The Health and Care Support Worker Trailblazer is delighted to announce that it has met for the first time to consider ways to take forward the recommendation to develop a single apprenticeship standard at level 2.
Jointly chaired by Jane Hadfield – Senior Programme Manager Health Education England (HEE), Kay Fawcett OBE – National Lead for the Care Certificate, Derbyshire Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Helen Wilcox – MBE, CEO, Woodford Home Care & Support Services, the membership of the group is being extended to include a wider representation from adult care.
Helen said:
“This is an important piece of work for our sector and a great opportunity for employers across the Adult Social Care spectrum to come together with our health colleagues to develop an integrated apprenticeship that would span health and social care.
We need employers and subject matter experts who have a good understanding of adult social care roles and the skills required. An understanding of apprenticeship standards would also be an advantage.
If you feel you have the breadth of knowledge of workforce development and how apprenticeships can be embedded to support employee development, then we would like to hear from you”.
Want to join?
If you are an employer working in the adult care sector and are interested in joining the Trailblazer group please complete this short survey by 12pm 12th March. To keep group numbers manageable the chairs will allocate places. If you express an interest but are not selected to join the group this time, you can choose to be added to a circulation list to receive notification about future consultations so that you can still have your say.
FAQs
1 – What does a Trailblazer group do?
Write the apprenticeship standard, the assessment plan and develops costings that are submitted to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE). Other stakeholders like training providers and assessment organisations will also join the Trailblazer employers to offer their expertise. Working with the relationship manager from IFATE, the project team will support the chairs and the Trailblazer group to develop and submit the necessary documents. Skills for Health is providing facilitation support to this Trailblazer.
2 – How often does the Trailblazer meet?
Meetings are held virtually at present and take place for a couple of hours a month.
3 – What is my responsibility?
To bring your experience and opinion to the group and use it to edit and inform the apprenticeship standard.
4 – Will I need to do anything between meetings?
Yes, after most meetings you will have some homework to do. Most commonly this will be suggesting edits to the documents the group is working on but may also include sharing links to consultations with your networks, sharing job descriptions or examples of best practice from your own organisation.
5 – How long does the development take?
The Trailblazer group will meet regularly for about 12 months whilst developing the apprenticeship standard. Once published sometimes there is a need to make revisions. In those cases the group will be reconvened for any tasks that are not able to be managed by chairs actions alone.
6 – Do I need to take on apprentices?
Employer members of the group should join with the intention of taking on apprentices once the apprenticeship is available.
7 – Does the group plan implementation?
No, the Trailblazer group is not responsible for planning the implementation of apprenticeships. This is done locally by employers working with training providers and end point assessment organisations.