Continuous Learning

Angus Council, Home Care Services pilot

Sharon Nicoll - Social Care Officer

I actually got some feedback from some of the staff that I worked with and other disciplines and they've all come back and said that they have noticed the difference. Within myself I'm more confident and more self-aware, and all the feedback that I've got from them has been really positive as well. So, again that makes you feel good about yourself and that passes on to the service user.

Morag Auchterlonie - Home Care Manager Service

I certainly was very surprised and very pleasantly so by how much enthusiasm the staff had for taking part in the pilot. And people put a lot of work into it. And I think to me that means that there is a lot of change in attitude towards supervision, towards appraisal. And what staff wanted to get out of supervison and appraisal, I suppose there was a school of thought about staff just wanting to get on with the job, that is secondary. But I think that this pilot showed that staff feel that that is a very important aspect to their working. They want to be able to move on.

Sharon Nicoll - Social Care Officer

They're willing to put a time in, and they want to go forward, they want to do more training. They want to help themselves. And I think this has made them realise that.

Sharon Nicoll - Social Care Officer

To start with, I hadn't really thought about it, and then when I was offered to do the pilot and after I read what it involved, really I got quite excited about it, because I was becoming more involved in my own supervision. And getting more involved in things I can do and not what I can't do kind of thing, and it was helping me reflect on my own practice and I certainly enjoyed doing it.

Reactions of delegates attending the launch event

Debbie Willett - Skills Active

I think it's an excellent tool, I think it could be used in the play work sector, I think people need to try to understand it, and try and work out how they can fit it into their work.

Gloria McLouglin - SCAH

I certainly see it's got potential to meet a lot of the regulatory and legislative demands on businesses if we can be sure that we will get the support and actually communicate the value of the framework to the members.

David Baird - Kibble Education & Care Centre

It's both practical and potentially universal for an organisation specifically, for example to make supervision more meaningful would be something we should all be striving for.

Debbie Willett - Skills Active

I think anything that really challenges people to think and to move on and to progress obviously has to have an effect on the service. Because sometimes people get stuck in where their at, and they think that they are working really well, and it's not to say that they're not, but we can always be challenged. And sometimes I think if there's an actual framework there, that does challenge people's thinking and people's ways of working, then that's all the best for the service.

Maggie Simpson - Scottish Childminding Association

It will be interesting to see how it does with childminding,and I think they'll look at it as being one of the things that they will now need to take forward, because they're lone workers. So you've got a self evaluation kit,that needs to be sorted out for them too. And that should really help them to look within themselves when they don't have a manager to help them to see how they improve themselves.

Isabel McDonnell - Aberdeen City Council

I think it will make practitioners be a bit more reflective in their practice which is a crucial bit, more self aware, which ultimately, will hopefully improve service delivery and the quality of service. And I think it will give people more confidence that they're willing to engage with service users, and ask them for feedback, because at times it can be seen as criticism, but to go out and seek feedback, and be confident in their roles.

Gloria McLouglin - SCAH

I think it will improve services because it will put for me, home care on the map, It's often referred to as the Cinderella service. And I think for too long we've accepted that it can be delivered by a unregulated and a unregistered work force.And I am quickly coming the belief that it's got to be a qualified staff and it's got to be skilled and competent. They need to be valued, they need to be rewarded and they need access to training, and this too will start that process, and I would like to see widely used and would welcome if it was mandatory.