Skills for Care and National Skills Academy for Social Care set to merge

Skills for Care and National Skills Academy for Social Care are set to merge so they can “maximise the impact” of their “combined resources and expertise”.

Skills for Care is a charity working with social care employers on workforce development and the National Skills Academy for Social Care is a membership organisation created by social care employers to improve leadership and training.

Professor David Croisdale-Appleby, chair of Skills for Care, said: "Skills development is about enhancing the quality of care and support as well as raising the profile and ambition of the adult social care workforce. It is our shared belief that such ambitions can best be achieved through the integrated working that merging our two organisations can bring."

Jo Cleary, chair of the National Skills Academy for Social Care called it an “opportunity to demonstrate leadership to the sector at a time when the return on investment in workforce development must be improved”.

She added: “We believe we can do this by having one membership offer to all employers, whatever their size and to service users and carers as micro employers. Although we are already undertaking some excellent collaborative work, we both recognise that we can work in an even more integrated way and maximise the impact of our combined resources and expertise.”

The National Skills Academy for Social Care (NSASC) has been commissioned by the Department of Health to develop the Leadership Qualities Framework (LQF) for all staff within the adult social care workforce.

The NSASC was also mentioned in the adult social care White Paper launched this week, as it will be working with the new Leadership Forum to ensure care home managers are getting the support they need. See news story: www.carehome.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1557492/care-home-providers-will-have-to-regularly-monitor-managers-says-white-paper

Minister for Care Services, Paul Burstow called the proposed merger of Skills for Care and the National Skills Academy for Social Care “a positive step in bringing together the skills agenda for adult social care”.

He said: “It is good to see the two organisations coming together with the common aim of improving social care. The Department is looking forward to working closely with them on the shared agenda of building a workforce that is capable, confident and well-led, a workforce that will deliver the high quality care and support that people in our communities deserve.”

Image: Jo Cleary, chair of the National Skills Academy for Social Care