Over 200 health workers to benefit from a new training boost

Health and social care settings in Greater Manchester are set to benefit from a new training programme aimed to upskill 220 workers.

Last week, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) announced that people from Greater Manchester working in health and social care are being given the chance to progress their careers by completing the Diploma Level three qualification.

The scheme will be delivered by one of the UK’s leading trading providers, Realise, as part of the city’s Adult Skills Level Three Targeted Offer which provides a ‘single-pot’ approach to the funding of Level three qualifications.

GMCA’s overall programme will deliver level three training to 4,000 residents across multiple sectors, including manufacturing, professional services, digital and creative retail and hospitality and logistics.

The news has been announced by the local authority after the government unveiled their new NHS workforce plan which highlighted plans to hopefully improve pressures the NHS are facing but failed to outline plans for the social care sector.

However, the Adult Care Diploma, which takes between eight and nine months to complete, is open to anyone working in health and social care over the age of 19, with a Greater Manchester postcode and who doesn’t have a level three qualification – typically an apprenticeship, A levels or a diploma.

Unemployed learners and those working but earning below the GMCA low wage threshold are also eligible, and are able to undertake a second level three qualification. The course is at no cost to either the learner or their employer with 220 health and social care workers in Greater Manchester set to benefit.

As well as the mandatory elements of the training programme, the diploma provides the opportunity to focus on certain specialisms including autism and Dementia.

Adrian Grove, Sales Director and lead for health and social care for Realise, said: ‘One of the main challenges facing the health and social care sector at present is the high number of vacancies being recruited for, with some national estimates putting that figure as high as 160,000.

‘Part of those recruitment challenges are the lack of a clear career pathway for support workers and senior support workers to progress. The diploma we are delivering is designed to offer precisely that progression.

‘Not only will this provide opportunities for people working within health and social care to upskill, it will also help ease the pressure on health and social care settings from a recruitment standpoint and drive improvement in the delivery of the care.’

Sessions will be delivered both inside and outside of the candidate’s current working environment through a combination of online webinar training, face-to-face visits and observations. 

Image: Ashkan Forouzani