My experience as a Blended Roles Facilitator

Farrah Amjad is the Blended Roles Facilitator for Tameside and Glossop ICT. Tameside Council has been running a blended roles scheme since 2019, with Farrah now leading on introducing care workers to delegated healthcare activities. She shares her experience.

The Blended Roles Programme includes two projects; these are pressure area care and the delegation of insulin administration.

The purpose of the programme is to provide care workers with the knowledge, skills, competence and confidence to carry out these two delegated healthcare activities which would previously have been carried out by the district nursing team.

My role is training and preparing care workers for taking on these delegated activities. We gain consent from each of the people we support and tell them about the training the care staff have received. Ultimately the people who we support are at the heart of this work and the reason for delegating activities to care workers is to ensure that people have quicker access to high-quality care that meets their needs.

I think one of our greatest achievements with this project has been bridging the gap between care workers and the district nursing team, and building those relationships. Before this, they never really had that link.

Now the care workers who work on the blended roles activities have a designated number to contact the district nursing team. This means that they can contact the nursing team if they have any concerns about someone they support. They’ve never had that direct access to the nursing team before.

The care staff feel more listened to and valued, and I think the relationship between the care staff and the nursing teams has grown massively in the past 12 months.

At The Lakes Care Centre, one of the care homes in the area, the care staff are incredibly enthusiastic about the delegated activities – especially checking blood sugars and the administration of insulin. They’re very passionate to learn more about insulin and diabetes as they support two people who have diabetes.

The programme is very much about upskilling our social care workforce. For example, with the insulin work, carers will complete three sessions of theory and practical demonstration, alongside six joint visits with a district nurse. We also have ongoing reviews.

If a carer doesn't feel confident, it's absolutely fine. I always say that it's a voluntary project you don't have to take part in it if you don't feel comfortable.

Care staff complete their training with the district nursing team and are signed off by the district nurses as being competent to take on a delegated activity.

I think blended roles is a brilliant project. It's not only two services working together, but most importantly we're improving the outcomes for the people who draw on care and support.

Hear more from Farrah as well as care providers and people drawing on care and support in our video.

We have published new voluntary guiding principles for delegated healthcare activities. Find out more about the principles. 

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