Employers toolkit launched to develop workforce skills in Wales
By News Wales, , , ,

An online toolkit has been launched by the Care Council for Wales (CCW) to help employers know how best to support their Personal Assistants’ to develop their skills and knowledge through training and development.

The Employer toolkit for supporting the learning of Personal Assistants is aimed at people who employ or are considering employing a personal assistant.

Mared Llwyd, Workforce Development Officer at the CCW said: “The online toolkit provides useful guidance, examples and practical tools to help employers support their personal assistants to gain the skills they need to be confident and competent while carrying out their role. It will be a valuable resource for direct payment employers, the organisations which provide support, local authorities and personal assistants themselves, providing a source of consistent information and good practice examples. It also has useful links to organisations which provide support and training in Wales.”

The toolkit was developed and informed by a group, including organisations which support employers and personal assistants, local authority and direct payment employer perspectives and was also shaped by further feedback from across Wales.

Christina Thomas from the Direct Payments Support Service Network (DPSSN) said: “We welcome the toolkit as it addresses the gap in provision to develop new skills and training for those individuals working as personal assistants or thinking about doing so. The practical resource toolkit supports direct payment employers in their role to continually help develop a skilful workforce in such a growing industry.

“A personal assistant’s role is one that is very rewarding, and this toolkit can help to identify additional routes for individuals to gain that recognition that has been needed in the Welsh social care sector for so long.”

Roberta Hayes, Director of Learning and Development at the CCW said: “We recognise that personal assistants are an increasingly important part of the social care workforce in Wales as citizens increasingly plan and manage their own care and support.  Personal assistants value opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge to enable them to better support and understand the needs of their employer. The aim of this toolkit is to provide information to employers of personal assistants how to support their continued learning and development.”