Top Tips and Frequently Asked Questions

4 Good reasons to invest in training

1. It demonstrates a commitment to your staff's personal and professional development
2. This can lead to increased motivation, morale and retention of staff, reducing staff turnover and recruitment costs
3. It demonstrates to customers, funders, care home inspectors and others that you are serious about the development of your staff and improving standards of care
4. People living with dementia and their family carers deserve good quality person-centred care now - training can help us all in our fight to give them that!

Some tips for preparing for training

Commissioning training for your staff is an important investment.  Here are some questions you may wish to consider to help yourself prepare and make sure you get the most out of your investment:

• Why is training needed?  Is it part of a training strategy within your organisation?  If the training is in response to an inspection report recommendation, make sure you take time to think how you will introduce the training.
• Have you consulted staff about what their training and learning needs may be, or undertaken a training needs analysis?  You could do this through questionnaires, team meetings, focus groups, discussion during supervision sessions etc
• Have you talked to other key groups about what training they think is needed (e.g. service users, family carers, funders etc)?
• Is training the best method for meeting these needs?  If so, how will training fit within other frameworks, such as supervision and team meetings, reflective practice, reading/internet research etc?
• Who needs to be involved in the planning and delivery of the training?
• Who is the training for?  Is it for all staff?  Who would most benefit from certain topics - try to think creatively (e.g. sending your catering staff on an activities course may well give them ideas for making mealtimes fun!)
• Where and when will the training take place?  How will you organise staff cover?
• Have you considered venue, catering costs, the cost of paying for staff time to attend training and other 'hidden costs'?
• Are there other agencies with whom you can organise joint training to reduce costs?
• How will you know that the training has been a success?

• How might you support changes in care practice that may come about as a result of the learning gained by staff?

5 Tips for making the most of training after delivery

1. Try and meet with staff members within 2-3 weeks of them attending training to discuss their learning and how they will put it into practice
2. We provide each learner attending our courses with a reflective practice tool to prompt this discussion
3. Discuss learning needs during regular team meetings and how your care practices and/or procedures may need to be updated to reflect learning gained during training
4. Reflective Practice Sessions are an excellent way of helping staff focus on learning and how to put this into practice in the workplace. Discuss with your Learning Partnership Manager (LPM) how Reflective   Practice Sessions could help you to improve standards of care
5. Keep a record of all staff training, this will provide useful evidence of learning and continuous professional development, for care home inspectors and others

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we choose the right courses for our staff?

Assuming you have already spoken to your staff about their learning needs and/or conducted a Training Needs Analysis, look at the One and Two Day Courses, and the Certificate Programme ' Working with People with Dementia and their Carers' and see which courses match expressed needs. Try not to think exclusively about staff roles!  For example, an activities focussed course such as 'Spicing Up Life for People with Dementia' could be of interest to care workers, catering staff etc as well as activity co-ordinators (as the course considers the therapeutic benefits of activities of daily living such as personal care, mealtimes etc).  If you need guidance in choosing titles, speak with your LPM who will be able to help. 

Do you offer discounts for smaller organisations or on packages of on-going training?

We can offer a reduction for smaller charities (less that 20 staff) and single - proprietor residential homes.  If your organisation is hoping to commission an on-going package of training we may also be able to negotiate discounts with you, please speak to your LPM for details.

Can we commission training in partnership with another care provider to save money?

Of course!  If you have a small team of staff and wish to link up with a similar local care provider in order to fill places, that is fine!  This is a great way to share the cost of training and it will give both sets of staff opportunity to share ideas, experiences, learning from each other and develop support networks.

Is there financial assistance available to help pay for training?

A number of funding sources exist that may be able to help you pay for training for your staff e.g. Skills for Care can advise on issues related to workforce development funding.

We've recently had an inspection which recommended training for our staff, can you help?

Yes, but make sure you do not rush into organising training.  Neither should you leave organising training until just before your next inspection visit is due!  Take some time to consider exactly what training your staff may need - your inspector may be able to give you some advice regarding this.

Your Learning Partnership Manager will be happy to meet with you to discuss your learning needs and support you in developing a training plan for your organisation and staff.