status will remain valid for the entire funding year (11/12). Please continue to read the rest of this email as there are other requirements for consideration.

If you have not yet completed your NMDS and have received confirmation of its completion, you must do so before you can claim for any funding.

What is required for NMDS completion to claim for WDF Funding 2011/12:

An establishment must fully complete and update an NMDS organisational record. The establishment must fully complete individual worker records for a minimum of 90% of its total workforce (this includes staff who are not care-providing).

An NMDS-SC number (also known as F-Number) is required for a claim to be successful. If you do not know your NMDS-SC number, you can ring the NMDS-SC Helpline on 0845 873 0129.

Partnership Forms

A 2011/12 Partnership form is required to claim for WDF, older Partnership Forms will not be accepted. If any information is missing or incorrect on a Partnership form, you claim will not be accepted. Electronically completed Partnership Forms are preferred, if any information is illegible then your claim may be delayed, which may ultimately result in your claim not being processed.

The address your NMDS-SC Number is registered to must correspond to the address listed on your Partnership Form. You can only provide one NMDS-SC Number per partnership form, if your organisation has multiple establishments, then multiple Partnership Forms must be completed. We are unable to accept one Partnership Form for head office to cover multiple establishments, each with its own NMDS-SC number which corresponds to the correct address.

You can send in your claims to your Lead Partner (Liverpool Social Care Partnership) using the details at the bottom of this email. Submissions can be sent at any time leading up to the closing date, please note that towards the end of the funding year, LSCP and Skills for Care receive extreme amounts of ‘last minute’ claims, we will try to process all claims, however due to the increased load there is a likelihood that your claim may not be processed. It is your responsibility to ensure that claims are submitted in a timely manner to prevent claims being rejected.

Towards the end of the contract we tend to receive lots of claims, sometimes more than we can fulfil. In these circumstances we use a computer program to calculate the fair allocation of units. Your organisations ability to submit claims in a timely manner, size of organisation, previous claims (including previous funding years) and document quality will be taken into consideration.

More Information

We will continue to provide information regarding Workforce Development fund as it is received. If you have any questions regarding the information above, you can contact us on the number below. We have not yet published information on how to complete a claim and what evidence is required, please do not contact us regarding such information.

Cinema / Clubs for Service Users & Support Staff

A.C.E. (ACTIVE COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE) is an award-winning community-based support agency for adults with learning disabilities

Set up by 2 Support Workers who were frustrated by the lack of opportunities available for people with learning disabilities and the high cost of support, we offer the best value for money support service for a fully-structured programme of  leisure, social and work activities . 

Our leisure programme includes cycling on a range of specially-adapted bicycles, visits to places of interest and a walking/rambling club. 

Social activities include the A.C.E. Movie Monday Club, Fridays at Woolton Cinema and 4 discos each week, set-up and run by A.C.E. which are attended by hundreds of people from across the region.

Our assisted work placements, voluntary and paid, include helping to run the A.C.E. Movie Club, Cinema and  4 discos each week.  We also have a paid gardening & landscaping round, leaflet posting round and an allotment plot with a massive walk-in polytunnel.  Some of our service users  are involved in a drama group and we also occasionally assist local animal charities.

We offer employment and training to all our support agency clients and encourage them to develop friendships, their social status, enhance feelings of self-worth, become healthier in both mind and body and to give them the opportunity  to help in the community. Our  clients   are supported in small groups of 1 Support Worker to 3 clients. Each group will consist of clients according to age group, interests and preferences and we encourage people to develop friendships and to work as a team.

Clients are collected from their residence by  a member of our highly experienced, hand-picked  staff in one of our A.C.E. Vehicles and are supported throughout the day before being driven home again. We charge only £10 per hour fully inclusive for our service, making us the best value for money  day service  there is.  We  do  not  charge  for  mileage, equipment or staff expenses. We also own a holiday home and provide respite/carer breaks or family breaks for our clients.

All  our  staff  are  Enhanced  C.R.B / ISA / P.O.V.A. Approved and are bound by a full range of A.C.E. policies and procedures. Staff are trained Cycle Leaders, First Aiders and also hold a Food Hygiene Certificate.  All venues are wheelchair accessible and fully risk assessed and we hold Public & Employee Liability Insurance.

The service provided by A.C.E. has not only won a recent award but is described as a groundbreaking  agency  providing a best value, fully-structured week of community-based activities.  

Monday Mornings from 11.00am : Movie  Mondays @ May Duncan’s, Heyworth St., Everton Brow :   Come in, chill out, get a cooked breakfast and watch a film on the big screen.  There is  also a Wii Console, pool table & dartboard.   £1 each entrance fee
Monday Afternoons 1.30pm – 3.00pm : Cycling at Walton Hall Park, Liverpool

Cycling session on a range of bikes adapted for people with disabilities.  Free - book ahead
Monday Evenings from 6.00pm - 9.00pm : Envi Nightclub, Fleet St, off Concert Sq, L’pool City Centre :  Top Nightclub with club music & lighting, live music, food and bar.  Entrance fee £2 – carers are free
Tuesdays from 11.00am - 3.00pm : The Lime Kiln, Concert Sq, Liverpool City Centre

Disco, quiz, bar –Very popular and established event.  Only £2 per person entrance fee
 Thursdays 11.30am – 3.00pm : St Philip & St David’s Hall, Molyneux Rd, Off Sheil Rd, Kensington, L7  :  Disco, bingo, quiz , hot meals , refreshments. Very popular event, only £1 per person entrance fee
 Thursday Evenings from 6.00pm - 9.00pm : Beat Bar, Victoria Rd, Widnes Town Centre  :  Disco, bingo, quiz, bar.  Popular event, only £1 per person entrance fee
 Fridays from 11.00am : A.C.E. @ The Movies!  Woolton Cinema, Liverpool

 Showing a top new film every week in a warm, safe environment.  Snacks, refreshments.
 £3 entrance fee (carers pay only £1)

 We also run a Friday walking club - please call for details

For further details about our support agency and open events, contact

Ste Percival 07904 403338 or Steve Reed 07931 270656 / Office 0151 290 1441

E-Mail: activecommunityenterprise@blueyonder.co.uk 
Look for ‘Active Community Enterprise‘ on Facebook
Full details about A.C.E. and photos can be found on our website:www.activecommunityenterprise.com

Changes to our Training Booking Terms & Conditions

We have recently updated our booking agreements for all our training, the new Terms and Conditions are shown below.

Terms & Conditions

Our aim is to make it as easy as possible to access the learning and development activities delivered and coordinated by the Liverpool Social Care Partnership (LSCP). By making a booking you agree to the following Terms and Conditions:

1. Bookings and any changes to bookings must be made by E-mail

2. Invoices must be paid promptly; we ask that Invoices are paid within 30 days

3. Should circumstances mean that you need to replace a delegate please advise us by e-mail

4. If an individual is unable to attend a session and you are unable to replace them with someone else the following charges will apply:

• More than a week prior to course start date - No charge

• 2 to 6 Days Prior to the course start date - 50% of total course fee

• Less than two days prior to course - Full fee payable

5. If a delegate does not attend a course, and we have not been previously informed by e-mail, the employer of that individual will be charged £50 per place or the full course fee, whichever is the greater.

6. If you arrive late for a course or are absent from a significant part of any session, we reserve the right to refuse admittance

7. On rare occasions, for unforeseen circumstances the LSCP may find it necessary to cancel a course. In such circumstances you will be given as much notice as possible and the offer of a free transfer to another date

8. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that all delegates meet the pre-requisite training, experience, qualifications or certification required for attendance of the programme for which they have applied. In all cases pre-requisites will be clearly stated in the pre-course information.

Guidelines to candidates / line managers / employers:

In the case of training sessions which involve physical activity it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that candidates are free from any condition which will affect their capability or put them at risk by carrying out the tasks designated by the trainer.

We welcome delegates with disabilities, but it remains their employer’s responsibility to ensure that they are appropriately supported and that the LSCP are advised of any specific needs.

Liverpool Social Care Partnership (LSCP) Community Interest Company Reg. No. 721998

Aiming High - Crossroads

Aiming High supports families who have children with disabilities. It enables families to lead a normal life and children and young people with disabilities will feel included in their local and wider communities. Aiming high provides free flexible family support for short breaks in suitable environments. Through crossroads service families can access personalised flexible family support. Which will take into account your families needs and diversity. For more information visit www.liverpoolcrossroads.co.uk or call Jackie Coles on 0845 601 1990

Changes to Common Induction Standards

Following consultation with the sector, Skills for Care has refreshed the Common Induction Standards to ensure they are fit for purpose and reflect current policy and practice. The standards are for people entering social care, and those changing roles or employers within social care.

The refreshed Common Induction Standards replace the Common Induction Standards 2005.

The effective implementation of the Common Induction Standards is a significant step towards the delivery of high quality care and support. The Care Quality Commission's Essential Standards of Quality and Safety highlight the importance and value of strong and comprehensive induction and they will need to be assured that all new staff have undergone a thorough induction process.

They are designed to be met within a 12 week period to enable care workers to demonstrate providing high quality care and support. It provides recognition for their work, and prepares them for entry onto future training and qualifications.

---

the standards

The standards now map across to the mandatory units of the new Health and Social Care Diploma to ensure there is consistency of approach for the workforce. There are now eight standards, however they will not take any longer to complete and the core elements are still retained.

Standard 1 Role of the health and social care worker

Standard 2 Personal development

Standard 3 Communicate effectively

Standard 4 Equality and Inclusion

Standard 5 Principles for implementing duty of care

Standard 6 Principles of safeguarding in health and social care

Standard 7 Person-centred support

Standard 8 Health and safety in an adult social care setting

Each standard contains a number of areas of knowledge that care workers need to know about before they can work unsupervised. Managers have a duty to ensure new staff know enough to meet the required outcomes in each knowledge area.

If carried out in depth, they can provide excellent evidence of underpinning knowledge towards the diploma at level 2 or level 3. 

There will be a transition period of 12 months to move from the old standards to the new, before the old standards are removed.

Please click through to the Skills for Care website for more information and to see the available downloads.