NHS Education for Scotland
A skilled and sustainable workforce for a healthier Scotland
NHS Education for Scotland
A skilled and sustainable workforce for a healthier Scotland
Background
About 2,250 workers join the social care workforce every year, a proportion of whom will change role.
Social care providers in the public, private and third sector say that staff often move for better pay and conditions.
Scottish Care conducted a survey in Inverclyde which showed that 70% of workers have considered leaving their job in the last twelve months because of pay and conditions. Workers may move from one type of service to another (for example, from home care to care homes) or from one sector to another (for example, from the private to the public sector).
The impact
One impact of this is that induction processes – the process of training that a worker goes through when they join an organisation – are duplicated; workers must repeat the same or similar training each time they move, and providers use valuable resources providing training that may not be needed.
The solution
The Joint Social Services Task Force (JSST), with representation from across the social care sector, identified this as a problem requiring to be addressed at a national level. With funding from Scottish Government, NES and the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) are working in partnership to develop a National Induction Framework (NIF) for adult social care in Scotland.
During 2024, the two organisations will work with the social care sector to identify the core learning outcomes and material that new workers entering social care need. In the Spring of 2025, NES and SSSC will work with providers to test out the material and undertake further design and development.
Progress
Work is already underway, and ten stakeholder engagement sessions have taken place with the public, private and third sectors.
These events have already highlighted the importance of setting national standards, aligning induction with the current National Occupational Standards and the Scottish Vocational Qualifications Framework. Stakeholders have also focussed on the importance of quality in the development of a national induction.
From our engagement, we know there are challenges for providers when onboarding a new worker and accepting evidence of prior learning from induction.
Providers ultimately have the legal responsibility to ensure their staff have the right knowledge, skills and training. Fundamentally, the Care Inspectorate and the insurance companies require evidence of this.
We are therefore working with these and other agencies to ensure that providers concerns are addressed.
What’s next?
We are currently working on the development of the platform to host the National Induction Framework. We are also working with the social care sector to identify the key areas that will be part of the National Induction.
We will provide regular updates on the progress of the work here. If you have any questions, you can contact john.eden@nhs.net.
Last updated: Thursday, October 10, 2024