Boost for training in drugs
The Government is turning to vocational training in its latest move to tackle the country’s growing drug problem. A major review
of the training of drug workers is
being carried out in an attempt to
improve the quality of help offered
to users of street drugs.
The number of people seeking
help for drug problems has doubled
in the past 10 years. With
hundreds of voluntary organisations
involved in the rehabilitationand treatment of drug users, it is
not known what proportion of
staff are qualified for their jobs, or
to what level.
In an attempt to clear the mist, a
review of training requirements is
being carried out in a joint initiative,
led by the Home Office and
supported by the Department of
Health.
They will commission an outside
organisation to look at the
way workforce data is collected
and make recommendations
about what training is needed for the future in a move which could
see colleges and private training
providers playing a bigger role.
Government figures suggest
that £1 invested in helping people
with addiction can save society £9
by taking the strain off the criminal
justice system and reducing
the number of offences by users
feeding their habit.
Despite the lack of data, the
National Treatment Agency, the
NHS organisation responsible for
drug work, has set ambitious targets
for training. It says, by 2008, 75 per cent of
non-professionally-trained staff
should be at or working towards a
level 3 (A-level) qualification,
meeting national occupational
standards which have already
been drawn up for the wider
health and social care sector.
With many of these staff having
no prior qualifications, the NTA
admits the target is ambitious.
Colin Bradbury, treatment
delivery manager at the NTA,
said: “The challenge and focus is
now very much in ensuring that
the workforce is sufficiently competent
and has the skills to meet
the requirements of the client
group it serves.
Everyone
acknowledges that more work
needs to be done in this area.”
The NTA’s targets also stipulate
that 60 per cent of professionallytrained
staff should be undertaking
professional development and
90 per cent of managers should be
doing, or have done, management
training.
John Rogers, chief executive of
Skills for Health, said: “We havecome a long way in the past three
years. We have national occupational
standards. The situation is
less than perfect, in the sense that
people are not able to put their fingers
on the figures straight away,
but we are working towards that.”
Already, he says the size of the
workforce has been increased to
take account of the increasing
number of users seeking help.
“We have increased the numbers
but, now, the focus will be
very much on quality and workforce
development,” he said.
Jo designs course for staffwho include former users
The Blenheim Project is tucked
away in the deceptively fashionable
Portobello Road in London’s
Notting Hill. Its frontage could
easily be mistaken for one of the
immodestly priced cafés which
populate the area, but the activity
behind the genteel facade is little
different to hundreds of similar
charities across the country.
It serves as a safe environment
and source of support and treatment
for users of street drugs —
increasingly crack cocaine.
The charity is being renamed
the Blenheim CDP as a result of a
merger with the Community
Drug Project, also based in London.
Many of the staff from both
organisations have qualified with
health and social care NVQs.
While these will have included
units on drug work, few of their
teaching sessions will have been
specifically structured for drug
workers.
Jo Palmieri, responsible for
training at the Blenheim, says she
regards this lack of focus on the
reality of the drug workers’ experience
as one of the chief weaknesses
of health and social care training
programmes on offer.
The
course is seen by some as too far
removed from the reality of drug
work, making it harder to recruit
and retrain people.
Ms Palmieri has developed a
new 10-month NVQ course with
Lynn James, who owns Quay
Assessment Training, a private
provider. It will run for the first
time from January, providing
NVQ level 3 (A-level equivalent)
qualifications on a programme
specifically for drug workers.
The core will cover areas such
as communication, health and
safety, and personal development.
Each candidate will take on an
additional four units of more specific
skills.
What makes the training different
is that the tutors, including
those provided by Blenheim CDP
itself, will have specialist knowledge
of the drugs field and the students
will be from the same area
of work.
Ms Palmieri said: “The NVQ in
health and social care includes
drugs, but quite often they will
find themselves in a room where
most people are not working with
drugs. So often the trainers would
not have that specialist knowledge
and the assessors would not be
professionally competent in the
drugs field. ”
She is passionate about the abilities
of the staff at the Blenheim.
Many of them are former drug
users. She said their special
understanding of vulnerable people
“is the main reason our clients
keep coming back”.
Yet getting
them to a level 3 qualification will
not be easy in all cases, with some
lacking basic schooling.
She said: “They will have to take
responsibility for some of their
own learning if necessary by
going to college and catching up if
they have no previous qualifications.
But they will end up with a
qualification to show for all the talent
which we know they have.”
The course is funded by Barnet
College, a centre of vocational
excellence for health.
Miss James has worked in the
City, where she has seen
drugs destroy the careers — and
lives — of some high-flying professional
people. She said: “I know
from experience that, however
clever you are, you can be
vulnerable.
“We are not likely to make
money out of this but I’m in the
privileged position of being able to
do a couple of things that I think
are worth doing whether they
make money or not.”
The Project: Quay Assessment Training –Star Care
Background to the project
Qualifying the Social Care Workforce is a major plank of Government Policy in
health and social care. The Care Standards Act (2000) set specific targets
and deadlines for National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) achievement, with
the longer term objective that all care workers will hold qualifications
appropriate to their job role and grade. This was a major shake-up for the
sector: care workers traditionally have a wealth of knowledge, skill and
experience, but relatively few held formal qualifications of any type and fewer
still the specific awards now cited as the national minimum standard.
In 2002, domiciliary care employers in the London Borough of Southwark
decided to meet the challenge in partnership with each other and the Social
Services Department. Together they identified the volume of new NVQ
awards the sector would need to achieve Care Standard Act targets.
They
made a realistic assessment of the individual pressure on care workers (now
required to gain a job-essential qualification); the stress on services in
sustaining a major programme of learning and, crucially, the gap between
funding currently available for training and the cost of running a successful
NVQ programme. ESF/LSC co-financing was identified as a potential source
of support and funding. Social Services Training Section offered to coordinate
a bid to the 2002 funding round. That bid encapsulated an ambitious plan –to
apply the successful model of NVQ delivery that Quay Assessment Training
had developed for the Council’s in-house care workers across a much greater
number of learners, from a much bigger range of organisations.
The bid was successful and from it, StarCare I was launched. Through this
project, 210 Care workers embarked on their NVQ Level 2 award. The
programmes were delivered by two Assessment Centres, Quay Assessment
Training and Lambeth College. When StarCare I completed, in June 2004,
over 80% of the care workers has achieved their award. Several more
achieved shortly afterwards.
The crowning accolade for StarCare was
winning the London Central LSC 2004 Award for Championing Equality
and Diversity.Brokerage for Skills is a direct successor to StarCare. The overall programme
has now expanded to offer NVQs at Levels 2, 3 and 4. Care workers from
Day Services and Residential Homes are increasingly represented and a new
NVQ Assessment Centre, DDL has joined the partnership. The NVQs
themselves are funded from a variety of sources, but this time the ESF/LSC
resource is targeted at providing the crucial support and training candidates
need to prepare for and succeed in their Award.
The Star Care Brokerage for Skills Project has two main objectives:
1. To improve small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) general access to
Skills for Life training and vocational short courses
2. To deliver direct support to 200 SME employees to help them achieve a
National Vocational Qualification in Care.
The Project targets those people in the care workforce who need most help to
gain qualifications and thus, secure their place in the labour market. To
achieve its ends, the project forges links across a wider partnership and
create collaborative systems for the lasting benefit of the care sector.
Did you know the average carer on this project visits a minimum of 5 clients per week, therefore this ESF funded project is benefiting over 1000 people who receive care in Southwark alone (plus those who are receiving the training)
Training and Support
Training and Support One great ambition this project realises is to create a culture of learning among its beneficiaries. Every carer passes on learning to their counterparts. Many of the learners currently working towards Level 3 awards gained their Level 2 with StarCare 1 –this places them in an ideal position to mentor and encourage their colleagues. Training is provided on the job –assessors shadow the learner’s en situ, witness statements and testimonies can be used along with evidence from the learner’s portfolios to show the knowledge and understanding gained to prove they have the competence to do the job and gain the qualification.
Targeting
97 per cent of the learners from this project are from disadvantaged backgrounds, BME, lone parents etc. More traditional routes to self-development (eg through evening classes etc) are not open to many care workers, who may be balancing their demanding job with child care and other family commitments. Employers find it difficult to cover staff absence at the level most day-release courses require, especially if a lot of their staff are working part time. Wholly work-based NVQs are not always the answer, because some learners need protected space for training, portfolio building and the support of peers. Many learners on this project are the main breadwinner for the family and have no time to go college –therefore this project is an excellent way for them to learn. Many of the learners on this project have additional needs such as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) or literacy problems.
Outcomes to date
All of the learners on this project may have faced redundancy had they not
been supported to gain essential NVQs. The NVQ will certainly improve
career prospects, whether this is reflected in better pay, a wider range of job
opportunities or access to higher levels of learning and self-development.
Many learners on the project said that their VQ certificate was the only
certificate they have ever held!
From the employers perspective this project will:
. Help people to gain a recognised qualification
. Show competencies matched with knowledge and experience
. Instils the belief in people that they can do the job well
. Show the individual is qualified and competent.
ESF Matters –making a difference to people’s lives
The Project BeneficiariesGrace has already completed her NVQ Level 2 in Care and is working
towards her Level 3 qualification. She has worked in the industry for more
than 10 years in various care jobs in hospitals and hospices. Grace explained
the importance of her having gained her NVQ Level 2 in Care through this
project as without it she wouldn’t be able to carry on her work in the industry.
Grace says that her NVQ has helped her to build on the years of experience
she has already gained through working in the industry but that the knowledge
of how to do this in a structured manner has really helped her. She explained
how she has learnt to communicate with clients in difficult and often stressful
situations –Grace works a lot with the elderly and says it is important to put
them at ease and make them comfortable and happy –often she is treated
like part of the family, communication, compassion and professionalism are
paramount.Grace said that she found the units on Health and Safety, First Aid, Working
with the Elderly, Communications and Food Hygiene particularly useful –she
said she really enjoys the course even though it is hard work!
Akeem said that he is finding the NVQ Level 3 more challenging than the
NVQ he has already gained.
He has been in care work since 1994 and feels
that doing the NVQ has pulled together all the things he already knew and
helped him with the things he didn’t.
LeftAkeem is passionate about his job and wants to make sure that his clients
have the best care possible. Previously Akeem was doing things that he
wasn’t necessarily confident doing but the training has helped him to become
more confident and know what to do in many situations. For example, in the
past when elderly clients have fallen over he wasn’t one hundred per cent
sure about the correct way to pick them up without causing further injury to
the client or indeed himself! The Health and Safety NVQ unit has taught how
to do this in a safe and effective manner.
Ngozi has been working in care for years to put her children through education, her daughter has just gained her degree and Ngozi thought it was her turn!
Funding
The Project is funded £277,075, it will finish in 2007.
For further information on the project please contact Lynn James on 020 8302
4821.
For further information about European Social Funding please visit:
www.esf.gov.uk www.londoncentrallsc.gov.uk
www.go-london.gov.uk
Learning and Skills Council
The LSC exists to make England better skilled and more competitive. We are responsible for planning and funding high-quality vocational education and training for everyone. We have a single goal: to improve the skills of England’s young people and adults to world-class standards. Our vision is that by 2010, young people and adults in England have the knowledge and skills matching the best in the world and are part of a truly competitive workforce. Established in 2001, we work nationally, regionally and locally from a network of offices across the country.
