Resources
The practical resources below can help you to strengthen this area of CQC inspection.
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Resource creator: Skills for Care
Skills for Care has developed an Induction toolkit to help managers plan and deliver a high-quality induction that fully supports new starters to quickly settle into their roles. It offers the opportunity to provide a robust induction to fully support new starters and ensure you create the right first impression. This covers from pre-arrival through to the sixth month of employment - to ensure you are providing a robust and supportive induction.
The Induction toolkit is aimed at helping managers support all staff, regardless of whether they are joining the sector for the first time or they are a highly experienced new team member. The toolkit includes checklists at each stage of the process to provide lists of activities to consider with signposts to resources and templates which you can tailor. It draws heavily on what providers across health and social care tell us works for them.
Date published: May 2024
Resource creator: Skills for Care and LinkMind Media
This series of 11 videos covers various subjects such as the basics of creating content, how to select the right platform for your needs and the range of tools available to help you boost your online presence. There is also a handy pdf covering the essentials of social media. Learn how to recruit using Facebook, Instagram, TikTok etc.
Date published: April 2024
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This guide outlines the barriers, success factors and key principles for recruiting these groups into the sector. It explores how we can more effectively engage with men and young people.
Date published: April 2024
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This guide supports employers to think about safer employment processes from recruitment to retention to managing leavers. It gives an overview of the PRISIM model of safer employment and signposts to resources and tools to enable you to develop safer employment practices and a safer employment culture in the workplace.
Date published: April 2024
Resource creator: Department of Health and Social Care
This new Government funding will replace Skills for Care's Workforce Development Fund and enable adult social care employers to reclaim a contribution towards the cost of a limited number of qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules that were commenced after 01 April 2024 and are completed by 31 March 2025.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published a list of what they intend to fund and reimbursement amounts, with further details of reclaim processes expected to be published in summer 2024.
Date published: April 2024
Resource creator: Skills for Care
Skills for Care WDF has enabled adult social care providers to claim back money towards the costs of workers completing a broad range of adult social care qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules.
With the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) new Adult Social Care Training and Development Fund launching in summer 2024, Skills for Care's WDF will come to a close. The final year of the WDF will cover a limited number of qualifications and apprenticeships that commenced before 01 April 2024 and are completed by 31 March 2025.
Date published: April 2024
Resource creator: Skills for Care
International recruitment is a great way to find skilled and diverse workers, but employers often tell us they have trouble navigating the legalities of recruiting internationally.
Skills for Care has compiled a wide range of guidance and advice from other organisations, helping adult social care providers to understand the process to follow. This includes a comprehensive toolkit that showcases good practice and key considerations to ensure this is a positive experience for your service and the people you recruit.
Date published: March 2024
Resource creator: Skills for Care and Disclosure and Barring Service
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are an essential tool when recruiting safely and fairly. We’ve published a series of short videos, delivered by the DBS outreach team, to guide employers through how the process works and what to do if a DBS check takes longer than expected.
Date published: October 2023
Resource creator: DHSC
The Department of Health and Social Care’s national adult social care recruitment campaign aims to support adult social care employers to recruit the dedicated staff you need to fill your vacancies.
To accompany the campaign, a suite of new, free resources has been created to help you advertise your job opportunities locally. The campaign raises awareness of the rewarding nature of care work and tackles the concerns that research shows potential applicants may have.
Date published: October 2023
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This evidence-based toolkit provides information, activities, resources and case studies to enable you to utilise values-based recruitment methods and strengthen your workforce. It maps out a step-by-step approach to develop and implement effective values-based recruitment and retention.
Date published: September 2023
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This blog from recruitment expert Dominic Headley, draws insight from his specialist consultancy providing training and advice to employers to support safeguarding and safe and fair recruitment, to find out more about how to gain and provide effective references and why this is so important in the social care sector.
Date published: September 2023
Resource creator: Skills for Care
Qualifications can play an important role in learning and development, and there are a wide variety available within adult social care - from diplomas to smaller awards and certificates which are more focused on specific topics.
We recommend a wide range of vocational qualifications to support services to develop staff further, many of which can be partially funded via our Workforce Development Fund. The qualifications include:
- Level 2 Diploma in Care
- Level 3 Diploma in Adult Care
- Level 4 Diploma in Adult Care
- Level 4 Certificate in Principles of Leadership and Management for Adult Care
- Level 5 Diploma in Leadership Management for Adult Care.
In addition to the diplomas, there are a range of smaller awards and certificates that can be used to build specialisms across your staff team.
If you’re looking for expert learning providers to help you to deliver qualifications, our endorsed list can help.
Date published: July 2023
Resource creator: Skills for Care
Apprenticeships are a way of developing new staff and providing new skills for existing staff by studying and learning through work. The Skills for Care website lists the recommended apprenticeships available for those working in adult social care, including:
- Adult Care Worker (level 2)
- Lead Adult Care Worker (level 3)
- The Lead Practitioner in Adult Care (level 4)
- Leader in Adult Care (level 5)
- Nursing Associate (level 5)
- Social Work (level 6)
- Occupational Therapist (level 6)
- Physiotherapist (level 6)
- Registered Nurse (level 6).
Whilst we don’t arrange the apprenticeship, our website provides an overview of the process and associated funding. If you’re looking for a learning provider to support you to deliver apprenticeships, our endorsed list can help.
Date published: July 2023
Resource creator: Skills for Care and University of York
Values-based recruitment is essential to ensuring you employ a compassionate, person-centred workforce that is committed to providing quality care. It can be tricky to know how to assess a candidate’s values and whether they align with those of your organisation.
Skills for Care has worked with social care experts at University of York to create ‘Curious about Care’, a free evidence-based tool that can be used as part of your recruitment process. It allows you to explore different scenarios with a candidate to better understand their values, helping you assess if they are a good fit for your organisation.
Date published: May 2023
Resource creator: Skills for Care
A range of Infection, prevention and control related training is available to purchase from Skills for Care’s Endorsed learning providers.
You can search for quality learning across different parts of the country and find courses to meet your staff needs.
Date published: April 2023
Resource creator: Partners in Care and Skills for Care
One of the biggest challenges faced by care providers is keeping staff. This online guide, produced by Partners in Care and Health and Skills for Care in conjunction with councils and care providers, shares top tips, resources and case studies to give you ideas and inspiration to help you retain staff.
Date published: February 2023
Resource creator: Better Hiring Institute
This Better Hiring Toolkit provides simple guidance to support you to both obtain and provide effective references and conduct information.
At the heart of the Toolkit is the safety of the people who employers are entrusted to care for and the staff who carry out this role. Those responsible for recruiting or supervising staff or volunteers, have an obligation to conduct a safe and fair recruitment process and ensure that pre-employment checks are robust so that your organisation safeguards the people being supported.
The Better Hiring Toolkit for Care is free to use and has handy templates throughout for you to use within your organisation.
Date published: January 2023
Resource creator: ACAS
With over one-quarter of employers reporting an increase in staff absences, it’s crucial for businesses to know how to manage sickness absence effectively, because failure to do so can have a detrimental effect on business.
ACAS has developed guidance that offers tips on how best to handle sickness absence and how to better support employees during their illness and upon their return to work.
Date published: November 2022
Resource creator: Skills for Care, Health Education England and DHSC
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training aims to provide the health and care workforce with the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate and informed care to autistic people and people with a learning disability.
Date published: October 2022
Resource creator: ACAS
By law, your employer must pay a minimum amount on average for the hours you work.
This is called the:
• National Living Wage (NLW) if you're aged 23 or over
• National Minimum Wage (NMW) if you're aged under 23 or an apprentice
This article details:
• Current rates
• Rates from 1 April 2023
• Who gets the apprentice rate
Date published: July 2022
Resource creator: Skills for Care
In partnership with Neil Eastwood, Founder and CEO of Care Friends and author of ‘Saving Social Care’, this webinar shares sector expertise around maximising the retention of your staff. Discover top tips and innovative solutions for staff retention and lots of useful practical ideas from other managers.
The webinar shares learning and best practice from frontline managers and is complemented by recommended resources.
Date published: March 2022
Resource creator: Skills for Care
The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) helps you to support and develop your staff by providing access to funding. An up-to-date account makes you eligible for claiming the Workforce Development Fund, a valuable source of funding for staff training which supported over 18,000 learning opportunities in 2020-21. It also gives you access to the free essential training programmes to upskill your staff knowledge in vital topics relevant to providing care.
ASC-WDS allows you to benchmark your workplace against similar providers on workforce metrics such as pay, turnover, staff sickness and qualifications. These insights can help you to drive improvement and decision-making across your organisation.
Other benefits include safe and free storage of staff and training records, and discounts across Skills for Care’s products and training from endorsed learning providers. You’re also contributing to the voice of social care. ASC-WDS provides the leading source of intelligence to the government, the CQC and others, so they can make informed decisions on policy and planning.
Date published: November 2021
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This provides an overview of the government-funded opportunities available to help adult social care employers to recruit. It includes:
- apprenticeships
- traineeships
- kickstart programmes.
Date published: April 2021
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This website provides information and advice to support nurse recruitment and development. It covers a range of different nursing expertise and associated initiatives to support your service, including:
- registered nurses
- nurse associates
- nurse leaders
- return to practice.
Date published: April 2021
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This guidance advises how you can attract a diverse range of candidates for your roles and hire people previously underrepresented in your workforce. Including:
- Recruiting temporary staff
- Employing people with criminal records
- Employing people with disabilities
- Employing 16-17 year olds
Date published: December 2020
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This short guide can help if you recruit young workers. It covers what you need to arrange if you employ staff under 18 years to work at your service and outlines the benefits for employers.
Date published: December 2020
Resource creator: Skills for Care, Skills for Health, Health Education England
The ‘tailoring the Care Certificate’ resources have been developed to support workers in achieving the minimum standards of the Care Certificate in job roles where more specialist skills are needed. They can be used for workers who are new to care, or who are moving from one area of care into a more specialised service.
As well as being used by the learner, they can also be used by the trainer and assessor or to enhance existing Care Certificate delivery and assessment. They aren’t a mandatory resource and don’t replace any aspects or content of the Care Certificate.
Date published: April 2020
Resource creator: Care Friends
Finding the right quality of care staff is a major challenge. Employee referral programmes are the proven best source, but they’re a hassle to administer and fiendishly hard to keep top-of-mind with staff. As a result, they only deliver a fraction of their true potential.
Care Friends is an app developed by Neil Eastwood, author of Saving Social Care, and launched in partnership with Skills for Care, that aims to change that.
Date published: April 2020
Resource creator: Skills for Care
You can use these resources to get the most of your application process. Ask potential candidates the right questions to help you with the candidate selection process.
You can also assess candidates suitability by including your organisation’s values and behaviours in your application process and asking candidates to evidence how they've demonstrated their values.
Date published: December 2019
Resource creator: Skills for Care
This template can help you identify what recruitment activities are working well so you can invest more in getting it right, or where it isn’t working well so you can reduce costs. You can use and adapt this template to calculate the costs of recruitment in your service over the past 12-months.
Date published: December 2019
Developed in partnership with