Joint venture puts training under one roof.

20/04/2006

Bath & North East Somerset Council last year joined forces with Bath and North East Somerset Primary Care Trust in setting up an integrated health and social care training team to provide hands-on training to staff in both the public and independent voluntary sector.

The team has just moved into new accommodation at St Martin’s Hospital in Bath. Staff, including health and social care assistants, social workers, nurses and physios will have the opportunity to keep their practice up-to-date and learn new skills from expert tutors as well as from each other.

As a direct spin off from the professional development of staff, the community will benefit by delaying or avoiding going into hospital because of the increase in integrating working practices between the PCT and social services.

The higher levels of health and social care in service user’s homes and residential care homes is possible because of the courses held at the Centre which range from NVQs, health and safety for staff and service users, management development as well as various computer courses including the facility to do online computer-based training aka, e-learning.

The training centre will be opened by Jane Ashman, strategic director of social and housing services, Bath & North East Somerset Council and Rhona MacDonald, chief executive, Bath and North East Somerset Primary Care Trust on 28 April 2006.

“This is a great example of how two organisations can combine resources to bring about a service that is valuable in both and includes the independent voluntary sector,” said Rhona MacDonald.

“Staff will have a chance to build on each other’s experiences and improve their skills to help support local peoples’ social and healthcare needs.”

Jane Ashman said: “It’s exciting to see the training department set up under one roof in a place where staff can learn together and develop their skills.”

The bright and airy training facility offers a virtual service user setting with two beds set up side-by-side where health and social care staff can learn how to lift someone correctly through using a hoist, or other lifting methods replicating those in residential care homes and hospital wards. There is a computer training room, conference room, small tutorial/meeting room equipped with all the visual aids needed for training.

The training department is made up of a team of staff from both the PCT and the Council. Erin Bland, Manager of the Integrated Health and Social Care Training Team, St Martins Hospital, joined last year from the private sector. Expressing her admiration for the competence of management and dedication of staff to their own and service development she described the team as “a superb example of how determined leaders and staff can overcome traditional organisational boundaries to focus on service development in health and social care.”

On the opening day itself there will be ribbon and cake cuttings as well as a sampler session of one of the Centre’s priority learning themes, i.e. diversity and equality.