news
Local Company Nominated for National Award.
BC Consultants recently nominated local employer, Caddon Healthcare for the 2008 Scottish Modern Apprenticeship Awards, acknowledging its commitment and support to the Modern Apprentices who have trained with them whilst undertaking Scottish Vocational Qualifications with BC Consultants. The following is the article submitted to Skills Development Scotland:
Established in 2001 and based in Melrose, Caddon Healthcare Ltd provides services across a variety of settings in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. It has a bank of 65 registered nurses, nursing assistants and carers, two office staff and two directors, who manage the company. It aims to meet demands from a range of clients and individuals looking for nurses and carers for the following:
- Hospitals
- Nursing Homes
- 24 hour Crises Support
- Care and support at home
- Respite Care and Carer Support
- Cover for Staff Absences
- Advance cover for shifts
- Short and long term contracts
Caddon Healthcare is dedicated to providing a high quality service and is regulated by the Care Commission for Scotland and subject to its standards and recommendations. Its directors, Val Lacon and Diane Stavert, (pictured above), are enthusiastic about effective training and development of staff not only to grow their business and reputation but to give their team the best possible support and experience.
The directors have demonstrated their personal commitment to training, having completed the Introductory Diploma in Management before progressing to the SVQ Management award with BC Consultants. It was this link that led them to discover Modern Apprenticeships and the opportunities available for their staff.
Caddon Healthcare endeavours to provide its staff with essential knowledge and skills by offering a comprehensive programme of short courses and Modern Apprenticeships in health and Social Care sourced through BC Consultants.
After much negotiation, Caddon Healthcare was able to arrange for assessors to meet with Modern Apprentices in the various care settings for assessment and tutorials in the office, reimbursing travel expenses as appropriate. The company made time available for meetings and re-organised shifts and placements to allow for observations in the workplace.
Throughout the programme Caddon Healthcare was committed to the training of its Modern Apprentices, offering constant support and supervision, delivering workshops and ensuring the mandatory short courses were offered to meet the requirements of the MA programme.
Val and Diane made themselves available to the MAs and remained in contact with them to encourage progress and guarantee regular feedback. They ensured that they received regular updates from BC Consultants assessors, keen to determine if they could help in any way to further support their staff. Having contributed to the funding of the MA programme, they are thrilled that they have been instrumental in enabling staff to achieve goals and in some cases dreams after many years away from education and training.
It has often been difficult for adults going back to learning, but Caddon Healthcare has stood firmly by them throughout the MA programme, encouraging, supporting and praising as appropriate. The entire organisation has cheered them on and their achievements have been highlighted and announced in regular Staff Newsletters. Such recognition is never to be underestimated and the positive way in which the MAs have responded has prompted others to consider taking up the challenge.
The company seeks to match staff to the needs of clients and their particular situations, and allows for feedback and evaluation on a weekly basis to determine their success in doing so. Because Val and Diane know their team so well, they know who will be best suited where and with whom and similarly have known who would be committed to the MA programme and have been able to offer it to those who would make the most effective use of this opportunity.
Ensuring access to assessment in the workplace has not been easy. Because staff are scattered across a wide geographical area and throughout a variety of care settings, Caddon Healthcare has had to liaise with clients to ensure adequate training and assessment opportunities were available for the Modern Apprentices. Sometimes they would be working in people’s homes, so families would have to be contacted in order to make appropriate arrangements, confirming security and confidentiality at all times.
Where Modern Apprentices were based in hospitals or residential homes, obstacles had to be overcome regarding allocation of time for assessment when they were in as short-term agency staff and sharing shifts with employees of those establishments. Caddon Healthcare had to generate ongoing support and commitment from their clients as well as their own staff, if the MA programme was to work. They did so very effectively, creating goodwill for the company in the process, as well as promoting the positive aspects of the MA Programme throughout the Borders.
The Caddon Healthcare Staff Handbook contains the training policy and clearly outlines the objectives of the organisation in terms of development. It is issued to all members of staff and is prepared separately for each grade in order to be wholly pertinent and accurate.
The comprehensive induction programme is tailored to individual circumstances and involves the introduction to company protocols and procedures, the adherence to strict codes of confidentiality and professional conduct, health and safety requirements, as well as the initial identification of training needs.
Due to the isolating nature of the work involved, there is an emphasis on supervision so as to support staff members and the regular meetings with Assessors through the MA programme reinforced this contact, facilitating the exchange and impartation of care quality standards.
The company seeks to identify further training needs of individuals on an ongoing basis, primarily through close supervision and appraisal. By enabling the professional and personal development of staff thought the MA programme, Caddon Healthcare has encouraged an environment of mutual support and high standards of service.
The Care Commission’s National Standards state at 13 (c) that care providers must ensure that persons employed in the provision of the care service receive
(i) training appropriate to the work they are to perform; and
(ii) suitable assistance, including time off work, for the purpose of obtaining further qualifications appropriate to such work.
The Modern Apprenticeship programme has been the perfect model by which individuals and Caddon can meet these benchmarks.
Caddon Healthcare is committed to the effective training and support of all staff in order to be able to provide the best service of care. The Modern Apprenticeship Programme meets the requirements in a sector under pressure to meet national standards set by the Care Commission and the Scottish Social Services Council.
All the company’s Modern Apprentices have remained with Caddon Healthcare beyond their training and achievement of qualifications. The company and MA programme has therefore directly helped deliver improved quality care to vulnerable people in the community. Staff members, who have been through the programme, now have the confidence, knowledge and understanding to question situations in settings and are actively encouraged to do so, approaching their work with enthusiasm and integrity.
The organisation supports MAs as they continue to search for and identify ways in which improvements may be made. Through ongoing support and supervision, Val and Diane have enabled their staff to approach work in a new way, making use of all that they have accomplished, and demonstrating their confidence in each of them as individuals. The MAs valued the trust, loyalty and commitment shown to them by Caddon Healthcare whilst working toward their qualifications: their terrific efforts and achievements never went unnoticed or unappreciated.
Unfortunately, Caddon Healthcare was unsuccessful on this occasion, but we heartily congratulate the directors and staff on their nomination and wish them continued success within their skilled area.