Blog

When working as a nurse or health care assistant in the adult care sector, care homes or hospital setting, you will be caring for adults with a range of physical and mental health conditions. Many of these adults are incredibly vulnerable and need the understanding of caring and professionally trained staff. It is vital that all care staff and nurses keep themselves up to date with all aspects of caring for vulnerable adults and those with mental health conditions and challenging behaviours. Read More

Vaccines protect patients against infectious diseases and are a vital part of international efforts to improve public health. They are one of the most effective, and safest, tools which exist for healthcare professionals to keep their patients safe from many serious illnesses. However, in recent years there has been an upsurge in scepticism amongst the public about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, so it is essential to understand how vaccination works, and why they are both safe and effective. Read More

In the healthcare sector, it is inevitable that professionals and the organisations they work for will use and process large amounts of individuals’ personal data. The use, storage, and processing of personal data within health and social care is governed by a wide range of legislation and guidelines which we outline in this article Read More

Person-centred care is a term used to describe care which is responsive to an individual’s personal circumstances, values, needs and preferences. By adhering to person-centred care principles, staff are empowered to cut through the processes and systems to provide care which is specific to the patient’s individual requirements. Read More

Raising awareness of the importance of oral health by supporting patients and residents with good daily mouth care. Equip your workforce with the tools and knowledge needed to ensure good oral healthcare. A guide for Care Home Managers and all staff working with patients who require assistance with their oral health and passing your CQC inspection. Read More

Phlebotomy was known as bloodletting when it was first used and dates back to the ancient Egyptians, around 1000 BC. They believed that the process of releasing blood from the body would cure various diseases, such as the plague and acne. Read More

10 tips for health professionals to communicate sensitively and empathically about weight. Guest blog written by our expert partners The College of Contemporary Health. This article tackles how we can raise the issue of weight in a way that facilitates patient-practitioner interactions that are both productive and positive experiences. Read More

Care and Support West, a leading body representing social care and health providers in the South West has joined up with Skills for Health’s Skills Platform to create an integrated online training hub for local providers. Responding to member feedback, Care and Support West has worked with the Skills Platform tackle to tackle urgent issues surrounding the provision of quality, evidence-based training in the adult care sector. Read More

The Skills Platform and Zoe Amar Communications have today launched the Charity Digital Skills Report 2018; the annual barometer which measures the progress of digital within healthcare charities and the wider sector. Top line results reveal incremental progress has been made; but is this slow pace of change fast enough and is a lack of digital capability causing healthcare charities to miss out on reaping the benefits of digital transformation. Read More

Overall, we’ve seen some improvements this year. A number of charities are using digital more strategically. There has however been little change in other areas, and I worry that the pace isn’t fast enough, given the speed of change in digital. Compared to last year, there is growing pressure on funders and charity leaders to raise their game online. And as a trustee, I’m concerned to read that the majority of charities either don’t know or aren’t aware of any plans to improve the digital skills of trustees. Read More

To help any organisation involved with apprenticeships this week (March 5th-9th), Skills for Health are offering 10% off any of their eLearning courses or packages. Check out the range of Skills for Health eLearning courses here and cost effective packages here. If you'd like something bespoke, just get in touch. Read More

The West Yorkshire & Harrogate Excellence Centre (WYHEC) has spent the Autumn period working with partner organisations across health and care as well as private, voluntary and not for profit sectors to identify key areas where they could collaborate to provide cross sector training to staff. Read More

This year, we are proud to be partnering with the Charity Learning Consortium to help expand the reach of the 2018 Charity Digital Skills Report. The Charity Learning Consortium offer cost effective, quality eLearning to more than two million people in the third sector across the UK Read More

The 2018 Charity Digital Skills Report has been launched with three key aims: To assess progress and changes in the sector following the 2017 report. To allow individual charities to reflect on changes they have made over the last 12 months. To allow charities to benchmark themselves against sector averages. In addition, the 2018 report has added a section to help understand health charities and hospices in greater depth. Read More

The Skills Platform has launched a toolkit to assist those responsible for delivering the Care Certificate to new employees as part of their induction, and for upskilling current employees. It has been created for a wide range of health and care staff, from small independent care homes to large organisations with experienced learning and development teams Read More

Dementia and challenging behaviour sometimes go hand in hand on a daily basis if you work in a dementia care home. This could be mentally or physically from the person such as pushing you away or verbally shouting at you. Working in health and social care can be challenging at times and in this article we will provide you with some tips of dealing with challenging behaviour in dementia clients. Read More

Welcome back to the latest Skills Platform Training Bulletin for September. Whether you have kids at school or not, it certainly feels like it's back to work time this week. With this in mind, we've picked out some courses that might come in handy. Read More

In a webinar held on the 8 June, 2017 a panel of experts discussed the recent changes to apprenticeships and what this meant for training providers and employers. A transcript of the webinar is available to download but we have also pulled together these top tips to help you navigate some of the recent changes. Read More

With the office often half full though, it can be a good time to get through those annoying tasks like sorting your eLearning. through those annoying tasks like sorting your eLearning. To help you with this, we have prepared a Skills Platform Summer Special with up to 25% off eLearning from now until the end of August. Read More

Providing statutory and mandatory training is a key investment by NHS and healthcare employers, and despite budget constraints and time concerns, it can play a crucial role in ensuring a high level of care to patients. This article outlines guidance across health and social care, with tips for sector specialisms. Read More