COVID-19 Update (2020)

Hello Future Workforce Colleagues

We hope you are staying well.

As we all adjust to new models or work across the health and social care sector, we wanted to get in touch to say that even though these new circumstances are challenging, we are finding ways to continue the work we wanted to achieve together when we first set out on our Future Workforce journey.

In short, we are still here, and still very much focussed on keeping the show on the road.

What’s happened so far: 

Collective FW COVID-19 response:

• Redesigned our FW meeting approach for interim, workstream leads will be scheduling ‘Online meetings’ with you in the future

• Development, in partnership with Zoe Thomas- Skills for Care, of the ‘Social Care - RECRUITMENT & INDUCTION (COVID-19) Model 2020

• Halted face to face FW meetings

• Halted our in-school delivery

• Halted planned large-scale careers events for 2020

• Working with schools in rapidly developing a small suite of engaging homework materials that kids can complete as part of their home learning connected to H&SC

• Raising awareness by utilising the positive media profile for Social Care and the NHS

• Developing and updating the SYREC website

• Continuing our social media campaigns to inspire the next generation of the H&SC workforce

To also support this response, we are continuing with the following:

Community Initiatives

• Working with the sub-group members (sector-wide - local authority, social care, DWP and NHS)

• Communications plan to reach people in their home and community spaces.

• Developing programme of events that all the community can attend, in each place area.

• Established working partnerships with voluntary community groups in each place area.

• Developing resources on SYREC website for community to access.

Schools Engagement

•Continuing to develop classroom-based learning activities that ‘wrap around’ the ‘We Care into the Future’ and other careers events. The team’s activities are focusing on: Showcasing the full range of job roles, highlighting estate, hospitality and business functions alongside clinical roles, challenging preconceptions, selling career progression within H&SC

• Showing all the step-in points and challenging preconceptions that you must go to university to get anywhere

•Continuing to work on CPD for teachers in readiness for a first CPD to run in Autumn of this year

•Producing labour market infographics so that kids, teachers and parents can see where the best jobs will be in our localities over the next 5 years and beyond

Existing Workforce

• Task and Finish Groups progression – Functional skills, New Social Care Role and MHFA

• Launching of the CASS Career Pathway – April 2020

• Ongoing development of the ‘Funding’ Calendar to financially support the initiatives from within Future

   Workforce

• Support ‘Up skilling’ to facilitate the transfer into new roles

• Connected Apprenticeship Workstream ensuring a joint strategic approach

• Continue the exploration of Continuous Personal Development (CPD) delivery models – developing best practice

What this summary shows is that we have a strong team which is co-producing solutions to long-standing issues together. These solutions will be very useful in the post-COVID-19 world we will find ourselves in. Therefore, your sub-group chairs will be in touch over the next couple of weeks to see how we can sustain this work, and enable Jo to keep reporting progress to the LWAB/Integrated Care System (ICS) Boards who are still observing our work with interest. Part of this will be prompting you to make an honest assessment of how much of your time you can give us at the present time. We know all parts of the system are under pressure, and we don’t want to burden you with extra work. 

Many Thanks for your dedication over the past year, we will be in touch shortly.

Stay safe and keep well.

Jo, Hayley and James