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Diabetes Week 2023 takes place 12th-18th June 2023. The annual event, organised by Diabetes UK, aims to raise awareness and support those living with diabetes.

Advantage Accreditation specialises in training for Health and Social Care staff. This article demonstrates how the public can support those with diabetes.

Support networks are vital for those living with diabetes. Diabetes comes with a range of physical and emotional challenges. People with diabetes are 20% more likely to experience anxiety compared to people without the condition (CDC). If you have a friend or family member with diabetes, consider how you can support them. This doesn’t need to be physical support, monitoring diets or administering medication. Rather, we recommend thinking of ways to ease the burden. On days when they feel unwell, you could take on the school run, help with housework, or simply be present and listen. In some locations, specific diabetic support groups may be available.

Those with diabetes will likely rely on care, medication and technologies for the rest of their lives. In the UK, those with lower incomes are more likely to experience long-term health conditions (Kingsfund). It is vital that care continues to be affordable for those with low incomes to treat diabetes. One way to support those with diabetes is to advocate and campaign for affordable healthcare. Those with diabetes often need breaks to self-administer medication and it is important this is not stigmatised. Employers should create an inclusive atmosphere that meets diabetic employees’ care needs.

If you know someone with diabetes, it may help to become familiar with their emergency procedures. If appropriate, talk to them about their needs and prepare to help if they experience low or high blood sugar.

Advantage Accreditation offers a Level 2 Award in Diabetes training course. If you would like to become an accredited training centre to deliver this course, please enquire online or call 020 7405 9999.

Diabetes UK will host several events and campaigns during Diabetes Week. Visit the Diabetes UK website to see what they have planned.

Carers Week 2023 takes place from 5th to 11th June. Every year, this event aims to raise awareness of the challenges faced by unpaid carers across the country. In 2023, the week will once again provide an opportunity to acknowledge and support those in unpaid caring roles.

This is a vital role in our country. Without the work of unpaid carers, there would be extreme strain on our NHS. The current annual NHS budget is £159 billion, while the estimated value of care is £162 billion per year (University of Sheffield). To meet care needs without unpaid carers, the NHS would need more than double their budget.

Here are only a few challenges facing unpaid carers in 2023:

Rising Cost of Living

With the present cost of living crisis, 14% of unpaid carers are unable to pay their utility bills. 5% of unpaid carers are relying on food banks. This data comes from Carers UK, which continues to campaign for better provision for unpaid carers.

Mental Health

Many unpaid carers have extra responsibilities beyond providing care. These often include work, education, childcare and housekeeping. The majority of carers struggle to manage their stress. 70% say caring has a negative impact on their mental and physical health (Care Quality Commission, 2022).

Lack of Support

Carers often go to their local authority for support. In 2021 only 27% of carers who requested support actually received any (The Health Foundation). Without respite care, counselling and other types of support, carers’ roles grow more and more challenging.

Organisations throughout the UK will host various events to raise awareness during Carers Week 2023. Find out what you can do in this online resource.

Do you know an outstanding unpaid carer?

We invite you to celebrate the carers in your life. Send them a token of your appreciation, offer some support, or post about them on social media using #CarersWeek.

The UK’s adult social care sector continues to face staff shortages. In 2020/21, over 100,000 social care roles across the country were vacant (UK Parliament). The government has proposed a new Care Workforce Pathway to encourage workers to join the sector. The pathway also provides a framework for career progression for existing care staff.

The Care Workforce Pathway is part of the government’s plans to put People at the Heart of Care. The pathway is one of the first initiatives to be introduced, with more to follow between April 2023 and April 2025.

Altogether, this new pathway aims to improve the quality of care by improving the skills of care workers. With opportunities for progression, the pathway will also increase motivation and job satisfaction, and encourage more workers to join the sector.

The roles outlined in the new pathway are:

Foundation Stage
Those in the Foundation Stage are not currently working within social care but may consider this a career option. They may be completing training or volunteering.

Care & Support Practitioner
Those in this stage are in their first 12 months of work within adult social care. This could include staff who have previous experience but have been out of practice for several years. Staff will complete the Care Certificate at this stage.

Advanced Care & Support Practitioner
After completing essential training, including the Care Certificate, staff move on to this stage. Advanced care and support practitioners are competent to provide person-centred care and support. They may choose to develop more specialist experience.

Senior Care & Support Practitioner
Those in this stage hold leadership roles within the adult social care sector.

The pathway then splits into two: Registered Workforce and Registered Manager.

Registered Workforce

Staff can develop into Practice Leaders or Specialist Practitioners if they have specialist skills and expertise in a specific area of care and support.

Registered Manager

Deputy Registered Managers and Registered Managers are skilled in business and people management.

Advantage Accreditation provides a broad range of Health and Social Care training courses that can help staff progress in their careers, including:

• Level 2 Award in Role of the Care Worker and Personal Development
• Level 2 Award in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Level 2 Award in Safeguarding Adults
• Level 2 Award in Handling and Administration of Medications

If you would like to become an accredited training centre and deliver these courses for your staff, please contact Advantage Accreditation.

This week strives to raise awareness of allergies and the difficulties faced by people with allergies. The annual event was set up by Allergy UK.

Allergies affect over 20% of the UK population (Allergy UK). One in five people has at least one allergic disorder. The number of people affected by allergies is much higher, as many parents, carers, teachers, etc. will take care of people with allergies.

As an accreditation body, we encourage the public to take every opportunity to learn. We provide a Level 2 Award in Anaphylaxis and Emergency Medication training course.

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction. Signs can include difficulty breathing or speaking, cough, dizziness and loss of consciousness. More mild or moderate allergic reactions can involve rashes, swelling of the face, itching and nausea.

Here are some useful tips for helping someone with an allergy:

Good housekeeping: Keeping your environment clean and tidy will help protect people allergic to mould and dust mites.

Air purifiers: Running an air purifier can reduce airborne allergens.

Emergency medication: Many people with severe allergies carry emergency medication with them. This is extremely important and life-saving. The UK government recently published clarification for schools on keeping spare adrenaline auto-injectors. These can are supplied to schools without a specific prescription for a specific child. They can be vital if a child presents with anaphylaxis for the first time without a diagnosed allergy.

Call an ambulance: Always call an ambulance if someone is experiencing anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction).

Avoid food allergens: When preparing food for others, make sure you ask them whether they have any food allergies. Common food allergens include:

Provide emotional support: Many people with allergies experience anxiety. You can help reduce anxiety by creating a safe environment. You can also use anxiety management strategies, such as mindful breathing or muscle relaxation.

Allergies can take many forms, and some are rarely discussed. Here are some allergies you may not already be aware of:

Sulphites: These are preservatives sometimes present in food and drinks, including vinegar, wine, condiments, etc.

Aspirin: Often present in medicines, including ibuprofen.

Balsam of Peru: Sometimes called Myroxylon Pereirae or Peruvian Balsam, this is often used in perfumes.

If you think you may have an allergy, speak to your GP.

If you would like to become an accredited training centre and provide training on allergies, please get in touch.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform the healthcare and social care industry in many ways. Here are some examples:

Early diagnosis and treatment:
AI can be used to analyse medical images and help doctors identify potential health problems in patients at an early stage. This can lead to earlier diagnosis and more effective treatment.

Personalised medicine:
AI can help doctors and other healthcare professionals to develop personalised treatment plans for patients based on their individual health data. This can help to improve treatment outcomes and reduce the risk of adverse effects.

Remote patient monitoring:
AI can be used to monitor patients remotely, using wearable devices and other technology. This can help to improve patient outcomes and reduce the need for hospitalization.

Predictive analytics:
AI can be used to analyse large amounts of health data and predict future health trends. This can help healthcare professionals to identify high-risk patients and take preventive measures.

Medical research:
AI can be used to analyse vast amounts of medical data and identify patterns and insights that may not be apparent to human researchers. This can help to accelerate medical research and lead to new treatments and cures.

Social care:
AI can also be used in social care, for example, to help elderly or disabled people live independently. This can include using AI-powered assistants to remind people to take their medication or alerting family members if someone falls or has an accident.

Overall, AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare and social care, improving outcomes for patients and reducing the burden on healthcare professionals.

For more information on how AI could affect your training or your care organisation, contact Advantage Accreditation. We would be very happy to answer any questions you may have.

Was this blog post written by a person or an AI? Use the poll below to vote.

Monday 13th February 2023 is International Epilepsy Day. This is an annual event which aims to raise awareness of epilepsy and its impact. The event is organised by the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) and the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE).

This year, International Epilepsy Day will focus on the stigma associated with epilepsy. Several free Epilepsy Facts and Myths resources are available to help spread awareness.

As an accreditation body specialising in health and social care, we want to take this opportunity to educate the public. Please note this article seeks to provide a general awareness of epilepsy. This is not official guidance for health and social care professionals.

First, let’s explain what epilepsy means.

Epilepsy is a disease of the brain that results in abnormal electrical activity in the brain. People with epilepsy tend to experience recurrent seizures.

There are several known causes of epilepsy:

• Stroke
• Brain infection, e.g. meningitis
• Head injury
• Complications during birth
• Brain tumours
• Brain malformations
• Brain development problems
• Genetics (potentially, the link between genetics and epilepsy is currently being researched)

How to recognise a seizure

Seizures can be categorised as motor or non-motor. Motor seizures include:

Tonic-clonic

This is what most people would think of when they hear the word “seizure”. These take place in phases:

• Prodromal: tiredness, weakness, potential aura (certain smell or image)
• Tonic: rigid muscles, fall to the ground, abnormal breathing, blue lips
• Clonic: jerking movements, biting tongue or cheeks, potential dribble or incontinence
• Postictal: exhaustion lasting from minutes to hours, potential myoclonic

Myoclonic

These are brief seizures that often occur in the recovery phase of other seizures. Jerking of limbs or part of a limb takes place.

Tonic
These often occur without warning. Muscles become rigid and the breath is held for a short time.

Atonic
These are brief seizures causing floppy muscles and potential falls.

Non-motor seizures include:

Typical absence
More common in children, this type of seizure can easily be mistaken for daydreaming. The person becomes unaware of what is happening around them. They may nod, stare blankly, or flutter their eyelids. These seizures last a few seconds.

Atypical absence
The person’s muscles become limp or floppy during these seizures. Atypical absences last longer than typical absences. These occur at any age and are common in people with other conditions affecting the brain.

How to help someone who is having a motor seizure

If you see a friend, family member, colleague, or a member of the public showing signs of a motor seizure, here is what to do:

The Circuit, the UK’s national defibrillator network, maps public access defibrillators. This map is used by 999 call handlers to help callers locate their nearest defibrillator. Alongside the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK), British Heart Foundation (BHF), St John Ambulance and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), we encourage you to register any defibrillation devices you have with The Circuit. Click here to register.

The UK sees over 30,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of hospital every year. Only 3,000 of these people survive. Defibrillators are used in less than 10% of cardiac arrest cases outside of hospital. As immediate CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chance of survival, use of defibrillators could save an extra 3,000 lives per year.

Thanks to The Circuit, 50,000 devices are now registered. All 14 UK ambulance services are using The Circuit and can direct 999 callers to their nearest public access defibrillator using this map. However, this is only half of the estimated 100,000 defibrillators in the UK.

If you have a defibrillator available to the public, register it here.

Advantage Accreditation aims to keep up to date with important news within Health and Social Care and First Aid among many other topics. If you have any questions, please get in touch with our team.

Every year, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducts a health and safety at work survey for Great Britain. Here are the results for 2022:

This week, 21^st-27^th November 2022, organisations throughout the UK are taking part in Safeguarding Adults Week. The theme this year is Responding to Contemporary Safeguarding Challenges. This annual event was set up by Ann Craft Trust in order to raise awareness of safeguarding issues for adults. With this in mind, we want to make you more aware of some types of abuse and neglect within the health and social care sector, and how to record and report concerns.

Types of Abuse and Neglect

• Psychological, e.g. bullying, no provision for cultural or religious needs, limited opportunity to make decisions
• Discriminatory: e.g. exclusion from basic rights, unequal treatment, derogatory remarks
• Organisational: e.g. inadequate care or support, limited freedom, mistreatment of people using a service
• Self-Neglect: e.g. living in dirt conditions, suffering non-treatment of illness, malnutrition and dehydration
• Physical: e.g. poor moving and handling, hitting or pushing, unauthorised restraint
• Domestic: any controlling, bullying, threatening or violent behaviour between people in a relationship
• Sexual: e.g inappropriate touching, sexual advances, being shown pornography
• Financial: e.g. theft, misuse of personal allowance

How to Record and Report Concerns

Always take action as soon as possible if you believe someone is at risk of abuse or neglect. Whistle blowers are protected under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. Follow the policy and procedure of the organisation. Inform a supervisor, line manager or lead practitioner. Your report should be concise while ensuring all necessary details are clearly communicated.

Ann Craft Trust have set up a schedule to help raise awareness of contemporary challenges:

• Monday: Exploitation and Country Lines
• Tuesday: Self-Neglect
• Wednesday: Creating Safer Organisational Cultures
• Thursday: Elder Abuse
• Friday: Domestic Abuse in Tech-Society
• Saturday and Sunday: Safeguarding in Everyday Life

Use #SafeguardingAdultsWeek on social media to get involved and help raise awareness. Virtual workshops on the topics above are available via Hull and East Riding Safeguarding Boards throughout the week. If you are interested in providing training in Safeguarding Adults, Advantage Accreditation has a ready-made course available to our approved centres, alongside many other courses . Please get in touch to learn more.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) recently introduced a new approach to regulation. This is yet to impact all care providers, but will soon become the standard method of regulation and assessment. Advantage Accreditation has already provided a resource about these changes: New CQC Quality Statements. Read on to learn more about the CQC’s new assessing services.

The goal of the new assessment framework is to allow more frequent assessments, often based on people’s experiences of the care provider. The frequency of assessment will no longer depend on the care provider’s CQC rating and service type, but on the information previously collected about the care provider.

Gathering Evidence

Evidence may be collected on site (e.g. observations) or off site (e.g. patient reported outcome measures, national clinical audits, etc.) based on the required evidence and type of service. As some evidence can be collected entirely off site, the CQC can update a care providers’ rating without visiting in-person. Site visits will occur more frequently if there are concerns about risk, evidence received, etc. Advisors, such as Experts by Experience, may help the CQC decide what evidence to collect and how to analyse it.

Ratings

Care providers will receive Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate ratings for the key questions: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, and Well-Led. Numerical scores will be provided to increase openness and clarity, and to show if a care provider’s rating is close to moving up or down. Each evidence category will receive a score from 1 (significant shortfalls) to 4 (exceptional). Each score will then be combined to provide an overall score for each quality statement within each key question.

For example, if the CQC assess evidence from three different categories, the maximum potential overall score is 12. The actual scores may vary.

In this example, the care provider received a score of 9 out of 12, or 75%. The percentage is converted back into a score so that multiple quality statements can be combined into a score for each key question. In this case, 75% is converted into a score of 3. Each quality statement (QS) receives a score.

In this example, the care provider received a score of 15 out of 20, or 75%. The percentage is converted into a rating. In this case, 75% is converted into a rating of Good.

Planned and Responsive Activity

The CQC will plan to collect evidence, including first-hand accounts from people who have received care, policies, processes and procedures, and other evidence types. The frequency of assessment will depend on national priorities and levels of risk in different areas of the country. The CQC plans to assess every service at least once every two years.

In response to any reported concerns, including whistleblowing, safeguarding, feedback, etc, the CQC may collect evidence from the care provider.

We would be more than happy to provide answers to any questions you may have. Please get in touch with Advantage Accreditation. Further information about the CQC’s assessing services is available on their website.

The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in Learning Disability and Autism. This placed a requirement on all CQC registered service providers’ staff to complete relevant training in response to Oliver McGowan and his family’s experience. You can read Oliver McGowan’s story here.

The new training aims to equip staff with the necessary knowledge and skills to care for people with learning disabilities or autism within their roles. Standardised training has been developed to provide consistent content and learning outcomes. This training is endorsed by the government.

Mandatory training was promised by the government back in 2019. The government pledged to draw on existing best practice and input from people with learning disabilities or autism, their family and carers, and subject experts.

The new standardised training has been developed and delivered with the help of people with lived experience of learning disability and autism. The training also features Paula McGowan OBE, who shares Oliver’s story and explains the need for this training.

Staff will need to complete Tier 1 or Tier 2 training, depending on their role.

Tier 1

Provides general awareness of how to support people with learning disabilities or autism:

eLearning package: available now and required for all staff

1-hour online interactive session

Tier 2

For staff who may need to provide care for people with learning disabilities or autism

eLearning package: available now and required for all staff

1-day face-to-face training

Tier 2 training includes Tier 1 training, so staff only need to complete Tier 1 or Tier 2.

Integrated Care Boards are currently working to increase their training capacity in order to deliver online and face-to-face sessions from early 2023. These sessions will all be co-delivered by someone with a learning disability or autism.

The eLearning package is live on the eLearning for healthcare website now. Employers should organise staff training and ensure it is recorded appropriately.

Health Education England (HEE) are currently accepting applications for anyone wishing to provide this training. If you are an expert by experience, an employer, or an education provider, you can fill out their expression of interest form.

Our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) accreditation is especially popular within the beauty industry. This is perhaps due to the requirements of the Hair and Beauty Industry Authority and the Guild of Beauty Therapists for professionals to complete 30 hours of CPD training every year. With ever-changing trends, methods and treatments, keeping up-to-date is crucial.

Accreditation is available for original courses in all areas of beauty therapy, from nails, to make up, to aesthetics. By becoming an accredited CPD training centre with Advantage, you can offer courses awarding CPD hours or CPD points. At the moment, we accredit several beauty training providers in the UK.

Aya Beauty, London:

Certificate in Waxing

Being Venus Aesthetics & Training Academy, Cheshire:

Foundation Dermal Filler

Microblading

Bodygoalstudios Academy, London:

Buttock Augmentation

Fat Dissolve Mesotherapy

Ultrasound Cavitation

Vacuum Therapy (Brazilian Butt Lift and Wonder Breast Lift)

Cinderella Salon, West Sussex:

Brazilian Bum Lift & Breast Enhancement Cupping Massage

Warm Bamboo Massage

Moon Aesthetics, Essex:

Anatomy and Physiology Foundation

Botox

Dermal Filler

Fat Dissolving Injections

Profhilo

Vitamin Injection

The Basement, Wiltshire:

Chemical Peel and Facial

Luxury Facial Dermaplaning and Lash Defining

Unique Beauty Academy, Greater Manchester:

Brow Waxing

Combination Brow

Lip Blush

Microblading

Scalp Micropigmentation

You can find more accredited training centres in our directory.

Advantage Accreditation provides ongoing support to our centres. This means, even after you have gained accreditation, we will continue to provide access to our online training management software. We will also research and keep you updated on any changes within your industry relevant to your courses.

Click here to learn more about CPD accreditation.