Social Care Wales have published the All Wales Induction Framework for Health and Social Care which replaces the Social Care Induction Framework (SCIF) from April 2018. The framework is available here.
The All Wales Induction Framework for Health and Social Care must be implemented by employers from April 2018. It includes, an introduction and guidance that will provide background and information about how to complete the induction; a glossary of terms; links to useful resources that you may find useful;
7 progress logs to record the workers completed learning; and
7 workbooks that will help the learner provide evidence for the completion of the progress logs.
From April 2020, all domiciliary care workers (workers who are employed in a regulated domiciliary care setting) must register with Social Care Wales. From 2022, all adult care home workers will need to register. If they do not hold one of the qualifications listed on the Qualification Framework for the Social Care Sector in Wales, they will only be able to register if they have completed the induction framework and the induction qualification.
There are seven sections in the induction framework:
Sections 1 and 2: Principles and values of health and social care (adults or children and young people)
Sections 3 and 4: Health and well-being (adults or children and young people)
Section 5: Professional practice as a health and social care worker (adults and children and young people)
Section 6: Safeguarding individuals (adults and children and young people)
Section 7: Health and safety in health and social care (adults and children and young people).
There is also a progress log designed to record the achievement of learning outcomes for each section. Social Care Wales says that it should take six months to complete the induction framework. There is an expectation that workers complete the framework in this time and exceptional circumstances need to be considered jointly by employers and service regulators. The framework is for:-
Workers new to the sector
Workers who are new to the sector should complete the planned learning for five of the seven sections (1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 for those working with adults; and 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 for those working with children and young people). They will also need to successfully complete/pass the assessments for each of those sections. Everyone needs to complete the core learning, but the practice elements are specific to the worker’s role. For example, those who do not support people with foot care will not be expected to show their practice in this area.
Workers new to an organisation
Health and social care workers who are new to an organisation, but have evidence they have previously achieved a relevant qualification and/or completed an induction framework, should not need to complete the whole induction framework. Accredited evidence can act as a ‘passport’ and give you confidence that the common induction or core learning areas have already been covered. Managers should still take new workers through the policies and procedures for your workplace or their role, if they are not covered by their qualification or previous induction. Managers should also observe how the worker applies their learning in practice as part of the induction process.
New workers with previous experience in a different sector or workers taking on a new role
In the case of a worker who moves across different parts of the sectors (e.g. from adult social care to children and young people social care, or health care to social care), managers should find out what learning the worker has already completed as part of their qualification or previous induction framework. This should be mapped against the requirements of their new role to identify gaps. For example, an adult social care worker moving to work with children and young people would need to complete sections 2 and 4 to top up their learning. Or an adult social care worker moving to health care who has completed the previous Social Care Induction Framework would need to complete section 3 on health and well-being adults.
Actions for employers and managers in Health and Social Care Organisations in Wales
To ensure compliance with the new All Wales Induction Framework for Health and Social Care, employers and managers should consider the following actions:-
- Access the resources provided by Social Care Wales from the link above.
- Read the Introduction and Guidance document and disseminate to staff, there is a section is the document for staff.
- Identify which worker the framework will apply to and include this in recruitment processes.
- Use the workbooks provided by Social Care Wales to support workers through the completion of the framework.
- Allocate time for workers to complete the framework.
- Provide workers with access to policies, procedures, resources and support to complete the framework.
- Use the progress logs provided by Social Care Wales to record evidence of activities and completion.
- Rigorously assess if workers who have evidence they have previously achieved a relevant qualification and/or completed an induction framework can meet the standards of the new framework before accepting their evidence.
- Managers must be aware of the process for assessing workers and the managers responsibility in signing off” completion. Signing off a worker without robust evidence for this could lead to the Registered Managers fitness to practice being questioned.
