A senior manager at a south Cumbrian care home network has praised a scheme which has allowed staff to gain vital professional qualifications while working in the care sector.
In 2013 Barbara Redshaw, director of nursing at Risedale at Abbey Meadow in Barrow, formed a partnership with the University of Cumbria to train health care assistants. The aim was to help fill a predicted shortfall in trained staff in the future. Five years on, over 55 assistant care practitioners have taken part in the three year course with more to follow.
“It’s been a phenomenally successful course,” Barbara says. “The apprenticeship levy is the single best thing that has happened in health and social care in 20 years. I had to fund the assistant practitioner course in its entirety prior to the levy. Now, as a levy payer, 0.5% of our payroll goes into the government pot but we get it back if we spend it on apprenticeships.”
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