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Challenging Expectations - a blog by Jayne Leeson MBE CEO of Changing our Lives
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Watching the Channel 4 We're the Superhumans advert for the Rio Olympics, shows us how as human beings we stretch ourselves, despite whatever adversity and personal challenges we experience. Disabled people are fitter, faster and high achievers. As CEO of Changing Our Lives, a rights based organisation, the Superhumans advert strikes a real chord with us as it's what we are all about; challenging expectations and the notion that some people are ‘too disabled’ to achieve! Read more here.
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A message from ARC - Apologies if you have experienced any disruption to our service recently. This has been caused by our relocation to a new office. We have only moved next door and there is no need for any changes to be made to your records of our address or contact details.
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 We would also like to extend a genuine, huge thank you to Darren, Sam and Mitch at Tasc Removals, for their friendly and efficient service and for going the extra mile to help our move go smoothly! |
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The Social Care crisis - where are we now? 
'Cuts and reform – the Cameron legacy for adult social care'
Astute post-Brexit article focusing on the duality of the last few years of political reform and how this has impacted on social care, including the Care Act 2014, and the associated agenda to improve support for carers, as well as adult safeguarding. Since then, we have seen the spending review, the cut to local authority grants - the blow of these not softened by the inequality of the planned 2% precept on council tax - and the National Living Wage - all adding considerable cost pressures on the sector. Read more here.
More about the impact of policy on the social care sector:
- Council tax "precept has been criticised in some quarters for raising inadequate funds, distributional concerns and for introducing ‘hypothecation’ into council tax revenue for social care". Read more here.
- Robin Bush, Chief Executive of Autism Together blames the huge shortfall in social care funding for the crisis in autism specific respite care, which he predicts is likely to worsen. Read more here.
- Henry Bewley, Senior Policy Officer, Health and Social Care, argues that we need to embrace the challenges and make difficult choices in order to see real improvements to quality in social care. Read more here.
- Although adult social care no longer has a minister of state, following the Department of Health's decision to make it the responsibility of a junior minister, Government denies that this reduces its status. Read more here.
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Feedback from the CQC Trade Association meeting - 13th July 2016
 Lisa Lenton, ARC England Director, attended the CQC Trade Association meeting on 13th July. The key points are summarised below for your reference:
Ratings – Current ratings up to 30th June 2016 – for adult social care the ‘Good’ rating has hit the 70% mark, for the first time.
The current overall ratings by service type were presented. Community social care continues to receive the best ratings. The least well performing remains to be Nursing Homes. It was noted that actually there is a large difference in the rating between residential homes and nursing homes and it was suggest that further analysis is required to understand why.
Learning Disability ratings - The analysis up to June 2016 was made available. The data clearly indicates that services that support people with learning disabilities overall have better CQC ratings. Read more here.
Please remember, ARC England is there to represent you at the trade association meetings! We regularly attend, so do let us know of any inspection issues or concerns and we will feed these directly to the meetings and get back to you!
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Also from CQC - Feedback from the CQC impact and value for money webinar,  19th July - joined by Lisa Lenton (ARC England Director) and Esther Oddy (Membership and Services Officer):
CQC provided us with some interesting statistics in the webinar held last week:
- 86% of provider information request returns said that CQC inspection had helped them to improve their service
- 45% said that completing the information request had helped them to identify areas for improvement
- 63% of all adult social care services improved from a RI rating when re-inspected
CQC are really keen to encourage providers to share their views on some of their early findings of the assessment of CQC’s impact and value for money via their provider online community, as well as to find out what activities providers are doing to prepare for inspection.
To provide your feedback, please complete the webform on the *provider online community here: (*member log in required). The web form will close on Monday 25 July at 6pm.
If you have not yet signed up as a member of the provider online community, you can do so here.
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Action against hate - The Government reveal  plans for tackling hate crime in England and Wales, following a rise in incidents after the EU referendum, but how far does this go to acknowledge and protect those with disabilities who may be targets of hate crime?
- Dimensions respond to Government plans, calling for more distinction for disabled people and clear statistical evidence to be gathered for this group, whose suffering is not currently acknowledged in law alongside race, religion and sexual orientation.
- Mate Crime is a term to describe what happens when people in vulnerable situations are abused or exploited by people they think of as friends. ARC’s ‘Safety Net’ project was the first in the UK to identify mate crime and spent three years raising awareness, developing resources and training a wide variety of professionals and people with learning disabilities. Our upcoming workshops address the law and policy, prevalence and typology, reporting issues and responses to mate crime.
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Mock Tribunal events - book your place today!
Following feedback from our Network Meetings regarding Sleep-ins, holiday pay and National Living Wage, providers are continuing to have difficulties in terms of possible claims from staff. To help support you with this, ARC have arranged for Flint Bishop LLP solicitors to provide practical help for you, your HR staff or Managers in the form of a Mock Employment Tribunal event.
The first of these events are now open for booking as follows:
- 8th September between 10am-1pm - York Innovation Centre, Science Park, Innovation Way, Heslington, York YO10 5DG - book your place here
- 19th September between 10am-1pm - Loughborough Town Hall Chambers, Market Place, Loughborough LE11 3EB - book your place here
Cost: £15 for ARC members (£25 for non-members).
The Mock Tribunal is based on a real-life scenario and will give you and your staff the opportunity to witness a true to life representation of a Tribunal hearing. You will experience giving evidence, cross-examination, judicial direction, closing submissions and it will provide an insight into how you can deal with the pitfalls and problems that may arise should you find yourself in a Tribunal situation.
This will be a great development opportunity for you or your managers.
For more information please contact Esther.Oddy@arcuk.org.uk or 01246 555 043
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'Harold and Kate: an appreciation' - In her latest blog, Andrea Sutcliffe
(Chief Inspector of  Adult Social Care, CQC) pays tribute to the lives of Harold Bodmer, President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, who died suddenly last week, and Dr Kate Granger who died with her husband Chris and loved ones by her side at St. Gemma's Hospice in Leeds last weekend. Read more here.
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'Celebrating Sensory Environments' - ARC members Havencare and Heart of England Mencap both reveal exciting new plans for their sensory developments, showing how they are helping people to enjoy activities and build relationships in a conducive, safe atmosphere.
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 Havencare has embarked on an exciting project to develop an all-encompassing sensory garden, including allotments, for people with Learning Disabilities and Autism.
Aptly named ‘The Haven’, the sensory garden will be created in partnership with Brook Housing (also a registered charity). They have kindly donated land needed for this fantastic project.
The aim is to have a space where people can enjoy growing their own vegetables, fruits and flowers and learning valuable life skills along the way. There are plans for a sensory undercover space for the most vulnerable people with complex needs to also enjoy. A great place to visit to just sit, have a cup of tea or a picnic, and watch what is going on! This space will enable people to achieve outcomes in their independence, accessing the community, building relationships, meaningful occupation and more. Read more.
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Heart of England Mencap are currently putting plans together to develop a sensory  space at their Fordsfield Centre in Royal Leamington Spa.
The ‘Sensory Place’ will be a centre of excellence and best practice and will benefit customers and their parents and carers, by providing a safe and calm environment to enjoy quality time together. The centre will offer a flexible, stimulating atmosphere which builds confidence and encourages communication and choice making. Its objective is to remove the obstacles present in day to day life which limit access to experiences, and enjoyment of life for their customers with complex learning disabilities. The facility will also be available to other members of the community including school children with learning disabilities, older people with dementia and Alzheimer's and local hospices.
Helena Wallis CEO, Heart of England Mencap said: ‘We’re thrilled to have been successful in our recent bid to Warwickshire County Council, to create a sensory space, for people of all ages, and disabilities. The grant is for a significant sum and will enable us to improve life experiences and enjoyment for individuals with complex needs'.
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ARC Disclosure and Barring Service
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Attention! Did you know?... 
- ARC England offer a Disclosure Service to help you in your recruitment process
- Our Disclosure Service is on line providing a faster service than ever before
- You can download e-certificates (Clear Certificates only) - no more chasing your applicants for their Disclosure Certificate
- ARC members receive a discount on the administration fee!
What our customers say...
"Amazing speed with which disclosures come back!
Great for the recruitment process"
"We really appreciate your help with our DBS checks"
"Thank you for your excellent service!"
Can we be of service to you?...
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Reports, resources and guidance
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Seeability - 'Delivering an equal right to sight' 
People with learning disabilities experience an alarmingly high level of sight problems and yet many are still missing out on potentially life-changing sight tests. Seeability are calling on NHS England to deliver a more inclusive system of eye care for adults and children with learning disabilities. Find out more about the campaign here.
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 NHS Quick guides: 'Managing care home closures': a good practice guide for local authorities, clinical commissioning groups, NHS England, CQC, providers and partners. Download the guide here.
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Public Health England - Learning Disabilities Bulletin - 
Useful bulletin with a summary and link to each resource, including the NHS England 'Learning disabilities made clear toolkit: supporting people with a learning disability access healthcare'.
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 'Size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce' a new report from Skills for Care, including an infographic. Some of the key findings are:
- The number of adult social care jobs in England as at 2015 was estimated at 1.55 million. An increase of 1% and 12,500 jobs since 2014.
- The number of people doing these jobs was estimated at 1.43 million.
- The number of full-time equivalent jobs was estimated at 1.11 million.
You can read more and download the report here.
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Discharging older people from acute hospitals - 
The Public Accounts Committee report challenges the Government to address the scale and cost of delays in discharging older patients from hospital, concluding 'Patients and the NHS have a right to expect better.' See here to find out more and to download the report.
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 NDTI (National Development Team for Inclusion) -
'Supporting people with learning disabilities to develop sexual and romantic relationships'. This new report looks at the barriers or challenges to people with learning disabilities in developing sexual/romantic relationships, as well as what works to support people with learning disabilities develop sexual/romantic relationships.
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Consultations and dates for your diary
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ARC England Continuing Professional Development / Standardisation Events 
Each year Association for Real Change hold a series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) / Standardisation events at venues across the UK to enable all assessors, internal verifiers and quality assurers to meet requirements.
These sessions are a great opportunity to work with Assessors and Verifiers from other organisations and to share good practice and knowledge, and we always include time for questions.
Upcoming dates: 17th August, Cheltenham and 20th September, Chesterfield
Find out more and book your place here.
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 Respond to the Communities and Local Government Committee's Adult Social Care Inquiry - 'Is the funding available for adult social care sufficient?'
You can find out more and respond to the Inquiry here.
Alternatively please email ARC at Esther.Oddy@arcuk.org.uk who will oversee a written response on behalf of ARC members.
Deadline for response to the Inquiry is the 19th August 2016.
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Laing Buisson awards 2016 - 29th November 2016 - 
social care category nominations are now open! You can review the awards categories here and submit nominations online from now until the closing date of 31st August 2016.
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Consultation: New data security standards for health and social care 
The Department of Health seeks views on the proposed data security standards and the consent/opt-outs model from health and care professionals and organisations and the public. This follows the independent review of data security, consent and opt-outs by the National Data Guardian.
See here to download the consultation documents and to repond.
Consultation closes 7th September 2016.
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12th September 2016, 'Got my back!' - Changing Our Lives, Birmingham
is hosting a conference focusing on postural care. For too long many people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, neurological conditions or a movement difficulty have lived with discomfort and pain due to body shape distortions and lack of good postural care support.
See here for more information. |
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Skills for Care Accolades - Nominations are now open!
Skills for Care’s Accolades reward adult social care organisations who deliver high quality care. Entering the awards gives you the chance to recognise the great work you do and share best practice. If you provide a high quality service and invest in developing your staff SFC want to hear from you!
The Accolades are open until 23rd September 2016 to adult social care organisations and individual employers in England. Find out more and enter here
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 Community Care Live - 27th and 28th September 2016 -
This year's programme includes ARC's Project Officer Rod Landman talking about mate crime and the sexual exploitation of people with learning disabilities. You can view the draft agenda here.
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ARC NI - Conference 2016 - 'Fairy Tales, Fables & Facts: Bamford Vision, where are  we?' - Thursday 29th & Friday 30th September - This conference considers the achievements made in terms of the overall vision for mental health and learning disability, and most importantly acknowledges the recommendations still to be addressed, in order to achieve radical reform and modernisation. For more information and to book your place see here.
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ARC training courses and events
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*Special discount available for ARC members and Real People subscribers. 
Course Beetle - Enabling Environments for Communication
Following previous success, ARC England are excited to be collaborating with Course Beetle once again to present the 'Enabling Environments for Communication' workshop. This one-day course presents an inspiring range of techniques and ideas to better meet the needs of people with learning disabilities and/or autism who love to communicate but struggle to express themselves.
Two dates are currently open for bookings:
- Thursday 17th November, Birmingham
- Monday 13th February, Manchester
Special discount cost: £90 for ARC members - £100 for subscribers to the ARC Real People Newsletter (quote RP0116 on the booking form, full price £120) -
To book your place visit the Course Beetle website and select your discount option.
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 Our August 2016 Training Calendar is now launched! Download your copy here. Along with favourites like MCA/DoLS, Supporting Medication: Train the Trainer and Care Certificate Assessment workshops, we're excited to be offering the first of our fundamental skills courses in Emergency First Aid at Work and Fire Safety. For more information, visit our website or contact us.
Don't see what you want? Contact us and let us know! We are always striving to improve our training calendar, so if you want to see a particular course closer to where you are, get in touch and we will do what we can to help! To have more of a say on your training needs, keep an eye on your inboxes for our Training Needs Analysis survey.
Did you know that each workshop we offer can be booked on a bespoke basis? One of our highly knowledgeable and skilled trainers will come to you to deliver tailored training to up to fifteen members of your team. With prices from just £595 (ARC Members) or £625 (Non-members), in-house workshops offer a cost effective way to keep your staff's skills up to date. To check availability or discuss your needs, please contact us: |
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ARC Membership includes free job listing on our website. We are currently  advertising the following positions:
- Autism Support and Care - Support Worker - Sutton-in Ashfield
- Encompass - various positions - Dorset
- Lifeworks - Weekend Cook, Team Leader, Learning Support Assistant - Totnes
- Midway Care Group - Care Assistants
- NCHA - Bank Project Worker, Support Worker, Care Assistants, Support Workers
- Reach Learning Disability - Care Support Worker vacancies - Nottinghamshire
- Robert Owen Communities - (Male) Support Workers, Samba Band Drummer, Learning Guide Support Worker (Dance)
- Somerset Care - Learning Disability Senior and Support Workers - various locations
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If you are an ARC member and would like us to advertise your job vacancies here and on our website, please email Esther.Oddy@arcuk.org.uk
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