Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Managers in Partnership
MiP is the UK's only trade union organisation specifically for healthcare managers. We give you an influential voice, personal support and employment advice, management skills and access to leadership networks.
Healthcare Manager Magazine http://www.miphealth.org.uk/hcm/
Occupational Therapy Staff
Membership brochure and application form for the British Association of Occupational Therapists http://www.cot.org.uk/Mainwebsite/Resources/Document/MemberRecruitmentLeaflet.pdf
British Association of Occupational Therapists/UNISON OT Stewards induction pack
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Health Care Assistants Project 2010
As the leading union for Healthcare Assistants (HCAs) – UNISON is delighted to highlight a new national project for and about HCAs.
This project is about highlighting the vital role that HCAs play in delivering care, it has a number of strands to the work and we would welcome your contribution.
1. Identifying and benchmarking core national competencies for the Health Care Assistant (HCA) role, irrespective of where they work across health and social care.
2. Link the competencies to the pay bands of agenda for change to ensure clarify about what staff should do within their sphere of responsibility
3. Develop guidance on how to seek a grading review if you are being asked to work outside your normal duties or to take on additional responsibilities
4. Revise UNISON’s national code of conduct for HCAs
5. Undertake a literature review of the evidence on the role and benefit of HCAs
6. Map what could be a regulatory framework based on the work that HCAs do and where they do it but that takes account of existing legislation background.
At the moment the HCAs’ role and employers’ expectations on the role and responsibilities varies widely across the United Kingdom. It’s been described as a postcode lottery as to what you do and your pay band. This poses a number of problems as it means that job descriptions, standards, responsibilities and knowledge are inconsistent. As a result if you move employer very often staff find themselves having to start their career over again.
We will also be looking at developing a model job description for HCAs on bands 2 and 3. The benefits that this would bring include recognition of the role and responsibilities that comes with HCAs’ work. The national modelling of HCAs’ role will help to identify training and training needs for HCAs.
In the UNISON Healthcare Assistant Survey (2008), it revealed that there was widespread dissatisfaction felt by HCAs at the level of training offered to them. Two-thirds of those who participated in the survey believed that the training was insufficient to enable them to reach their potential.
As part of this project, we hope to address some of these issues but also to repeat our survey to see if views and opinions have altered. UNISON will also be developing some guidance for employers which identifies what steps they should take if they want to develop HCAs further or to look at their responsibilities. We want HCAs to be recognised for taking on additional duties, and therefore will also be developing guidance on how to seek a grading review if your role or responsibilities have changed. Another issue that needs to be addressed, and which received strong backing from those who participated in the survey, is the regulation of the HCA profession.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council have independently commissioned research on the risks and benefits of regulation of HCAs who work to nurses and midwives by undertaking delegated duties. The union continues to be proactive with this work and in early March UNISON will be meeting with the project group of HCAs. We will be using their experience and job roles to identify core competencies, best practice and training needs.
We plan to further consult with HCAs at the UNISON Health Care Conference in July. This piece of work is being undertaken by HCAs. Their role has changed significantly over the last 10 years but more often than not it’s been as a result of their determination and dedication. We want HCAs to be in control of their role.
If you are interested in being part of a wider virtual group reviewing and helping to develop our policy please email Gail Adams Head of Nursing or Jennifer West gail.adams@unison.co.uk or j.west@unison.co.uk
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
BAPO and UNISON join forces
The British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists (BAPO), has signed an agreement with UNISON, the UK’s largest healthcae union, linking the two organisations together.
The 700+ members of BAPO will be able to take advantage of the broad range of member benefits, the experienced officers and increased influence that comes with being linked to a large union.
Welcoming BAPO into the union, General Secretary, Dave Prentis, praised the work of its members saying: “I am proud that UNISON will be able to represent such a unique and valued group of professionals in the health service. Prosthetists and Orthotists play a vital role, helping many severely disabled and injured people, giving them hope and enabling them to get on with their work and lives. “The advanced work that BAPO members do in helping the public and our injured service men and women is truly amazing. No one can fail to be impressed when you see the technology and expertise that allows limbless athletes to compete in the paralympics and other sporting events or enables independent living for many who would otherwise be dependent members of our society. “This innovative partnership demonstrates clearly that the trade union movement resonates strongly with health workers. We will be stronger together and I look forward to working with BAPO and its members for many years to come.”
Steve Mottram, Chair of the BAPO said: “We are delighted to enter into this agreement with UNISON as we believe that our combined efforts will ensure that it will strengthen our ability to offer the treatments and services that our members can offer.“As one of the smallest of the Allied Health Profession groups we have found it challenging to engage with the many broad sweep initiatives that the NHS undertakes and we are certain that this partnership will be of immense benefit to our members and their patients by improving our ability to engage more effectively. “In addition to the normal benefits of membership of the Professional Association, our members are now also able to access all benefits of on offer from the UK's largest public sector union. We believe that this will be the start of an exciting period of development as the profession faces the challenges of the future.”
BAPO membership forms http://www.bapo.org/site/content/view/36/65/
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