Training and development

We use our online e-learning system to help you easily evidence your knowledge and understanding to meet the requirements of The Care Certificate. This is completed before attending your face-to-face induction days to keep things as efficient as possible for you.

After attending your induction days, you'll also complete our bespoke online medication training course covering how to administer and manage medicines in the community.

We have invested heavily in our online e-learning training to ensure that it is not only engaging and easily accessible, but also effective in ensuring your knowledge and understanding.

Our 4-day induction course provides a great introduction to the company and your role and empowers you with the right skills and approach to provide the best care possible, regardless of your previous experience. It helps experienced carers refresh and expand their knowledge and ensures that people new to care are ready for their role.

The training comprises 3 days of face-to-face training online (over video call), followed by 1 day of face-to-face training at your local branch. Investing in you is hugely important to us so you are paid to complete this training.

Our 4-day induction course covers:

• Our company and values - introduction to the Company, our values and how we work together
• Your terms of employment - your employment documents, payroll, expenses, holidays and conduct
• Professional boundaries - the rules and limits that define professional, ethical, and respectful interactions
• Your journey - the support available to you and how we help you to develop and improve your skills, knowledge and understanding
• Your well-being - how we look after ourselves and remain resilient
• Cyber security and data protection - how to protect data and your responsisbilities
• Handling information and communication - how we manage information and documentation, our communication systems and how to communicate effectively with everybody involved in the ‘circle of care’
• Safety in the home - understanding risk assessments, COSHH and fire safety
• Safeguarding - how to recognise abuse, prevent harm, and act in people’s best interests
• Sexual harassment - how to recognise sexual harassment and respond appropriately
• Mental capacity and DOLS - understanding mental capacity and how to avoid depriving people of their liberty
• Personal care - how to deliver person centred care, manage infection control and provide personal care such as bathing, showering, washing and oral care
• Continence care - managing your client's continence and preventing urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• Pressure area care - managing skin integrity and preventing pressure injuries
• Nutrition and hydration - how to support with nutrition and manage fluid intake
• Managing deterioration - understanding soft signs of deterioration, what's 'normal' and how to raise the alert
• End of life care - introduction to palliative care, how to meet peoples' needs and work as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Mental health, learning disabilities and autism - understanding mental health conditions, learning disabilities and autism and how you can help
• Dementia awareness - introduction to dementia, living with dementia and communication
• Neurological conditions - introduction to conditions such as Parkinson's, Motor Neuron Disease (MND) and stroke
• Outstanding care and positive interactions - delivering outstanding care, recognising each other and giving positive experiences to your client
• The SPECAL Method - specialist training in association with the Contented Dementia Trust introducing staff to the SPECAL Photograph Album and the Three Golden Rules
• Our technology and tools - understanding the systems we use
• Basic life support practical - how to deliver first aid and basic life support
• Moving and handling practical - how to support clients with moving and handling including the use of specialist equipment (e.g. hoists)

Once you have completed our induction course you are required to shadow members of our home care team in the community to enable you to put your learning into practice and demonstrate that you are competent to work alone.

Following this, you will attend a safe to leave meeting with your Registered Branch Manager where all of your training assessments and evidence is reviewed and signed-off and you will be awarded your training certificates. You will only progress to supporting clients alone once you and your Registered Branch Manager are happy and comfortable that you are sufficiently competent and ready.

Prior to working alone and during your safe to leave meeting with your Registered Branch Manager, we will complete the following competency checks with you to help ensure you have the required competencies to feel empowered and confident in your role:

• Medication competency check - ensures you are competent to administer medications
• Infection control competency check - ensures you are competent in using PPE and other infection control measures
• Induction competency check - ensures competency in practical aspects covered during practical induction day

Once you are out working alone, members of our senior care team will support you to complete our Care competency check during your first 12 weeks of work. This ensures that you are competent in all areas covered during induction including the 15 Care Certificate standards.

After completing your first 12 weeks of work and being signed off as competent on the care competency check, you will complete additional e-learning training in our learning management system.

This additional training relates to the significant areas that impact our clients' health and well-being, and gives you additional professional knowledge to help you support your clients and feel competent and confident in your role. The training includes:

• Dementia awareness - an introduction to the types and stages of dementia including how to identify factors relating to clients' experiences
• Falls prevention - how to recognise falls, risk assess and identify how they may be reduced or prevented
• Pressure ulcer risk assessment - how to recognise pressure ulcers or skin integrity issues and best practice in skin management
• Sepsis awareness - recognise the signs of and identify sepsis, and the steps to take for treatment

From day one, every member of our team joins our online Workplace community. This enables you to communicate with colleagues, share experiences and advice, find help and information, read policies and procedures and even participate in online meetings and video calls. It's a great way of connecting everybody across our team and ensures you always have information at your finger tips.

There are times when we all need help or advice quickly, however experienced or well trained we may be. To ensure you have 24/7 local support on-hand, each of our local care management teams operates a 24/7 local on-call service which you can call.

Our local care management team provides weekly support visits to our live-in carers, either in-person or over the phone. This helps ensure that the care package is working well, you are fully supported and any existing or potential issues are discussed.

We know that the first few weeks of any new job is often the most challenging so we will arrange two review phone calls with you during your first week of work and another within 4 weeks. This helps us ensure that any issues or concerns are addressed and that you are settling into the team.

You will receive a supervision meeting with your named supervisor every 12 weeks (3 months). These meetings present a great opportunity to celebrate your achievements and address any issues, discuss learning and development opportunities and ensure that you're happy and confident in your role.

You will also have an annual appraisal meeting with your Registered Branch Manager. This meeting is a formal process to review your performance in your role and set goals to help you progress.

The people we care for at home may be living with a specialist condition and we understand that this requires you to feel competent and trained in how to provide them with outstanding care and support.

We have therefore developed a selection of training courses in partnership with leading organisations in their respective fields to support you to develop your knowledge and skills for specialist care. This includes end of life care, Motor Neurone Disease (MND) care, Parkinson's care and stroke care.

We will support and pay you to complete this training so you can truly provide specialist care to your clients.

The first step of progressing your career journey with us is to complete your Level 2 Diploma in health and social care.

This qualification will support you to develop the skills and knowledge needed to provide frontline care for vulnerable adults in a wide range of settings in the adult social care sector.

Once you have completed your Level 2 Diploma, the next step of progressing your career journey with us is to complete your Level 3 Diploma in health and social care.

This qualification will support you to take your skills and knowledge to the next level and learn about the provision, planning and review of holistic care needs for individuals in receipt of care. It also covers supporting other care / support staff in the development of their practice and providing guidance and support to them, ensuring the delivery of positive outcomes to those in receipt of care.

Once you have completed your Level 3 Diploma, you can also progress your career with us by completing your Level 4 Diploma in health and social care.

This qualification will enable you to have a greater depth of knowledge and expertise of particular conditions being experienced by clients and to develop specialist skills and knowledge, allowing you to lead in areas such as care needs assessment. You will also learn how to coach and mentor others and assess performance and quality of care delivery.

Once you have completed your Level 4 Diploma, the next step of progressing your career journey with us is to complete your Level 5 Diploma in health and social care.

This qualification is for people who have / will have responsibility for managing services, such as a registered manager, deputy manager or care manager. This will include a large element of leadership, whether with other care workers and networks or in leading the service itself. This apprenticeship supports the development of the knowledge, skills, and behaviours for you to be confident in your ability to be responsible for this, including ensuring regulatory compliance of the care given and the values and training of staff with established standards and regulations.

The Manager Induction Standards have been developed by Skills for Care and provide Registered Branch Managers with a base of knowledge required to manage staff, be an effective manager, and be able to support people to live their lives to the fullest.

They are a measure of good practice and we require all new or aspiring Registered Branch Managers to demonstrate all the knowledge requirements of the standards.