Celebrating and supporting registered managers

This year has presented the adult care social sector with many challenges, and the impact on registered managers has been huge. Despite this, managers have continued to put others first.

 The COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented, and it has been remarkable to see the many ways registered managers have worked to keep their staff and the people they support as safe as possible.

The continued dedication and leadership displayed by registered managers as they adapt to ever changing circumstances has been incredible. As with staff across the sector we must champion the work they have done, recognise their skill and professionalism and offer them our thanks and respect.

At Skills for Care, our aim is to provide as much dedicated support and information for all registered managers and front-line managers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s a reminder of some of the things we have to help.

Facebook group

Our Facebook group is open to all registered managers and frontline managers in similar roles and we’re pleased to report that the group has now surpassed 3,000 members. It is used every day by managers to support one-another in a wide range of ways as they navigate the pandemic.

Take a look at our new blog from Mark Topps, a registered manager at Eastern County Care Ltd. He talks about how being a member of the Skills for Care Facebook group has allowed him to connect with other managers to share ideas and resources and help reduce the pressures and loneliness of being a care manager.

Local networks

We have over 150 local networks across England that support managers to share knowledge, hear from guest speakers and access peer support. The networks are currently being delivered virtually and many have WhatsApp groups letting managers stay in touch, share advice and support each other.

A couple of months ago we launched the deputy manager network which has already been incredibly popular. One of the members of the group fed back to us: “I am actually very excited about all of this; I have been in post just over a year and what a year it’s been!!! I had no prior experience and no induction so had to hit the ground running! It’s certainly been a learning curve! I am looking forward to supporting and being supported and making new connections with you all.”

Webinars and bitesize resources

We now have over 20 webinars which cover a range of topics to support managers and their services respond to current issues in a timely manner. They’ve had over 10,000 views since April and the recent topics covered include wellbeing, contingency planning and having difficult conversations.

Some other comments we have received about our webinars include:

• “A very useful webinar. It really confirmed that I am doing things right and gave me some new ideas.”
• “I always find something to learn and improve after your webinars.”
• “Wonderful support, it's great to know we are all in this together and our homes are not isolated.”

Some of our recent webinars have been complemented by very practical bitesize resources aimed at helping frontline managers deepen their understanding on a range of important subjects. If you’re a new manager or just want to refresh your knowledge, the bite size resources enable you to quickly read about key points and download practical tools, checklists, action plans and templates informed by good practice. Topics include contingency planning, delegation, succession planning, time management, and supervision. We’ll continue to share more, with risk assessment coming over the next few weeks and quality improvement and compliance being added in January 2021.

Membership

As the membership organisation for registered managers in England, we support managers to develop best practice and knowledge, keep up-to-date with sector developments and share ideas with like-minded peers.

During the pandemic, it was clear that the need for them to access support from other managers was more important than ever. The Skills for Care Membership Team supported mentoring relationships to continue virtually. Take a look at some recent feedback back we received from June Stephenson, Director and registered manager at Orchard House Care Home Scarborough who accessed support from one of our mentors.

Podcast

We’ve recently launched ‘The care exchange’, a new podcast series where we’ll be inviting guests to join us as we celebrate the role of managers in social care.

We’ll be sharing experiences from other managers in social care, providing a place where managers can listen to other managers, feel less isolated and pick-up some good ideas to support them in their own role.

The first episode has already proved to be a hit. Have a listen.

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