MP Charlotte Nichols visits Samantha Sam, who we support to live independently in Warrington invited her MP, Charlotte Nichols to visit her at home. Charlotte started off by explaining the difference between local and national government and the different responsibilities they have. MP Charlotte Nichols (left) and Sam (right) Sam was keen to ask her why support workers are paid less than nurses. Sam said: “My support workers are counsellors, cleaners, medication administrators, cooks, wellbeing advisers and `wear many hats’; I don’t understand why they don’t get paid more. Charlotte explained that the NHS has a grading system based on the skills and experience of staff which doesn’t exist in social care. Charlotte talked about the need for parity between the sectors so staff could work in health or social care and their skills could be transferable. Charlotte said: “It was great to meet Sam and her support workers, to discuss how we can reform social care in England to give those who need care and support and those who provide it, the best quality support. Speaking to Sam, it was clear how her support makes a difference to her life – supporting her independence, enabling her to pursue her interests and hobbies, looking out for her emotional wellbeing, and providing continuity, safety and stability. Her support workers love their jobs but pointed out that it’s getting increasingly difficult to give the quality-of-care Sam has to everyone who needs it due to sustained co
Constructing a New Career in Social Care! Mark left university and worked in construction for six years. He’s now been working in care for nine. As part of his role, he learnt Makaton (a communication tool) to help communicate with the person he supports. You can now find him teaching Makaton workshops. “I feel as though Dimensions has put its faith in me.”
Adult Social Care Training. Learn more about our new induction process for all Support Workers and watch our Introduction to Induction video!
More Than A Provider – support providers join forces to call for social care change More Than A Provider is a collaborative of six non-profit learning disability and autism providers that share the same values. It is made up of MacIntyre, Choice Support, Dimensions, Certitude, United Response and the BrandonTrust, which have more than two hundred and forty years of experience between us. Our members work with more than 80% of local authorities in England and Wales and support more than 12,000 people. From bringing people out of institutions into the community to delivering employment programmes that bring economic investment to local areas; the group is determined to support government across key areas of policy – to be more than just providers of social care. The Social Care Future vision to ensure that people with a learning disability or autism live a ‘gloriously ordinary life’ inspired the collaboration.
