The Social Care Academy: Investing in our social care workforce

The Social Care Academy is a north west initiative that supported adult social care organisations with training and development. Hosted by Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System the academy received a £70,000 funding boost by NHS England’s North West Workforce, Training and Education Directorate.

The Academy was created in response to the social care workforce programme and recognises the need for collaborative and responsive training and education of the social care workforce. The Academy is a one-stop-shop for care providers to receive social care education and training, get continuous professional development, leadership training, links and networking, resources and apprenticeship support.

Liz Williams, the Social Care Workforce Programme Lead is passionate about the social care academy and said “The Social Care sector has been crying out for a training hub for years. The value you can put on investing in staff is priceless. It is respecting social care staff, their profession, it helps the system support residents outside of the NHS, and helps clients and residents to have expertise they expect.”

The academy is connected to third sector and private organisations to be responsive to the needs to the social care system and support service users transitioning from NHS services to social care providers.

The responsive nature of the Social Care Academy has benefits for both the NHS and service users. Recently there was an individual case where an individual was unable to be discharged following bowel surgery and the training of community based social care staff was not sufficient. The Social Care Academy team supported a service to train their staff in stoma care and the person was able to be discharged quicker. This is only one example of the community support the Academy provides to the Lancashire and South Cumbria region.

The Social Care Academy is supported by the Lancashire and South Cumbria Primary Care Training Hub, was developed in partnership with the local authorities, health and social care partners.

Keep updated about the Social Care Academy by signing up for their newsletter or attend one of their weekly drop in sessions. Find all the details on the website. For more information or direct enquiries contact the social care team.