SCIE news and events

Chief Social Workers - SCIE comment (17 May 2013)

The two Chief Social Workers in England have been named. Isabelle Trowler (Chief Social Worker for Children) will work alongside her adults counterpart Lyn Romeo. The Chief Social Workers will advise politicians on how best to improve standards in social work. Here is SCIE’s comment.

SCIE offers a warm welcome to both Lyn and Isabelle, as they take up their new roles. These appointments recognise the important status of the social work profession and the significant contribution social work makes to the challenges facing the government, wider society and individual citizens, both young and old. The Chief Social Workers give social work a voice to champion the profession and provide clear leadership for the improvement of services. All of us at SCIE look forward to supporting Isabelle and Lyn in any way that we can.
SCIE's Chief Executive, Andrea Sutcliffe

Reablement - Guide and eLearning (15 May 2013)

Two new resources, published today, will support the delivery of reablement care and support services. Reablement helps people to learn or re-learn the skills necessary for daily living; it can support people to have a better quality of life, whilst being cost-effective for health and social care services.

To be successful we need a system that works well, skilled staff and a shared understanding of the benefits, with people using services and their carers. This is where SCIE's new resources come in. I hope that our reablement guide and e-learning resources will be widely used to support managers in putting the necessary services in place.
SCIE's Chief Executive, Andrea Sutcliffe

Health and social care integration – the ultimate challenge? (14 May 2013)

SCIE, together with other leading national health and social care agencies has today pledged their commitment to supporting better integration at national and local level.

SCIE is delighted to play a part in this new national partnership. We know how important person-centred, co-ordinated care is for people using services, their families and carers - but we also know how difficult it can be to put into practice.
SCIE Chief Executive, Andrea Sutcliffe, speaking about the launch of "Integrated care and support: our shared commitment".

Dying well at home – SCIE Guide (13 May 2013)

Dying at home; the case for integrated working. SCIE Guide 48. Many people who are coming to the end of life would choose to die at home. A new Guide, published today, brings together the latest evidence for what needs to be in place to ensure that people and their carers receive quality care, at the end of life.

I know from personal experience, the peace of mind that dying well at home can bring for families, friends and their loved ones. We know from our work that many people would prefer to die at home, but too few do. By sharing the knowledge of what works I want our guide to help make people’s dying wishes a reality.
SCIE's Chief Executive Andrea Sutcliffe

The Care Bill 2013-14 (10 May 2013)

The Care Bill will strengthen sector’s responsibilities and capacity. The Care Bill 2013-14 received its first reading in the House of Lords on 9 May 2013, and was published on 10 May 2013.

This is a very welcome and important Bill. It will strengthen the sector’s responsibilities and capacity to improve care for people who use services and their carers. In particular, SCIE welcomes the new emphasis on: care that prevents crises developing; the assessment of children’s needs to help them with the transition to adults’ services; and safeguarding adults. SCIE will work with the Department of Health, the care sector, people who use services, and carers to help to identify the most effective ways of delivering the changes required.
SCIE's Chief Executive, Andrea Sutcliffe

Queen's speech - SCIE comment (08 May 2013)

The Queen’s Speech has today unveiled a bill on social care. Here is SCIE's comment.

The State Opening of Parliament is a grand setting for the Government to announce the most significant overhaul of social care legislation in 65 years – a proper recognition of the importance and value of social care for people using services, their families and carers and the thousands of people working in the sector.
SCIE’S Chief Executive, Andrea Sutcliffe

Contact: info@scie.org.uk

Looked-after children’s services (02 May 2013)

Here is SCIE's comment on the Care Inquiry report, "Making not breaking: building relationships for our most vulnerable children".

Every child needs positive, stable relationships in order to prosper. At its best, the care system supports the development and continuation of relationships with family members, friends, foster parents, social care and other support staff. SCIE’s own research backs up many of The Care Inquiry’s recommendations. For example, we advise that multi-disciplinary teams, led by experienced social workers, should support the whole family. Children can achieve stability and permanence through adoption, long-term fostering or returning home, when these decisions are carefully made and well supported. The best option is the one that works for each individual child.
SCIE's Chief Executive, Andrea Sutcliffe

Enabling local authorities to intervene early to support children and families (24 April 2013)

Greater consistency in national policy and creative leadership needed to improve longterm wellbeing of children and families most at risk of developing significant problems A new report from the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) indicates that local authorities understand the value of intervening early to support children and families at greatest risk of developing problems.

Investing in long-term issues such as prevention and early intervention, whilst also funding immediate needs remains a challenge for local authorities. But SCIE's research indicates that the keys to effective early intervention are: providing visionary and creative local leadership; having a clear understanding of children's and families' journey through what can be a complex local system; and multi-professional working at the local level.
Beth Anderson, Head of Evidence and Guidance at SCIE, speaking about the findings at an Action for Children breakfast seminar today.

Share your good care pictures (23 April 2013)

Celebrate Good Care Week by sharing your photos of what good care means to you. You can tweet your photos @findmegoodcare, #goodcarepics or share them on our Find Me Good Care facebook page. We want to encourage people who use care and support services, their families, carers and staff to share images and thoughts about what good care means to them. It could be about friendship, security, or new found interests. We will then be inviting people to like their favourite photographs on the Find Me Good Care facebook page – you could win a £25 Amazon voucher if your picture is chosen. Please make sure you get consent to publish your photos.

E-Readiness in the Social Care Sector for SCIE - Ipsos Mori Report (22 April 2013)

Two thirds of employers in social care use some form of eLearning, and over half of their staff are using it to improve the service they offer. Those are the key findings in a new Ipsos / MORI survey commissioned by SCIE. The study, published today, also finds that while more traditional methods such as face-to-face or on-the-job training remain widely used, there is an increased share taken by eLearning. ELearning means using information and computer technology (ICT) as the key element in improving care skills and knowledge, which might be using audio, video and interactive technology in training. Mobile technology is particularly important for people like domiciliary workers, whose jobs are "on-the-go".

Social care is, by its nature, about people and eLearning can support on the job training and the sharing of sharing good practice. The Ipsos / Mori survey results are encouraging, because they provide evidence that more of us are comfortable with learning using ICT and have the necessary access to the internet. We promote e-learning because we all need to challenge the way we work, be innovative and improve the experiences of everyone who uses services, or cares for someone who does.
SCIE's Director of Corporate Services, Stephen Goulder