Sum Up Social Care - December Edition

In this Newsletter

1. Sum Up Social Care View

i) Overcoming Adversity

ii) IHSCM Courses & Masterclasses

iii) Conference Box Set

iv) Out and about in November

2. Events for December 2024 ?

1. Sum Up Social Care View ?

i) Overcoming adversity

When you are facing the toughest of challenges, which many of you are right now, it's an awful place to be.

You may be feeling de-motivated, hurt, angry and massively let down and you have every right to feel like that.

BUT the key question is, do you still want to be working in this fabulous profession this time next year?

If the answer is yes, then read on.

Unfortunately there are things in life that we have no control over and we certainly don't have the power to control what government and politicians will do. There are however areas that we can either control or influence so I thought it might be useful to highlight those.

Contact your local MP.?

Eddy McDowall on our Social Care Innovators call spoke about the importance of contacting your local counsellor or MP directly. Being in direct communication with them (if possible) will at least give you the opportunity to discuss directly the issues that you are facing.

I have today contacted mine and asked for a meeting to discuss the increase in National Insurance (I did get a message back to say it can take 28 days to respond but the more they receive the better).

You can find your local MP here. It takes no more than 2 minutes to write and send. It's a positive step and will make you feel like you have done something positive, that you can control. Thank you Eddy for that advice.

Sign the petitions and the providers unite letter (I've provided a summary and?links?at the end of this post)

Find out what funding is available. There is?considerable funding?available that provide pots of money?for social care providers. Some links below:

• Funding for research?Research Ready | ENRICH. You do need to be careful in terms of the work involved but there are real positives for engaging with research. I know CQC aren't popular at the moment but they do look favourably on care providers who are looking at innovation.
• Funding for new care Models - One of our fabulous members Trudie from BelleVie?shared with our Social Care Innovators group the ￡300,000 grant?they received from the?Rayne Foundation?Better Careers for Better Care: Further Grants Agreed - Rayne Foundation. This is a positive step in not only?attracting people to a career in care but also?providing better care. It says on their website they expect to open up the grant opportunities again by the end of this year so take a look.
• In our archive section?here?there are?three power hours, which I've now listed?one after the other,?that provide?guidance on the following
• Financing innovation in care
• Digital strategy and accessing funding
• How to write a successful bid

Adapt your business model

I do not write this lightly as I know everyone should have access to care regardless of their ability to pay, but these are extreme times and the whole of the UK?need care providers to remain viable. People needing care and support will continue to increase, that is a certainty. If your business model is predominantly social care, diversify as much as possible.

We have our future proof your care business program that we run on a regular basis that takes you through the steps you need to take. If anyone would like some more information on this please do email me. It isn't a difficult process but it does require commitment and an open mindset.?

• Partnership working - Again at our Social Care Innovators Group meeting, another fabulous?member, Hayley Robertshaw from St Martins Care spoke?about how they are preventing hospital admissions through their lifting cushions in their care homes and also supporting paramedics with their inductions by allowing them to work for two weeks in their homes. Both of these are saving the NHS a huge?amount of money but it is also helping the paramedics to truly understand Social Care.

Below are the links to various petitions and reports.

• I'm sure you will have all?seen the petition that has been started to make social care exempt from NIC increase. The link is here.?Please do take a moment to sign, every signature counts.?It is interesting that there are 30,000 signatures for this petition and yet another petition to call for a general election is 2.7 million. There is a disconnect between the general population and understanding that social care affects most of us at some point in our lives. ?
• There is research that has been published from Nuffield Trust. A link to the community care website which provides a summary, plus links to the Nuffield report?is here. A quote from Age UK following the release of this report "it’s the smaller providers, charities and small and medium enterprises, where the best care is often to be found, who are at greatest risk of retrenchment and closure". I do agree that it will be?the smaller independent organisations that will be the most affected.?
• #providersunite highlight the costs to care providers. They?have joined together and signed a letter to the chancellor. You can sign the letter here. They cite the figures from the OBR report here.?"HMRC estimates that these measures combined will impact around 1.2 million employers from April 2025, with 250,000 employers gaining from the package, 940,000 losing out in net terms, and a further 820,000 employers seeing no change. This results in an average annual tax increase in excess of ￡800 per employee. The average employer who loses out will see their liabilities increase by around ￡26,000."
• Jane Townson of Home Care Association shares two?posts on LinkedIn, which includes?useful information?here?and another?here?on savings that can be made through early intervention?"highlighting that every ￡1 spent on preventative services saves ￡3.17". Link to the article in the independent is here.
• I'm hearing of care providers talking about taking a stand by refusing to take hospital admissions within their respective locations.?

We at the IHSCM will continue to support care providers in any way we can. If you want to deliver a great service that puts people and service at the heart of it,?then we can help you to do that through our business support and leadership workshops. Email me here if you would like to know more.

ii) IHSCM Short Courses & Masterclasses

Raising the profile of social care as a profession is something we are?passionate about. We have?CPD accredited Short Courses and Masterclasses available to you which can be done online at a time convenient to you.??Upon completion you receive a certificate and you can use these as part of your overall continuing professional development. They are outlined below and can all be accessed here.

iii) Conference Box Set now available

After our fabulous conference in October you can now watch all the recordings here

iv) Out and about in November

In November I ran two bespoke courses which had been tailored to suit the needs of our hub members.?

The first one was held in Edinburgh for NHS Education for Scotland. This session was on How to be an effective and respected leader.? The second one was in Lancashire for our Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB hub on How to be an influential and effective leader.? This one focused on building external and internal relationship. Having good relationship with social workers, district nurses and GP's creates a positive ripple effect across the different boundaries. We use real stories and scenarios.

I also attended the Bradford Care Association Conference, which was a fabulous day with lots of insightful and useful sessions. Care associations make such a positive difference locally and provide a much needed voice to?the small to medium care providers.

Some feedback below from the respective leadership days below. "I really enjoyed being in person with a good mix of people, organisations and experience in the room. I will share the Johari window exercise with my team and utilise the positive/negative feedback conversation model" "Gave me idea's and insights of how I want to develop skills of coaching and how to support and invest in the team to help them feel valued." "I found it all very interesting and it made me feel more equipped and confident to continue in my role."

2. Events for December 2024

3rd December ?- 11am?till 12pm -?IHSCM Members Social-

Join us for a morning of competition, networking, relaxation, and wellbeing all while we engage in a fun-filled Quiz! Friends and family members welcome to attend.?Which team or individual will win and be crowned our winner(s)??Get your team names, pens/pencils, and note paper at the ready.

3rd December - 2pm till 3pm -?IHSCM Workshop: How to support teams to have critical conversation?- Empowering your teams to have those conversations that they put off will massively improve outcomes within your organisation.?

5th December - 2pm till 3pm -?IHSCM Workshop: An introduction to wilful blindness?- Another session to empower your teams.?This session will?equip leaders and managers with the knowledge and skills to recognise and combat wilful blindness, ultimately leading to?safer and more ethical organisational practices.

6th December? - 12pm till 1pm -?IHSCM PowerHour – HSE Workplace Stress Tool Case Study?- Join?Sam Huczmann,?Advanced Clinical Practitioner,?Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust?for this PowerHour as he advises us on a?HSE?workplace stress tool case study?he has undertaken that?analyses the current workplace.

10th December 12pm till 1pm -?High Performance Leadership Workshop – Module 4??- This final session of our High Performance Leadership?session is on Managing Change which is a critical part of leading teams. If you are not yet a member of IHSCM then you can find out how you can join here.

For any queries or comments regarding this newsletter, please contact Sue Jones, [email protected].