Skills for Care is an employer led organisation and the expert body for advising on training standards and development needs of over one million social care staff in England.
The organisation works with employers and training providers to establish necessary standards and qualifications that equip social care workers with the skills needed to deliver improved standards of care.
Skills for Care West Midlands is one of nine regional offices in England. Its team members are:
Sue Johnson, Regional Development Officer, with responsibility for implementing the Skills for Care National Workforce Development Strategy. This includes responsibility for standards and qualifications. Email: sue.johnson@skillsforcare.org.uk .
Mary Keating, lead for Regional Adult Social Work Development. Priorities for this year include supporting implementation of the recommendations of the Social Work Taskforce, kicking off with support to employers to undertake the “Health Check”.
Other priorities include continuing to support the strong employer and university stakeholder networks, working with employers to identify and disseminate best practice in relation to the Newly Qualified Social Worker Scheme (NQSW), and continuing development of first line social work managers. Email: mary.keating@skillsforcare.org.uk .
Olivia Redgrave, Regional Development Officer. Olivia co-ordinates work supporting recruitment and retention of social care workers. This includes initiatives to improve the image and status of the profession, and promoting it as a career of choice. Specific projects include apprenticeships, the accolades award scheme, sector routeway for social care, care ambassadors, the recruitment initiative Care First Careers and the annual social care recruitment campaign. Email:olivia.redgrave@skillsforcare.org.uk .
Stuart Baird, Regional Development Officer, responsible for regional workforce planning. This includes coordination of the National Minimum Dataset for Social Care (NMDS-SC) in the region which collects key sector intelligence across statutory, private, voluntary and independent providers. Stuart also oversees the West Midlands Specialist Care Skills Brokerage Programme which provides a single point of access for all relevant learning and development funding for the adult social care sector. Email: stuart.baird@skillsforcare.org.uk
Ruth Beard, Regional Coordinator with responsibility for Specialist Care Skills Brokerage and Training Strategy Implementation (TSI) funding. Specialist Care Skills Brokerage advisers support social care organisations in areas of business development, sustainability and training.
TSI funding is from the Department of Health and supports individuals working in adult social care. The funding is available for adult NVQs in care training, Common Induction Standards (CIS), Manager Induction Standards and the Learning Disability Qualification (LDQ), and other qualifications relevant to the adult social care sector. (Please note the Manager Induction is not yet mandatory) Email: ruth.beard@skillsforcare.org.uk
Jan Burns, Regional Development Manager. Jan’s principal role is the development and implementation of a regional business plan, which blends delivery of the national work plan for Skills for Care (via a contract with the DH) with the interests and priorities of stakeholders in the West Midlands region. This entails building effective collaborative relationships with key strategic players in health and social care; maintaining contact with skills, funding and development bodies; retaining an overview of the regional economy, the demographics and labour market trends, and their effects on the social care sector. Email: jan.burns@skillsforcare.org.uk
Liz Heaven, Senior Regional Development Officer, has substantial experience in social work, learning and development. In addition to managing other team members and supporting the business operations of the organisation, she is also involved in a wide variety of strategic forums and projects supporting the delivery of transformed services.
Email: liz.heaven@skillsforcare.org.uk
Helen Wilcox is the Chair of Skills for Care West Midlands Regional Committee. She describes herself as privileged and excited to be in the position at such a crucial time in the evolution of social care. She aims to build on her long and varied experiences of working with Skills for Care, her role as an employer, and as a social care employer representative. Helen believes the most effective way of driving up standards of care is by valuing people who work in the sector, securing excellent learning and development opportunities for them, and inspiring leaders and managers.
Skills for Care Regional Office
The West Midlands regional office team, lead by Liz James, provides a wide variety of support to the Regional Development Officers. They monitor contracts and budgets for the various work streams, and deal with general client enquiries on matters as diverse as funding, meeting details, apprenticeships and publications.
The team also co-ordinates the Skills for Care West Midlands events and provides an exhibition stand to disseminate information about the organisation’s work at sub-regional events. It also maintains and updates information on the West Midlands regional website to make sure important changes are relayed to stakeholders.
For general enquiries contact Liz James, Office Manager, email: liz.beard@skillsforcare.org.uk, telephone: 0121 250 3803.
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