College News: Bedford College Offer Unique Training for Care Home Management

Foundation Degree helps training need in care industry - Bedford College is offering a unique 3 for 1 deal to those in care home management.

This fast growing industry is struggling to keep up with the changing training demands made upon aspiring and existing managers – now there is a solution which provides the relevant professional training in care and management as well as the very latest degree level learning.

The package covers NVQ Level 4 in Care, the Registered Manager’s Award and the Foundation Degree in Care Management which separately would cost over £4,000 but is offered over two years at £1,225 per annum.

It is a fast and furious course because that is the way customers want it. They attend college one afternoon a week and the rest is home or work-based evidenced study. It takes two years to complete all three qualifications.

None of the quality is lost because much of the learning overlaps – and students have the benefit of sharing experiences at their weekly college sessions – from which they gain a great deal.

“It’s a tough job being a care home manager and we want to provide all the help we can,” explained Assistant Director of Care at Bedford College, Margaret Bond.

The benefit of the courses, in particular the Foundation Degree, run in conjunction with the University of Bedfordshire, is that it empowers managers to deal more effectively with professional challenges such as inspections by the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate (CSCI) which monitors care homes against the Care Standards 2000 legislation.

One graduate of all three courses is Remi Wamala who is Manager of the Crescent Nursing Home in Bedford. This home for clients with mental health needs is part of the Apex Care Home Group, a family owned business, which has three homes in total in the county.

Said Remi: “Completing these courses meant we at the Crescent Nursing Home could provide improved care plans, improved supervision and improvements to our services in general.

It enabled me to get better CSCI reports because I was able to provide inspectors with the information in the right way to demonstrate the professionalism of care which is actually provided here.

Now two fellow staff members are taking the course as we can see the practical benefits. It has really helped to motivate people.”

Apex Care Homes General Manager Andrea Thasan said: “It is very helpful to have access locally via Bedford College to professional training for our staff. This is an ever-changing industry where we have to balance our time between providing the best possible care for our clients whilst having to evidence we are doing just and complying with all the current legislation. Apex Care Homes prides itself on its record of providing a caring and supportive environment from well trained staff for all our 100+ residents in our homes in Bedford and Luton.”

Bedford College provides all levels of NVQ training relevant to the care industry from Level 2 and 3 and including Level 4. In some cases funding can be found to help cover the costs. >From September 2007 the College will be mapping the Foundation Degree in Child & Adolescent Studies to two NVQs to provide the same value for time and money!

Photo shows Remi at the Crescent Care Home with Bedford College’s Margaret Bond and Karen Snowdon, left

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