Great news over the weekend from Skills for care.

They have launched new resources to support the core skills of social care workers .

Heres what they have to say….

Core skills include English, number, digital and employability skills such as problem solving and time management.

These skills are vital to providing high quality care and support, and ensure social care employers meet sector standards including CQC requirements and the Social Care Commitment.

We’ve got resources to help you ensure your workers have the right core skills.

• What are core skills and why do they matter is a quick introduction that explains what core skills are and why they matter so much in social care.

• Core skills: practical guide offers managers and team leader’s practical advice for developing core skills in the workplace. It also has sections about how people learn core skills and skills levels.
• The Core Skills Resource Library provides links to a range of practical resources to help workers and managers develop their own core skills.

This includes links to the Learning through Work pocket guides to support literacy and numeracy skills and guidance about building your own resilience, health and wellbeing. It also links to external learning resources from BBC Skillswise, Excellence Gateway and Digital Unite, amongst others.

Why core skills matter in social care

A report by UKCES claims that despite a surge in job openings, the number of positions left vacant because employers cannot find people with the skills or knowledge to fill them has risen by 130% since 2011 in the UK.

In the health and social care sector, it is reported that skills shortage vacancies – which occur when employers cannot find people with the right skills and qualifications to do the job – stood at just under 5% in the UK in 2013 (compared to 3% for total economy). And around 19% of health and social care employers reported having skills gaps in their workforce (compared to 15% for total economy).

With reports* suggesting that the social care sector will need around half a million more workers by 2030, with a wider range of skills and knowledge, it has never been more important to ensure that the workforce have the right core skills to deliver high quality care and support.

Act now!

As an adult social care employer, you are responsible for the skills of your staff, including core skills.

This means:

• checking staff have the right core skills needed to work safely and meet quality standards
• supporting staff to apply those skills effectively in daily practice
• enabling staff to develop their core skills further.

The resources we have developed will help you do this! You can download them from www.skillsforcare.org.uk/coreskills

*Size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England 2015 (Skills for Care, 2015).