scholarly journals Health and social care workforce planning and development – an overview

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 562-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Hurst ◽  
Deirdre Kelley Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Social Care ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Staff Retention ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The People ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
The Right ◽  
Main Barrier

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issues relating to getting the right health and social care staff with the right skills in the right place at the right time and at the right price. Design/methodology/approach – Key points arising from several master-classes with health and social care managers, supported by a literature review, generated remarkable insights into health and social care workforce planning and development (WP&D). Findings – Flawed methods and overwhelming data are major barriers to health and social care WP&D. Inefficient and ineffective WP&D policy and practice, therefore, may lead to inappropriate care teams, which in turn lead to sub-optimal and costly health and social care. Increasing health and social care demand and service re-design, as the population grows and ages, and services move from hospital to community, means that workforce planners face several challenges. Issues that drive and restrain their health and social care WP&D efforts are lucid and compelling, which leave planners in no doubt what is expected if they are to succeed and health and social care is to develop. One main barrier they face is that although WP&D definitions and models in the literature are logical, clear and effective, they are imperfect, so planners do not always have comprehensive tools or data to help them determine the ideal workforce. They face other barriers. First, WP&D can be fragmented and uni-disciplinary when modern health and social care is integrating. Second, recruitment and retention problems can easily stymie planners’ best endeavours because the people that services need (i.e. staff with the right skills), even if they exist, are not evenly distributed throughout the country. Practical implications – This paper underlines triangulated workforce demand and supply methods (described in the paper), which help planners to equalise workloads among disparate groups and isolated practitioners – an important job satisfaction and staff retention issue. Regular and systematic workforce reviews help planners to justify their staffing establishments; it seems vital, therefore, that they have robust methods and supporting data at their fingertips. Originality/value – This paper stock-takes the latest health and social care workforce planning and development issues.

“Sliding Doors”: innovative approaches to supporting culture change

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 154-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gill Walker ◽  
Laura Gillies
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Educational Drama ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The People ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Policy Direction

Purpose – Reshaping Care for Older People (RCOP) and Integration of Health and Social Care are central to providing a care system in Scotland that meets older people's current and future needs. Their implementation requires a workforce with the appropriate knowledge, skills and values to engage with older people across health and social care sectors, which requires a change in professionals’ thinking about services. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – NHS Education for Scotland, the Scottish Social Services Council and a learning and development consultancy designed and delivered innovative education resources to support health and social care staff across Scotland to understand the new agenda and recognise its meaning for practice. Findings – Two related resources were developed: workshop using actors to depict scenarios from older people's lives to support participants to reflect on the new policy direction and outcomes-focused approaches; and an online resource using the same characters that can be delivered locally for groups and individuals. Participants were enabled to identify what they need to do differently and how they can support one another to make necessary changes. A formal evaluation has been commissioned. Originality/value – The resource characters represent the people the new policy is designed to affect. By following their lives through an educational drama approach, health and social care staff can understand the difference RCOP and the integration agenda can make and recognise their part in effecting change.

Challenging times: building a health, housing and social care local workforce strategy

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 108-122
Author(s):  
Patricia Dearnaley ◽  
Joanne E. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Older People ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Fiscal Impact ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to stimulate a wider debate around the coordination of workforce planning in non-statutory services (in this case, specialist housing for older people or those with long-term health and social care needs, such as learning disabilities). The authors argue that current NHS reforms do not go far enough in that they fail to include specialist housing and its workforce in integration, and by doing so, will be unable to optimise the potential efficiencies and streamlining of service delivery to this group. Design/methodology/approach The paper used exploratory study using existing research and data, enhanced by documentary analysis from industry bodies, regulators and policy think tanks. Findings That to achieve the greatest operational and fiscal impact upon the health care services, priority must be given to improving the efficiency and coordination of services to older people and those requiring nursing homes or registered care across the public and third sectors through the integration of service delivery and workforce planning. Research limitations/implications Whilst generalisable and achievable, the model proposed within the paper cannot be fully tested theoretically and requires further testing the in real health and social care market to evidence its practicality, improved quality of care and financial benefits. Originality/value The paper highlights some potential limitations to the current NHS reforms: by integrating non-statutory services, planned efficiency savings may be optimised and service delivery improved.

A new health and social care context in Wales

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stewart Greenwell ◽  
Daniel Antebi
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Frontline Workers ◽  
The People ◽  
Specialist Services ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Making A Difference

Purpose The Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 provide a direction of travel for all public services in Wales and a framework for delivering the aspirations in the legislation. Although specifically referring to social care, both pieces of legislation are as relevant to the NHS as they are to other public bodies, providing an opportunity for NHS Wales and local government, in particular, to be equal partners in making a difference to the people and communities they serve. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach A viewpoint paper. Findings In Wales the time is right to do things differently in health and social care, so the authors will reflect on why current services are struggling and propose an approach that is rooted in communities rather than in specialities. The authors suggest developing a centre of gravity in the community through a multi-agency collaboration to achieve the greatest health, social care and economic impact. Originality/value Attention needs to be directed to supporting people, communities and frontline workers to become more resilient, rather than our current focus on specialist services.

Integrating health and care in the 21st century workforce

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Aiello ◽  
Julian D. Mellor
Keyword(s):  
Health Education ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health And Social Care

Purpose The NHS needs to adapt as never before to maintain and plan for an integrated and sustainable multi-professional workforce, spanning all health and care sectors. This cannot happen without system leaders embracing workforce transformation at scale and enabling system-wide collaboration and support for multi-professional learning and role development. “By learning together, we learn how to work together”. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The case studies included in this paper provide evidence of the ability of NHS systems to adopt integrated workforce models at scale. The case studies were chosen to demonstrate how system-wide change is possible, but still requires a partnership approach to innovation, strategic workforce planning and commissioner support for new models of care. Findings With partnership working between arm’s length bodies, commissioners, educators and workforce planners, the NHS is more than capable of generating a transformed workforce; a workforce able to continue providing safe, effective and joined-up person-centred care. Research limitations/implications The focus of this paper is integrated workforce development undertaken by Health Education England from 2017 to the date of drafting. The case studies within this paper relate to England only and are a cross-section chosen by the authors as a representative of Health Education England activity. Practical implications The NHS needs to find ways to use the wider health and care workforce to manage an ever-increasing and diverse patient population. Silo working, traditional models of workforce planning and commissioning no longer provide an appropriate response to increasing patient need and complexity. Social implications The evolution of the NHS into a joined-up, integrated health and social care workforce is essential to meet the aspirations of national policy and local workforce need – to centre care holistically on the needs of patients and populations and blur the boundaries between primary and secondary care; health and social care; physical and mental health. Originality/value This paper contains Health Education England project work and outcomes which are original and as yet unpublished.

scholarly journals Health and social work practitioners’ experiences of working with risk and older people

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-211
Author(s):  
Christian Beech ◽  
Fiona Verity
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relative Paucity ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Multidisciplinary Working ◽  
Phenomenological Perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore interprofessional and multidisciplinary working between health and social care practitioners providing services to older people through the prism of how risk is assessed and managed. It proposes that whilst interprofessional and multidisciplinary working is a broad and commonly researched topic, there is a relative paucity of evidence specifically regarding how health and social care practitioners work together across structural, cultural and ideological divides. The study aims to expand the domain of integrated health and social care by including perceptions, understanding and use of the concept of risk by professionals from different disciplines. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based upon an exploratory study using an interpretivist phenomenological perspective, including 23 semi-structured individual interviews with health and social care practitioners and 2 non-participant observations of multidisciplinary team meetings. Findings The paper provides empirical insights around the complex dynamics of interprofessional and multidisciplinary working between health and social care practitioners, in particular the saliency of the interconnectedness of individual practitioner Personalities with the Process of interprofessional and multidisciplinary working under the auspices of relevant Policy drivers. Research limitations/implications The research was conducted in Wales and, due to the increasingly divergent policy context within the UK, the research results may lack generalisability from a wider UK or international perspective. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the propositions of this research further. Practical implications The paper includes implications for both interprofessional and multidisciplinary policy and practice with older people. With new models of integrated care being sought, the findings of this study may offer a timely and valuable contribution, particularly from the inclusion of a social care perspective and in better understanding the interconnectedness of practitioner personalities with process and policy. Originality/value This paper fulfils an identified need to study the complex dynamics and interconnectedness between health and social care practitioners who work together to provide services to older people.

Elephant in the room

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin William Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Social Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Professional Collaboration ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Joint Health ◽  
Collaborative Working ◽  
Integration Strategies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of the first stage of a project seeking to evaluate and overcome inter-professional barriers between health and social care staff within a single, co-located, integrated community team. The project seeks to answer the following questions: first, Do inter-professional barriers to integrated working exist between health and social care staff at the interface of care delivery? Second, If inter-professional barriers exist, can joint health and social care assessments help to overcome them? The paper develops the current evidence base through findings from a staff questionnaire and the initial findings of a pilot study of joint health and social care assessments aimed at overcoming inter-professional barriers to integration. Design/methodology/approach The first stage of the project involved running an anonymous, online questionnaire with health and social care staff within a single, co-located community adult health and social care team. The questionnaire aimed to explore staffs’ perceptions of inter-professional collaboration when assessing the health and care needs of service users with a high degree of complexity of need. The second element of the study presents the initial findings of a small pilot of joint health and social care assessments. A second staff survey was used in order to provide a “before and after” comparative analysis and to demonstrate the effect of joint assessments on staffs’ perceptions of inter-professional collaboration at the interface of care delivery. Findings Health and social care staff value joint working as a means of improving quality of care. However, they also felt that inter-professional collaboration did not occur routinely due to organisational limitations. Staff members who participated in the pilot of joint assessments believed that this collaborative approach improved their understanding of other professional roles, was an effective means of enabling others to understand their own roles and helped to better identify the health and care needs of the most complex service users on their caseloads. Initial findings suggest that joint assessments may be a practical means of overcoming inter-professional barriers related to a lack of communication and lack of understanding of job roles. Practical implications The questionnaires highlighted the need for integration strategies that are aimed at facilitating collaborative working between staff of different professions, in order to achieve the aims of integration, such as a reduction in duplication of work and hand-offs between services. Originality/value To date, few studies have explored either staff perceptions of collaborative working or the effectiveness of joint assessments as a means of overcoming inter-professional barriers. This paper adds new data to an important area of integration that legislators and researchers increasingly agree requires more focus. Although the findings are limited due to the small scale of the initial pilot, they provide interesting and original data that will provide insight into future workforce integration strategies.

scholarly journals Supporting ex-service personnel moving to social care work with older people: a systematic rapid review of the role of education

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Manthorpe ◽  
Stephanie Bramley
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Rapid Review ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Personnel ◽  
Health And Social Care

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review evidence about the role of education in supporting ex-service personnel to move to social care work with older people. Social care has long-standing, well-recognised problems of staff recruitment and retention in many jurisdictions. Within ageing societies, the need for more social care staff is predicted to rise. Therefore, policy makers and employers are exploring if there are untapped sources of potential employees. Some ex-service personnel may be interested in exploring a move to social care work with older people but may need to gain additional qualifications. Design/methodology/approach Databases and grey literature were searched systematically to provide an overview of the evidence on this topic. Six articles were included in the review. Findings A narrative analysis revealed two themes: preparing ex-service personnel for enrolment onto health and social care programmes, and supporting ex-service personnel during health and social care programmes. Research limitations/implications This review was confined to English language studies published between 2008 and 2018. Few mentioned specific user or client groups. Originality/value This review identified evidence gaps relating to whether the skills, education, training and experience gained in the armed services are transferable to civilian social care work with older people; the types of support which are offered to ex-service personnel who are interested in completing qualifications necessary for social care roles and the views of ex-service personnel about their experiences of completing educational courses to facilitate a transition into social care work with older people.

Co-production within health and social care – the implications for Wales?

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Phillips ◽  
Gareth Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Social Care ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Professional Groups ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The People ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Improve Health

Purpose – It is well recognised that individuals have much to contribute to the care that they receive, with attendant benefits on outcomes and reduction in cost. The recognition of individuals who access care services as interdependent citizens embedded in both formal and informal support networks is a shift that acknowledges their active role as partners in management of their own care and in service innovation and development. The purpose of this paper is therefore to explore and illustrate some of the domains of co-production. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, the authors review the literature, both peer-reviewed and professional, in order to provide a broad and contemporary commentary on this emergent approach. This literature is critically summarised and presented along with a narrative that discusses the context in Wales, where the authors are based. The approach to this paper is to bring together existing knowledge and also propose potential avenues for further research and practise development. Findings – There is a diverse literature on this topic and the application of co-production appears potentially transformational within health and social care. Implementation of the principles of co-production has the potential to improve health and social care services in a range of settings. Real changes in outcomes and experience and reduction in societal cost can be achieved by making the people of Wales active partners in the design and delivery of their own health and social care. Originality/value – This review offers a readily accessible commentary on co-production, which may be of value to a wide range of professional groups and policy makers. This paper also reflects an original attempt to summarise knowledge and propose further areas for work. Most importantly, this paper offers a start point for co-production to become a reality for service provision with all the attendant benefits that will arise from this development.

Commentary on a “unified approach to behaviours that challenge”: getting it right? A family carer perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-157
Author(s):  
Vivien Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Family Carer ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Display Behaviour ◽  
The Right

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an individual family-carer perspective on navigating the complex child, adult, education, health and social care systems focussing on what might be needed to get the right support in the right place at the right time for individuals with learning disabilities who display behaviour that challenges. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual analysis, drawing on lived experience, policy and practice. Findings Policy and best practice advocate a holistic, person-centred, outcome-focussed approach to supporting individuals with learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges, but the existing complex multiple organisational structures are not conducive to delivering this. Making the system work for people requires focussed leadership across all levels to co-ordinate and align the component parts. It is certainly possible to achieve, but it is currently unclear who will take responsibility for making this happen. Originality/value Families are often the only constant in the lives of people with disabilities. This commentary highlights what is important to and for families when attempts are made to get the right support in the right place at the right time for individuals with learning disabilities who display behaviour that challenges.

The development of safer walking technology: a review

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esmé Wood ◽  
Gillian Ward ◽  
John Woolham
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Current Evidence Base ◽  
The Right

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain a greater understanding of the development of safer walking technology for people with dementia through contemporary literature. Design/methodology/approach – A two stage systematic approach to searching the literature was adopted. Initially this involved searching the literature to gain a broad overview of the development of safer walking technology and the context in which it has been developed. Then, this literature was examined in detail to look at published evidence surrounding the use of safer walking technology by people with dementia. These articles were quality appraised and a meta ethnographic approach taken to synthesis of the findings. Findings – There is a small but growing body of literature within this field. Whilst there is only limited evidence to support the use of safer walking technologies for people with dementia, the evidence to date indicates great potential for its use. If provided with the right support and guidance, safer walking technology has the potential to increase freedoms and independence for people with dementia; gaining them improved access to outdoor spaces and environments to support their health and wellbeing. However, if the safer walking technology continues to be associated with only risk management it will not achieve this potential. Research limitations/implications – The published literature within this field is small and has limited generalisability as much of it was generated in recent years has been by the same small research teams, often reusing data sets. There is also very little research that examines the experience of actually using safer walking technology and even less which explores the views of people with dementia. It is evident that a greater breadth and depth of knowledge is needed within this field to develop a clearer understanding of how this technology is used and perceived by all stakeholders concerned. In particular the literature would benefit from greater consideration of the views and experiences of people with dementia themselves. Practical implications – For many people with dementia, health and social care professionals can play an important role in ensuring appropriate assessment and support in the decision-making process when using safer walking technology. However, greater support is needed in decision making for all people with dementia, especially those people not currently engaged with specialist services. Therefore greater awareness of the benefits and limitations of this technology is needed by all health and social care professionals as well as the general public. Originality/value – At the time of conducting this review the author is unaware of any other systematic search of literature or overview of research on the use of safer walking technology and its use by people with dementia. Despite this safer walking technology is growing in popularity, commonly recommended by health and social care practitioners and often marketed and purchased directly by people with dementia and their families. This review offers an insight into the development of the technology and the current evidence base for its use.

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