What a difference a year makes! In previous episodes of ‘Care to chat’ the Northern Ireland Social Care Council have followed the conception of the Care in Practice Framework (the CiP Framework), and the introduction of a brand-new level 2 qualification: Level 2 Certificate in Safe and Effective Practice. Much work across the sector has meant that this area of social care workforce reform is now showing the impact of these changes.
Finding a passion in social care as a career is something over 42,000 people in Northern Ireland are already doing. In this episode we hear from those social care practitioners who have seen the difference the CiP Framework and its continuous professional learning pathway, and the current work on a qualification pathway to support career progression, are making.
We welcome Paul Rooney, Professional Adviser, Social Care Council, Drew Smiley, Social Care Manager, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (Belfast Trust), John Muldoon, social care practitioner and Assistant Manager, Extern, Afonso Afonso, Homecare Operational Manager, Belfast Trust and Lyndsey Collins, Reablement Support Worker, Belfast Trust – all sharing their real-life insights, best practices, and career development tips and experiences of progression.
They talk about what they have noticed has changed in the last few years around the profession of social care in terms of career development and progression, the impact of the new Level 2 qualification for individuals and for the broader system, reinforcing that social care is a meaningful, values-based career that can be a lifelong profession.
As part of the episode Paul Rooney from the Social Care Council made the case for how things are changing for the better.
“Care matters. It matters to everybody, particularly for those who need it. It’s important that we development really good standards and really good development. If you want someone to stay and have a career in social care, then you have to provide the framework, the qualifications, the daily learning – you have to listen to what the needs are, and you have to make sure you deliver on that – and that’s what we have been trying to do with the sector.”
This podcast episode complements the ‘Social care – Making a difference’ campaign, an annual campaign which encourages people to consider social care as a career of choice and recognises the value of the social care workforce.
‘Care to chat’ releases a new episode every fortnight, discussing current topics about social care and social work regulation in Northern Ireland. Listen to ‘Care to chat’ wherever you find your favourite podcasts including Apple, Spotify, or on our website at: niscc.info/care-to-chat-podcast, where you can find all the new episodes and episodes from our previous series.
Episode 3: ‘Road to development’ – Career development in social care (45 minutes)
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As the Care to chat podcasts are designed with the social care and social work workforce in mind, we would like to invite suggestions of topics that our listeners would be interested to hear covered. If you have questions, suggestions or feedback about the podcast, email: comms@niscc.hscni.net.