Introduction
People who work in social
care frequently help the most vulnerable and dependent people in
society. It is, therefore, important that care workers are well trained
and qualified.
Currently, this is not the
case. The Sector Skills Council TOPSS has estimated that 80 per cent of
the 1 million social care workforce has no qualifications at all, and
that this may lead to unacceptable variations in the quality of care
provided.
The care sector is subject
to increasingly stringent regulation and control. National minimum
standards for care homes for older people in England have been
introduced.
These require 50%of staff
to be qualified to level 2 or above by 2005.Similar standards for
children ’s homes and care homes for younger adults and adult placements
will follow shortly.
These standards demand a
significant increase in opportunities for care workers to attain
nationally recognised qualifications.
The workforce in the sector
is expected to grow by 2.5%to 3.0%per year until 2005.
This compares with growth
of only 0.5%per year in the overall labour supply. The variety of the
present and potential workforce poses problems in delivering effective
education and training.
Learners increasingly wish
to access learning at times and places of their own choosing, in a
flexible mix of units or products and via modes of learning that fit in
with part-time working and complex lifestyles.
The qualification comprises
4 compulsory core units (c) and 5 optional units (o) of which 2 must be
completed. All units are of 30 hours duration.
1 The nature of care
services (c)
2 Health and safety for
care workers (c)
3 Effective communication
for care workers (c)
4 Identifying and dealing
with abuse & neglect (c)
5 Basic care practices (o)
6 Improving the physical
care environment for clients (o)
7 Providing individual care
for clients (o)
8 Career development for
care workers (o)
9 Record keeping for care
workers (o)
