Health & Social Care

COULD YOU BE A FUTURE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE HERO?

Health and social care is about providing physical, emotional and social support to help people live their lives. For various reasons and at different stages in their lives, some people need support to develop and maintain their independence, dignity and control. Health and social care provides a wide range of services to support children, adults and older people.

Working in social care means supporting people with their non-clinical needs, although there is an important crossover between working in health and working in social care. Your work could range from anything to providing medication and personal care to helping someone with their shopping or making their lunch for them.

Working in health care is about helping people to stay healthy and protecting them from threats to their health. While medicine and nursing are vital for helping and supporting people when they fall ill, working in health contributes to reducing the causes of ill-health and improving people's health and wellbeing.

If you work in health or social care, you could help people in hospitals, clinics, in their own homes, in residential homes or in a number of other places such as day centres or supported housing.

HERTFORDSHIRE AND WEST ESSEX HEALTH AND CARE ACADEMY

The Hertfordshire and west Essex Health and Care Academy has been created to promote careers, jobs, apprenticeships, offer work experience and support existing staff with development opportunities. This includes links to the established Hertfordshire Care Professional Standards Academy which is a partnership between Hertfordshire Care Providers Association and partners, Adult Care Services at Hertfordshire County Council aimed at ensuring the entire Hertfordshire care workforce is trained to a professional, best practice standard across the board.

What is the difference between the Health and Care Academy and the Care Professional Standards Academy?

The Health and Care Academy is aimed at promoting careers, jobs, apprenticeships or accessing work experience whether you are already employed in health and care or just getting started in your career. The Care Professional Standards Academy is specifically for those already employed in the care sector and is a fantastic example of how you are supported and rewarded as you progress in your career.

The Team at Herts Good Care explain that the Hertfordshire Care Professionals Standards Academy is the first such project in the country and good care in Hertfordshire would not be possible if it were not for the various care staff powering these organisations. By joining the Hertfordshire Care Professional Standards Academy all care staff as Care Academy Affilliates are supported to continue to recognise and grow your knowledge. You will also be rewarded by giving you free offers, discounts, freebies and one-off opportunities to give something back because you have chosen to work in care. Learn more about the Hertfordshire Care Professional Standards Academy here. 

PERSONS EMPLOYED IN HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE

From art therapists to anaesthetists; and from social workers to surgeons; there are hundreds of opportunities in health and social care. In fact there are over 350 different roles across the sector. Every day is different and rewarding with many roles to choose from. They all play a vital role in looking after people’s health and well-being

57,000 people currently work in the Health and Social Care sector across Hertfordshire and West Essex, providing care and support to a population of 1.5 million.

Health and care services are continuing to improve to ensure people live healthy lives for longer, but this also means that more people will be needed to fill crucial health and care jobs.

Current vacancies

The Hertfordshire and West Essex Health and Care Academy is an exciting and innovative project which promotes careers in health and care across Hertfordshire and west Essex. The Academy provides a range of information relating to the different careers, current vacancies, apprenticeships and accessing work experiencing. Click here to find out more.

Hertfordshire Care Providers Association is a key player in this county for social care. As well as training and supporting care staff and improving the quality of care in the county, they can also support you to find the right care role for you and support you along the way. Click here to find out more.

Health & Social Care employers in Hertfordshire

Across Hertfordshire there are;

• Over 700 private, voluntary and independent care providers
• 3 hospital trusts
• 2 community providers delivering services such as school nursing, health visiting and community nursing
• 1 mental health and learning disability provider
• 1 County Council delivering a number of adult and child social care services
• 1 Integrated Urgent Care (NHS 111) organisation
• 1 Ambulance provider

NHS Video

Health and social care – creating one workforce

Many staff now work in roles that cover both health and social care, and the values and qualities needed are very similar.

The Government has set out the need for the health and social care sector to develop new integrated care models to promote health and wellbeing and provide care. In the future, this could mean your career crossing both sectors in new and exciting roles.

Several methods are in place across the country to develop and promote these new ways of working, such as:

• Providing key skills training for health and social care staff so that they can assess mental health wellbeing
• Training for physiotherapists so they can undertake dementia assessments
• Enhancing the competencies of care staff so they can support clinical and non-clinical professionals
• Ways of encouraging closer working and learning between nursing teams

‘Values’ for money

Depending on the role, you don’t always need qualifications or previous work experience in the sector to get a job in health and social care. What’s really important is having the right values, behaviours and attitudes to work effectively with people who need care and support.

Values are the beliefs and views that people hold about what is right or wrong. They apply to all aspects of life and influence how a person behaves in different situations. Here are some examples of the values and behaviours you might need to work in health and social care.

• Dignity and respect
• Learning and reflection – (thinking about what you do and why you do things in a certain way)
• Working together
• Commitment to quality care and support