Praise for Academy of Care Practitioners initiative

The National Assembly’s Health and Social Care Committee report on residential care today singled out a Care Forum Wales
initiative, the Academy of Care Practitioners, for praise.

The Academy of Care Practitioners aims to improve the
professionalism and training for those working in the care sector and is the first body of its kind in the UK.

Chair of Care Forum Wales, Mario Kreft, said: "Care Forum Wales is pleased
with the main thrust of the report.  We are particularly pleased to see
one priority chiming with a long running campaign of ours [the Academy of Care Practitioners]."

The report said: "Improving the status of care
workers and promoting their professionalisation [sic] are key considerations for
improving services for older people in residential care. These should be
priorities for the Welsh Government and should include work to further develop
career pathways for social care staff. To this end the Committee welcomes the
re-establishment of the Academy
of Care Practitioners."

• Read the Health and Social Care Committee’s full report here

Mario Kreft added: "This is an important piece of work and we welcome
the broad thrust of its recommendations. The report recognises the importance
of improving the status, professional development and training of care
workers as a way of improving services for older people in residential care.

"We
are particularly pleased about the committee’s support for our initiative in
establishing the Academy of Care Practitioners – the first body of its kind to be
established in the UK
– which embodies all these aspirations. It was good to see that the report also
recognised the growing importance of the independent sector in providing social
care.

"There was an acknowledgement that, in many instances the independent
sector has replaced public sector provision because it can offer lower
operating costs, and that it will continue to make a significant contribution
to the residential care sector.

"There was also a welcome emphasis on the
importance of working in partnership to ensure the best possible social care
services are delivered cost-effectively. Given the economic backdrop, it is
more important than ever that we get the Memorandum of Understanding back on
track to ensure meaningful collaboration with local authorities and others who
commission services. At a time of austerity, we need to be doing things better
and more cost-effectively so we can focus resources at the sharp end of social
care."

• The
  National Assembly for Wales
  Health and Social Care Committee enquiry did not include care homes providing
  nursing care.

• Read the BBC’s coverage of the report here