Over £730k invested to expand nursing placements within care homes
Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) is to lead on a £730k project which will promote and widen access for a career in social care nursing.
Funding provided by Welsh Government will create three regional Care Home Education Facilitators (CHEFs) who will work within the care home sector in Wales.
Similar roles are already firmly embedded within nursing and midwifery services in Health Boards in Wales to support nursing students through their training and placements. They will help to enhance the quality of student clinical education whilst directly supporting health provider staff.
It is anticipated that the new CHEF roles will provide similar support within the care home sector and will span the whole student journey, including involvement in recruitment and selection, facilitation of placement capacity, delivery of supervisor and assessor training and monitoring the quality of learning environments. They will also support staff to help students meet their proficiencies, through to the point of registration and support of new registrant preceptorship.
Angela Parry, Interim Director of Nursing at HEIW, said: “We are increasing the number of placements within the care home sector for student nurses and allied health professionals. Care homes are centres of excellence for teaching and learning and there are significant benefits of recruiting students to train in care homes around them considering the sector for future employment.
“These roles will significantly strengthen student support arrangements between individual care homes and universities, maximising student placement capacity and establishing innovative models of practice learning.”
Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the vital partnership and team work between the NHS and the social care sector. Our Healthier Wales’ strategy recognises that a seamless health and social care system, which works in collaboration is crucial in helping people stay healthy and independent for as long as possible.
“The funding announced today will help establish new student practice placement opportunities in social care settings as well as enhance the quality of existing placements. Giving student nurses and student allied health professionals real life experience of care homes which will help them throughout their career. This insight will prove invaluable to understand how the NHS and Social services work together to ensure the best care for people across Wales.”