Bracknell Forest Council Win Care Accolades

Bracknell Forest Borough Council has been voted national Winner of Winners at the Skills for Care Accolades honouring their pioneering work with people with dementia.

{mosimage}The local authority beat off stiff competition from all over the country to win the Most Innovative New Type of Worker or Way of Working at the glittering Accolades awards ceremony held at the Landmark Hotel, London last night.

They then carried off the Winner of Winners Accolade for their highly successful initiative to provide services to people with dementia enabling them to remain in their own homes.

The far-reaching initiative centres on partnerships with the Berkshire Healthcare Trust and other stakeholders resulting in significant savings as admissions to hospital have dropped and 15 people with dementia did not have to access residential or nursing home care.

A survey of service users and their relative carers found they felt they were treated with respect, that their views were taken into account by Home Support Workers and there had been improvements in people who use services’ emotional and mental health.

The scheme came into being as a result of a pilot programme financed by Skills for Care under its New Types of Working initiative.

Skills for Care is the employer led authority on the training standards and development needs of nearly one million social care workers in England providing over £25 million in funding to support improved training and qualifications for managers and staff.

“The Skills for Care Accolades are the Oscars of the social care world and Bracknell Forest deserved to take the winner of winners prize after really impressing the judges with their innovative approach to making sure people with dementia were treated with respect and could remain in their own homes,” says Skills for Care Chief Executive Officer Andrea Rowe.

“Skills for Care Accolades not only recognise the very best practice across England that we can share with more than 25,000 care establishments but show how the significant investment in improving training standards and access is paying off.

“A better trained workforce benefits employees by giving them the skills to care for others to the very highest standards, it benefits employers because it reduces staff turnover which is a huge cost to the sector and, most importantly, it benefits those who receive care from workers who have developed a better understanding of the individual needs and rights to dignity and control of a hugely diverse group of people.”

Brackell Forest picked up the Winner of Winners Accolade and the Most innovative type of worker or way of working award, sponsored by Jackie Pool Associates, at the glittering gala awards evening at The Landmark Hotel, London last night.

The other winners for each category are…

Best employer of over 250 staff
ST. MONICA TRUST
Best employer of up to 250 staff
AMBER VALLEY ASSOCIATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH
Best training provider/assessment centre
DAWN HODGES ASSOCIATES
Best in-house training provider/assessment centre
ST. MONICA TRUST LEARNING & SKILLS DEPARTMENT
Best involvement of people who use services and/or carers in developing social care
TRAINERS FOR CHANGE (T4C)
Most innovative and effective recruitment initiative that brings new and returning people into the workforce
CARE FOR YOU
Most effective partnership for workforce development
TYNE & WEAR CARE
Most innovative model of practice learning for social work students
NOTTINGHAM CITY PRACTICE LEARNING TEAM
Most innovative new type of worker or way of working
BRACKNELL FOREST BOROUGH COUNCIL
Best employer promoting continuing professional development
HICA CARE HOMES
Best involvement of children and young people in workforce development
RECRUITS CREW
Best innovative practice on workforce development across partner organisations
NOTTINGHAM COUNTY COUNCIL – PRACTICE LEARNING SERVICE