All contact information for the GCPA team can be found at the foot of the bulletin.
Please note, from 01/05/2024, only 2024/25 members will receive our newsletters. If your organisation does not renew it’s 2023/24 membership by this date, you will not be granted access to newsletters and members-only information until renewal is complete.
Please read all of this email, respond accordingly and pass on to any of your staff who may have not yet been registered through the website, thank you.
GCPA 2024/25 memberships are now open for renewal. The memberships will be moved to a rolling contract, where your organisation will gain a 12-month membership on the day you renew.Only the lead account holder for your GCPA membership will begin with an account on the new site, they can the invite other email addresses to join the team in their account dashboard once the membership has been renewed.
We are pleased to announce that membership prices have been frozen once again, with no changes to the pricing structure taking place since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Each provider will be given a one-month grace period where all member benefits (including subscription to the GCPA newsletter) will remain available until 01/05/2024, to allow you chance to renew.
A very big “thank you” to those of you who used the Trusted Assessor scheme in 2023/24. For eight months of the scheme (June – January), we saved over £170,000 for you and the wider system!
We are pleased to announce that the scheme has been successful to date and will continue.
There has been a change in the Team as Netty has moved on to another role in social care – we wish her all the very best for the future.
Therefore, please continue to send any referrals to ta@gcpa.co.uk or contact Kate directly – Tel: 07354 842328.
Remember to leave a message if Kate is busy, so that Kate can process your request as soon as possible. We aim to respond to all contacts within 24 hours (Mon-Fri).
New Mobile App for International Recruits and Care Providers
GCPA, with the support of system partners, have worked with Piota Apps to launch a new application called Healthzone UK. This app aims to ease the transition into the UK for international recruits working in the care sector, in Gloucestershire.
From locating your nearest supermarket, to finding out how to access Vivup employee benefits and reading up to date articles on modern slavery and exploitation; this app allows recruits to access all information in one place.
All information placed onto this app can and will be updated regularly, we will also look to add more when relevant.
Whilst this app is aimed primarily at international recruits, all information can be relevant for registered managers and other members of staff and we encourage anyone to download it.
Healthzone UK is available on the Apple or Google store. When the app has been downloaded, it will ask you to search for the system required. Please search “Linking Gloucestershire”
CareLineLive Webinar – 17 April 2024
From Care Quality Commission:
“Following consultation earlier this year, we have now published final guidance to help providers understand and meet the new fundamental standard on visiting and accompanying in care homes, hospitals, and hospices.
The guidance also sets out what people using health and social care services and their families, friends or advocates can expect.
The consultation was limited to our guidance about the new fundamental standard. It did not cover the scope and content of the visiting legislation itself, which was subject to the government’s own consultation last year.
There were a total of 553 unique respondents to our consultation. We are grateful to everyone who gave their feedback.
People often expressed support for the principles contained in the guidance and fundamental standard and related this to their own experiences.
We also received a high level of agreement that the guidance provided clarity.
Across the 5 questions we asked to gauge agreement or disagreement that our guidance clarifies what is required of the relevant health and social care providers, an average of:
- 79% said they agreed or strongly agreed
- 8% said they disagreed or strongly disagreed.
We have used the feedback we received to improve our guidance. For example, we have added further clarity to help providers understand what they must do to make sure they respect the right of each person to receive visits and to be accompanied.
We have published our guidance ahead of the timescale the government has set out for the regulation to come into force on 6 April 2024.”
Dementia Action Week – 13-19 May 2024
Learn how increasing your activity and maintaining social connections can have an impact on reducing your risk of dementia.One Gloucestershire will have stalls at these locations where you can ask questions and learn more about their services:
Monday 13th May: Tesco, Cinderford (10am-3pm) Tuesday 14th May: Stow Market Place (10am-3pm) Wednesday 15th May: Stratford Park, Stroud (10am-3pm) Thursday 16th May: Tewkesbury Morrisons & Nature Reserve (10am-3pm) Friday 17th May: Gloucester City Farmers Market (9am-3pm) Friday 17th May: Westonbirt Festival entrance (9am-12noon) Saturday 18th May: Stroud Farmers Market (9am-2pm) Sunday 19th May: John Lewis, Cheltenham (11am-2pm)
Join Skills for Care in #CelebratingSocialCare this April
From Skills for Care:
“At Skills for Care, we celebrate social care year-round, but throughout April we’re going to be celebrating a little bit louder and we’d love to see as many people as possible do the same.
Social care is such an important part of society and the highly skilled, passionate, and hard-working people who work in social care make a vital contribution to our communities. That’s why we’re setting aside a full month dedicated to recognising the vital impact they have on people who draw on care and support, helping them to live their lives how they choose.
We hope you can join us in celebrating you, your colleagues, and the people you support this month.
How you can get involved:
You can get involved with #CelebratingSocialCare on social media by:
- shouting out your colleague, team, or manager for their great work or a recent achievement
- sharing a successful initiative that your organisation has been working on
- sharing some of the exciting activities that you’ve been doing lately as a team or with the people who you support
- sharing some feedback from the people who you support or their relatives about the impact your care and support has had in supporting them to do the things they love
- shouting out yourself for all your hard work
- sharing what you love most about working in social care
- shouting out the people who you support
- or saying thank you to everyone working in social care for everything they do.
Make sure to use #CelebratingSocialCare and tag @SkillsForCare on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook so we can share.
You could also:
- share your shout outs and good news stories in a blog on your website or in an email or newsletter
- or run an in-person event or activity with your team or the people who you support to celebrate social care – such as a coffee morning, an awards event, or a memory board.”