W & P Assessment & Training Centre

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by W & P Assessment & Training Centre's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from W & P Assessment & Training Centre is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Blunkett signature Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett
Pickles signature Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.wandptraining.co.uk

BEST PRACTICE SPONSOR 2020
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
26 | TIGH-NA-MUIRN
Presently, the people coming into our
care are funded mainly through pensions,
savings and investments alongside the
Scottish government’s free personal
care grant. We are concerned, however,
about whether this level of self-funding
will be possible in the future and
whether local government can support
both the cost of the NHS and social care
without a radical shift in approach.
Changing care
As people and society change, the level
of individual need is also changing.
People are coming into care later in life,
often with greater levels of dementia
and medical needs than in the past.
Although we are not a nursing home
by definition, we do have a registered
staff nurse and a mental health nurse
on staff five days per week. Along with
well-trained senior staff and care staff,
we have found that we don’t need a
nurse to be here 24 hours a day. We
believe our nurses should be available
to nurse, not manage care staff, nor
spend their time filling in duty rotas or
working outbudgets.
Technology can be a useful aid
throughout the care process. We have
invested in an electronic medication
system and a web-based records
system, and our carers have access
to mobile phones where they can
discreetly document things on the
move, allowing them to give accurate
and up-to-date records at a moment’s
notice. Alongside this, we also have
interactive tables for activities, video
calling and Amazon Alexa-enabled
devices throughout the business to
facilitate music on demand.
As we look to the future, we are ready
to adapt to whatever changes may
arise. It may well be that in the very
near future, we will see Perry Como
being replaced by Katy Perry, tea
dances being replaced by raves and
rock music, crocheting being replaced
by computer programming and
stories about the war being replaced
by stories about tattoos. Whatever
changes may occur, we are confident
and excited to continue to fulfil all of
our residents’ needs.
We believe
our nurses
should be
available to
nurse, not
manage care
staff... or
budgets
“
“
Luxury, heritage and
quality
27W & P ASSESSMENT & TRAINING CENTRE |
CARE
Managing Director WendyErskine
W&P location and
workplace
Training and compliance consultant W&P Assessment and
Training delivers regulatory compliance and audit services
to a variety of residential and domiciliary care providers,
local authorities and other organisations working in the health
and social care sector. Managing Director Wendy Erskine tells
The Parliamentary Review
that whether a client has been in
business for ten days or ten years, W&P can provide the advisory
services they need.
Based in Dorset, we were founded in 2001, a time when quality assessment and
training in the care sector had become increasingly difficult to access. As qualified
nurses and care home owners, we set out to change that. This is how we did it and
why we believe the introduction of a national framework and code of practice is
now long overdue.
Our initial success came delivering qualifications and training to support staff in
an industry where demands on their skills were constantly increasing. By 2008,
however, the number of training providers had increased, lured by multiple funding
opportunities. Qualifications were available at a price we could not match while
maintaining quality.
Diversification and growth
At this time, we were asked if we had considered providing policies and
procedures to the adult social care sector or a service to support providers in this
FACTS ABOUT
W & P ASSESSMENT &
TRAININGCENTRE
»Managing Director:
WendyErskine
»Established in 2001
»Based in Weymouth
»Services: Training and advice
to the adult social care sector
»No. of employees: 3 with 10
associates
»www.wandptraining.co.uk
W & P Assessment &
Training Centre
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
28 | W & P ASSESSMENT & TRAINING CENTRE
time of change. We realised that this
was an opportunity to fill another gap
in the sector, particularly for small
and medium-sized businesses, which
were facing new regulations and a
newregulator.
As the business expanded, so did our
need for quality trainers. Experienced
in health and social care management,
our trainers can empathise with
the owners and managers of care
providers, empowering them to
lead their teams to greater things.
Gradually, we built a group of skilled
and experienced associates throughout
the country.
Over the last decade, this network has
enabled us to support new providers to
register and set up, as well as helping
existing providers to improve and
grow. We continually work to keep
the cost of our services down, so we
can reach as many as possible at a
time when other costs are increasing
and funding is, at best, static or in
many cases falling. Through this
change and challenge, our aims remain
to help providers think creatively
when delivering quality person-
centred care, improve the quality of
life for those using the services and
enable providers to meet and exceed
compliancerequirements.
A rollercoaster ride: the
changing care sector
Working in adult social care is often
described as a rollercoaster. Change
has greatly impacted the sector.
Although this has improved quality,
there remain challenges around
fairness and accessibility. Establishing
adequate social care funding is an issue
continually delayed. Equally frustrating
is the lack of a national framework and
code of conduct for adult social care
inEngland.
The social care market has changed
considerably since 1990 when the
NHS and Community Care Act was
introduced. The model of combined
health and social care began here with
subsequent legislative additions driving
further integration. This brought the
big NHS healthcare providers into
the sector, sensing an opportunity to
expand into social care. They were
aided by an overhaul of the regulator
and a change in how providers were
registered under the new Health and
Social Care Act 2008.
The new national system of regulation
was welcome, but what is still needed
is a national framework and code of
practice. This would help reduce the
extensive bureaucracy inherent in a
system in which providers work across
a multitude of care commissioners.
These include about 155 local
authorities, 146 NHS trusts and
200 hospices, all of which operate
separate contractual systems and
monitoringarrangements.
This bureaucratic hodgepodge makes
it easy to see why providers are
becoming more unwilling to develop
cross-provider, cross-county working.
Our aims
remain to help
providers think
creatively
when
delivering care,
improve the
quality of life
for those using
the services
and enable
providers to
meet and
exceed
compliance
requirements
“
“
Margaret, Business
Support Director
Lisa, Sales and
Operations Manager
BEST PRACTICE SPONSOR 2020
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
28 | W & P ASSESSMENT & TRAINING CENTRE
time of change. We realised that this
was an opportunity to fill another gap
in the sector, particularly for small
and medium-sized businesses, which
were facing new regulations and a
newregulator.
As the business expanded, so did our
need for quality trainers. Experienced
in health and social care management,
our trainers can empathise with
the owners and managers of care
providers, empowering them to
lead their teams to greater things.
Gradually, we built a group of skilled
and experienced associates throughout
the country.
Over the last decade, this network has
enabled us to support new providers to
register and set up, as well as helping
existing providers to improve and
grow. We continually work to keep
the cost of our services down, so we
can reach as many as possible at a
time when other costs are increasing
and funding is, at best, static or in
many cases falling. Through this
change and challenge, our aims remain
to help providers think creatively
when delivering quality person-
centred care, improve the quality of
life for those using the services and
enable providers to meet and exceed
compliancerequirements.
A rollercoaster ride: the
changing care sector
Working in adult social care is often
described as a rollercoaster. Change
has greatly impacted the sector.
Although this has improved quality,
there remain challenges around
fairness and accessibility. Establishing
adequate social care funding is an issue
continually delayed. Equally frustrating
is the lack of a national framework and
code of conduct for adult social care
inEngland.
The social care market has changed
considerably since 1990 when the
NHS and Community Care Act was
introduced. The model of combined
health and social care began here with
subsequent legislative additions driving
further integration. This brought the
big NHS healthcare providers into
the sector, sensing an opportunity to
expand into social care. They were
aided by an overhaul of the regulator
and a change in how providers were
registered under the new Health and
Social Care Act 2008.
The new national system of regulation
was welcome, but what is still needed
is a national framework and code of
practice. This would help reduce the
extensive bureaucracy inherent in a
system in which providers work across
a multitude of care commissioners.
These include about 155 local
authorities, 146 NHS trusts and
200 hospices, all of which operate
separate contractual systems and
monitoringarrangements.
This bureaucratic hodgepodge makes
it easy to see why providers are
becoming more unwilling to develop
cross-provider, cross-county working.
Our aims
remain to help
providers think
creatively
when
delivering care,
improve the
quality of life
for those using
the services
and enable
providers to
meet and
exceed
compliance
requirements
“
“
Margaret, Business
Support Director
Lisa, Sales and
Operations Manager
29W & P ASSESSMENT & TRAINING CENTRE |
CARE
In contrast, a national commissioning
board operating under a national
framework and code of practice
could standardise fees and contracts,
saving millions. Such standardised fees
could have a regional top-up where
deemed necessary, although the
National Minimum Wage and national
registration fees make it arguable as
to whether this would be needed.
Similar cost benefits could be achieved
with standardised service specifications
and monitoring systems: it baffles us
that every local authority still has a
contracts monitoring section when
there is a national regulator.
This structure would be fairer and
more transparent. It would stop local
authorities commissioning services that
cannot deliver quality and choice. It
would reduce the costs to providers
and help create a level playing field.
Importantly, it would enable the sector
to plan for the long-term provision
ofcare.
A misunderstood sector
Older people are often portrayed as
a burden. This is demonstrably false,
as any comparison between local
authority adult care and children’s
services budgets will show. Adult
budgets cover many more individuals
and are supplemented by the fees paid
by service recipients.
Take one theoretical example, Council
A. Council A spends £102 million
on adult social care, serving 2,341
people and recouping £28.3 million
in fees. In contrast, Council A spends
£72.3 million on children’s services,
with only 431 recipients who make
no contribution to costs. Surely these
figures show the negative media
portrayal of the sector is unwarranted
while also demonstrating a system that
is unfair and unfit for purpose.
With an annual turnover of just under
£500,000, we are small but perfectly
formed to support our customers
in meeting the challenges of, and
changes to, adult social care provision.
In 2020, legislative and regulatory
changes will continue, and we will be
continuing to work hard to empower
managers in adult social care not
merely to be good but outstanding.
It baffles us
that every
local authority
still has a
contract
monitoring
section when
there is a
national
regulator
“
“
Lee, Telesales Executive
Helen, Learning and
Resource Co-ordinator
Keith, Business
Development Director

www.wandptraining.co.uk

This article was sponsored by W & P Assessment & Training Centre. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss.

Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss

Even by the standards of the day –this has been one of the most exciting and unpredictable years in British politics.

The leadership election we’ve just seen marks a huge moment in our country’s history. This government is taking a decisive new direction, embracing the opportunities of Brexit and preparing our country to flourish outside the EU.

As international trade secretary, I’ll be driving forward work on the free trade agreements that are going to be a priority for the government. Free trade isn’t just an abstract concept bandied around by technocrats. It is crucial for a strong economy and for the ability of families to make ends meet. Free trade benefits people in every part of our country, as British firms export to new markets and people doing the weekly shop have access to a wider choice of goods at lower prices.

The essence of free trade is in the title: freedom. It’s about giving people the power to exchange their goods without heavy government taxation or interference. Commerce and free exchange are the engine room of prosperity and social mobility. I’m determined to tackle the forces who want to hold that back.

One of my priorities is agreeing an exciting new free trade deal with the US, building on the great relationship between our two countries and the Prime Minister and US President. But I’ll also be talking to other partners including New Zealand, Australia and fast-growing Asian markets.

And with the EU too, we want a friendly and constructive relationship, as constitutional equals, and as friends and partners in facing the challenges that lie ahead – a relationship based on a deep free trade agreement. Our country produces some of the world’s most successful exports, and the opportunity to bring these to the rest of the world should make us all excited about the future. It is this excitement, optimism and ambition which I believe will come to define this government.

For too long now, we have been told Britain isn’t big or important enough to survive outside the EU – that we have to accept a deal that reflects our reduced circumstances. I say that’s rubbish. With the right policies in place, we can be the most competitive, free-thinking, prosperous nation on Earth exporting to the world and leading in new developments like AI. To do that, we’ll give the brilliant next generation of entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed. Since 2015, there has been a staggering 85 per cent rise in the number of businesses set up by 18 to 24 year olds – twice the level set up by the same age group in France and Germany. We’ll help them flourish by championing enterprise, cutting taxes and making regulation flexible and responsive to their needs.

As we do that, we’ll level up and unite all parts of the UK with great transport links, fibre broadband in every home and proper school funding, so everyone shares in our country’s success.

2019 has been the year of brewing economic and political revolution. 2020 will be the year when a revitalised Conservative government turbo charges the economy, boosts prospects for people across the country, and catapults Britain back to the forefront of the world stage.



Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss
Secretary of State for International Development