Preventing Falls: a booklet for care at home staff

The Care Inspectorate have worked with NHS Education for Scotland to develop a pocket-sized booklet for care at home staff.

This highlights the steps that staff can take to help the people that they care for.  

These include:

 - asking the person about falls

 - knowing what can help the person to stay well

 - supporting the person to keep their home environment safe.

Download a copy of the booklet here

They have a small number of copies available.  If you would like a copy of this booklet please contact their National Enquiry Line on 0845 600 9527 

SPRING NEWS

Welcome

Lots of things have been happening over the past few months so we thought that a regular newsletter may be the way to help you keep up to date.

If you would like to contribute to the next newsletter please get in touch.

The Scores Are In.

We are happy to announce that our first inspection report has just gone public.  Thank you to all who contributed to its success.  We scored 5's across the board and are working hard to achieve the maximum of 6's at our next inspection.  You can find a copy of our latest report here.  Inspection Report

Hard Work Pays Off

Over the past 2 years we have been working hard towards our Investors In People Award.  I am delighted to say that we were awarded our IIP certification in April of this year.  There is no resting our laurels though, we will continue to invest in our staff and customers to create an even better service. 

We Are Listening

If you ever wanted to get more involved in Social Care Alba then now is your chance.  This year more than ever, we have a huge range of topics for discussion and review.  These include reviews of our:

• Meeting structure
  
• Staff appraisal process
• Staff supervision process
• Staff training
• Staff induction
• Audits
• Service users reviews
• I.T and Admin systems
• Staff handbook
• Service users handbook
• Website and Social media

If you would like to get involved in any of these reviews or suggest others we should look at then please get in touch.

Get To Know The Team

We have continued to bring people with different backgrounds into the team.  Did you know our staff include those with qualifications in:

•     Nursing
•     Social Work
•     Occupational Therapy
•     Physiotherapy
•     Pharmacology
•     Human Resources
•     Law
•     Care

  Health Working Lives 2013

Yes 2013 brings with it more Healthy Working Lives events.  Over the course of the coming months Njoki and the office team will be running campaigns aimed at improving our our lives.  If you want to get more involved, then Njoki would love to hear from you.  For everyone else, what this space.

Training For All

For 2013 we have expanded our training programme.  After consulting service users, families and staff we have added group training sessions to this years programme.  These include:

• Introduction to Social Care
• Stroke
• Dementia Awareness
• Moving and Handling
• Challenging Behaviour
• Medication
• Person Centred Support
• Catheter Care
• Health and Safety
• Personalisation
• Diabetes
• Palliative Care

In addition to these we have a range of e-learning courses available through our website.  Our courses are open to staff, service users or their families and are run in Edinburgh every month.  If you would like to attend a training course or suggest a course for us to deliver then please contact our office.

There Is Even More Coming

Click Here

There is even more on the way.  To keep up to date with what is happening visit our Blog or Website regularly.  Alternatively get in touch to let us know what needs passed on.

Many thanks

Stephen

Scotland's Welfare System

News & Information

A welfare system for Scotland

An expert group which will advise on how a fairer welfare system can be introduced in an independent Scotland has been unveiled by Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon - a welfare system which protects the vulnerable and supports Scottish households.

The Expert Working Group on Welfare will look at benefit payments in Scotland, consider changes to the current system in an independent Scotland, and make initial recommendations for how a welfare system can reflect Scottish values.

In December, the UK Government introduced a Bill which will slash vital support for families and low earners in Scotland by around £210 million.  This is on top of the £2.5 billion in reductions for Scottish households already set out by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The group, which includes experts in public sector delivery, social policy, an accountant and an economist, will be tasked with providing assurance on the Scottish Government’s assessment of the cost of the benefit system at the point of independence, as well as its plans for delivering welfare payments in an independent Scotland.

The group will also offer views on which aspects of the UK Government’s current reforms to working-age benefits should be an immediate priority for change in an independent Scotland to ensure the welfare system protects the most vulnerable members of Scottish society and supports those who can work with a route into sustained employment.

Ms Sturgeon said:

“The only way to guarantee social justice in Scotland is to have control of the powers needed to deliver it.“When UK spending cuts are reducing the welfare benefits of some of the most vulnerable members in our communities, with a further £210 million set to be taken from the pockets of individuals, families and communities, leaving welfare to Westminster is more worrying than ever."

“Where the Scottish Government has responsibility at the moment, we are investing to mitigate the impact of UK cuts to communities.  We are providing, with our partners in local government, £40 million in 2013/14 to ensure that over 560,000 people in Scotland are protected from the UK Government’s 10 per cent cut to Council Tax Benefit funding."

“We will provide an extra £9.2m for the Scottish Welfare Fund which means an additional 5,600 Community Care Grants, and over 100,000 Crisis Grants for those groups who need help most."

The Welfare Uprating Bill was introduced to the Westminster Parliament on 20 December, and will limit the uprating of various benefit payments to 1 per cent, rather than an inflation-linked rise.

The Department for Work and Pensions announced on 21 December that the Benefit Cap, which places an absolute ceiling on benefit payments, will not be implemented nationally from April 2013 as planned.

The members of the group:

·        Darra Singh OBE is currently a director within Ernst & Young’s Government and Public Sector team, and a former Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

·        Martyn Evans is Chief Executive of the Carnegie Trust and a former Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Scotland.

·        Douglas Griffin is former Director of Finance, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.

·        Professor Mike Brewer is currently a Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Professor of Economics at the University of Essex.

Article taken from The Scottish Government website – 9^th January 2013

Dementia Engagement & Empowerment Project (DEEP)

Some time ago we contributed to a national project on Engagement and Empowerment.  The report on the Dementia Engagement & Empowerment Project (DEEP) was published on the 24 October. This is available on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) website. The report describes the findings from the first UK wide survey of groups actively involving or led by people with dementia that have been influencing services and policies affecting the lives of people with dementia. The report (and a Solutions summary) can be downloaded for free:Click Here For The Report

DEEP has also produced a seven minute film (a 20 minute version is also available) showing people with dementia from across the UK talking about their involvement in activities and groups that are influencing services and policies. The films were made at two national events held in 2012 that were part of the project. As well as the films there is an Appendix to the main report which includes a literature review, more detailed information containing the responses from the survey, and transcripts of interviews with groups of people with dementia. These can be seen or downloaded for free:Click Here For DEEP

As part of the new Dementia Without Walls programme, JRF have decided to provide additional and continuing support to DEEP over the next three years. The next phase of DEEP will provide support to existing and new groups of people with dementia. The project will be developed in collaboration with people with dementia, and will include opportunities for sharing resources and ideas, building the capacity of groups and setting up networking opportunities between groups. The project is led by Innovations in Dementia in partnership with the Mental Health Foundation, and supported by the Alzheimer’s Society.

If you would like more information about DEEP please contact Rachael Litherland, email Rachael@myid.org.uk or telephone  01392 420076.

Stephen

Quarterly Update

The seasons pass so quickly that we often forget to stop to appreciate what has happened in our lives.  The same can be said for work.

In our latest quarterly update I hope to give you a flavour of what we have been doing recently.

WELCOME TO THE TEAM.

We are proud to have such a diversity of experience and skills within our team.  Over recent months we have added staff with qualifications in:

• Social Work
• Training
• Nursing
• Physiotherapy
• Pharmacology

HEALTHY WORKING LIVES

The teams hard work over the previous year was rewarded recently.  Three of the admin team attended a presentation evening where we received our Healthy Working Lives Bronze Award.  Others also presented with their awards included NHS Lanarkshire and Lanarkshire Fire and Rescue.

No sooner was the ceremony over than the pressure was on to achieve our silver award.  Keep an eye out for new announcements and initiatives soon.

SCSWIS

Every year Care at Home providers receive an inspection from the regulator.  Thank you to everyone who helped contribute to our self assessment.  Since then Staff, Service Users and their representatives have completed questionnaires on the service.  We are looking forward to our first inspection and will let you know the outcome later in the year.

RAISING AWARENESS

We have always tried very hard to support people to have their voice heard.  This includes linking with:

• Disability Groups
• Carers Groups
• Advocacy Services
• Local and National Government

To compliment this we have recently been granted membership of INCLUSION SCOTLAND.  Our membership gives strength to your voice at a national level including the ability to be consulted on new government initiatives.

APP UPDATE

After a lot of hard work we now have both Android and IOS versions of our COMMUNICATION TOOL.  It continues to be downloaded from countries throughout the world.  To compliment this we have recently launched our PAIN APP.  The app can run on mobile phones and allows the user to record and monitor pain in a simple but effective way.

END OF LIFE MATTERS

We recently attended a conference on End of Life Matters in Dumfries.  Organised by DG Voice the conference brought together people who had an interest in end of life care and support from both a personal and professional basis.  The conference was such a great success that a working group is to be established to drive forward positive change in end of life care within Dumfries and Galloway. We have added our name to the working group and hope to be able to offer our support, experience as well as your voice to the discussions.

Hopefully this gives you a flavour of some of the things we have been doing recently.  We are always keen to hear from you, so please get in touch with new ideas for us.

Stephen

Inclusion Scotland

We are proud to announce our membership of Inclusion Scotland.  Since our inception we have championed to voice of the people we support in many ways.  Some of these include meetings, press coverage, report to government, creating links and forums.

Inclusion Scotland (IS) is a consortium of disability organisations, individual disabled people and social partners with shared aims.  We work towards eradicating the barriers-physical, economic, cultural and attitudinal - which prevent disabled people from being fully included in society.

IS was founded in 2001, as a direct response to calls from the grass roots of the disability movement for a new national organisation, which would give us a voice strong enough to be heard by policy makers. It is run by disabled people themselves for, as we have the experience of disability, we are best placed to speak out on the issues that are important to us and affect our daily lives. Already over 60 disability groups from throughout Scotland have joined in partnership with us.

Our role is to enable meaningful communication and consultation between disabled people in Scotland and policy makers at local and national government levels and with bodies such as the NHS, all of whose decisions and policies can profoundly affect us. We want to reverse, through civil dialogue, partnerships, capacity building, education, persuasion, training and advocacy, the current social exclusion experienced by disabled people. 

In IS we share the ethos of the social model of disability as opposed to the medical model, which expects disabled people to regard their impairment as their problem and adapt to fit into the world as it is. The social model of disability, however, recognises everyone as equal and looks beyond a person’s impairment at all the relevant factors including the barriers that affect their ability to be a full and equal participant in society.

To learn more about Inclusion Scotland and how they may help you please visit their website by clicking here Inclusion Scotland

Healthy Working Lives Award

We have all been working hard over the past year to secure our first healthy Working Lives Award, no more so than everyone in our office.

Just some of the things that we have been doing are:

• New Section of our website
• E-learning for all
• Mental Health Awareness
• Walking challenge
• Healthy eating
• Runs
• Abseils down the forth road bridge
• Sponsorship of "The International Children's Games"
• Sponsorship of Motherwell FC
• Handing out pedometers, water bottles, thermometers, first aid packs and lunch boxes

I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard over the past year and we hope you will work with us as we go for our next award.

Stephen