Mar. 18 2024
Source Page: International recruitment toolkit for adult social care providersFound: International recruitment toolkit for adult social care providers
Feb. 15 2024
Source Page: 16 to 19 funding allocations supporting documents for 2024 to 2025Found: From: Education and Skills Funding Agency Published 15 February 2024 Get emails about this
Feb. 21 2024
Source Page: Levelling Up: campaign toolkit phase 2Found: Levelling Up: campaign toolkit phase 2
Dec. 28 2023
Source Page: It all starts with skills: brand guidelines and social assetsFound: It all starts with skills: brand guidelines and social assets
Asked by: Greene, Jamie (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - West Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to (a) promote the use of British Sign Language (BSL) in public spaces and (b) improve the availability of BSL education, in light of the aims of Sign Language Week, which takes place from 18 to 24 March 2024.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
The Scottish Government recognises the importance of Sign Language Week in promoting British Sign Language (BSL) given its positive impact on both culture and community in Scotland. During this week the First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills reiterated support of BSL and the Scottish Government’s commitments within the BSL National Plan 2023 – 2029.
In response to (a), the Scottish Government published the BSL National Plan 2023 – 2029 in November 2023. This plan sets out our approach to making Scotland the best place in the world for BSL users to live, visit, work, and learn; it sets out 45 commitments across ten priority areas including health, education, and justice. The BSL (Scotland) Act 2015 also requires listed authorities to publish their own Authority Plans; they are our key partners in promoting the use of BSL in public spaces.
In response to (b), the Additional Support for Learning Act places education authorities under duties to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, including those affected by deafness. The level of support required, and input from a specialist teacher of deaf children and young people, will vary depending on a child’s individual needs. To support deaf children and young people the Scottish Government provides funding of £150,000 to The Scottish Sensory Centre to support staff training enabling effective support to deaf pupils. In addition, Education Scotland has developed a professional learning resource which seeks to support practitioners to engage more effectively with British Sign Language users. This can be found on their website at the following link: https://education.gov.scot/resources/good-practice-in-working-with-deaf-learners-their-parents-and-families-bsl-plan/
Education Scotland has published a BSL toolkit setting out the key national legislation and General Teaching Council for Scotland standards which practitioners should be aware of when working with BSL users. Information to help practitioners understand BSL, Deaf culture and identity is provided throughout the Toolkit alongside some of the key definitions and terms used when working with parents and families. You can view the Toolkit here: British Sign Language (BSL) - Toolkit for Practitioners | Resources | Education Scotland . Education Scotland also published resources to help families support their children’s learning, which can be found at: BSL | Parentzone Scotland | Education Scotland
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that integrated care boards make an assessment of the adequacy of their (a) workforce planning and (b) other services for meeting the needs of their populations who are affected by migraines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To ensure that there are sufficient staffing levels right across the National Health Service, NHS England published the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) in June 2023. The LTWP sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term. The LTWP is a high-level plan to support the NHS workforce as a whole and is designed to identify the right supply of staff across all clinical pathways and specialisms rather than workforce plans for specific services.
General practitioners are responsible for ensuring that their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills relevant to their role as generalist community-based doctors. This includes understanding how to recognise migraine and headache disorders and instigate appropriate treatment.
Individual employers are responsible for investing in post-registration training, ensuring that staff are trained and competent to carry out their role and are adequately supported throughout their training. All training undertaken by post-registration qualified staff should be in line with national and local guidelines covering the training being undertaken.
In England, all community pharmacies delivering NHS services must provide support for self-care, for example giving people advice and support, and where appropriate, the sale of appropriate over the counter (OTC) medicines. Advice and OTC migraine treatments are part of a well-established pathway in this context, and pharmacy teams are able to advise patients of their options.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. The RightCare Headache and Migraines Toolkit should be used by ICBs to ensure that people suffering from migraines are supported effectively. The toolkit sets out the key priorities for improvement, including correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders, and long-term management of patients in primary or community care. The toolkit also provides an opportunity for commissioners to self-assess and benchmark current systems’ service delivery and to explore opportunities for improvement.
The toolkit is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/rightcare/products/pathways/headache-and-migraine-toolkit/
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve NHS care for people with migraines; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing the availability of headache specialists in the NHS, (b) improving the provision of (i) training and resources for GPs and (ii) guidance for other health professionals on migraines and (c) increasing the role of pharmacies for providing primary care for people with migraines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To ensure that there are sufficient staffing levels right across the National Health Service, NHS England published the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) in June 2023. The LTWP sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term. The LTWP is a high-level plan to support the NHS workforce as a whole and is designed to identify the right supply of staff across all clinical pathways and specialisms rather than workforce plans for specific services.
General practitioners are responsible for ensuring that their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills relevant to their role as generalist community-based doctors. This includes understanding how to recognise migraine and headache disorders and instigate appropriate treatment.
Individual employers are responsible for investing in post-registration training, ensuring that staff are trained and competent to carry out their role and are adequately supported throughout their training. All training undertaken by post-registration qualified staff should be in line with national and local guidelines covering the training being undertaken.
In England, all community pharmacies delivering NHS services must provide support for self-care, for example giving people advice and support, and where appropriate, the sale of appropriate over the counter (OTC) medicines. Advice and OTC migraine treatments are part of a well-established pathway in this context, and pharmacy teams are able to advise patients of their options.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. The RightCare Headache and Migraines Toolkit should be used by ICBs to ensure that people suffering from migraines are supported effectively. The toolkit sets out the key priorities for improvement, including correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders, and long-term management of patients in primary or community care. The toolkit also provides an opportunity for commissioners to self-assess and benchmark current systems’ service delivery and to explore opportunities for improvement.
The toolkit is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/rightcare/products/pathways/headache-and-migraine-toolkit/
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to ensure that teachers receive continuing professional development training in supporting young people with their mental health.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
It is important to recognise that teachers are not mental health professionals and should not be expected to provide specialist mental health support. However, schools and colleges play a vital role in promoting mental wellbeing, by providing calm, safe and supportive learning environments and helping pupils who need it to access early, targeted support. The department offers a range of training and resources to help teachers do so effectively.
The department is offering all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025, enabling them to introduce effective whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. Over 14,400 settings have claimed a grant so far, including more than 7 in 10 state-funded secondary schools, and the department has recently made second grants available for settings who have lost their trained lead. The department’s quality assured training course provides the practical knowledge and skills to implement a whole school or college approach to promoting mental wellbeing. The course also helps senior mental health leads to facilitate the development of school staff, to ensure that all staff can recognise and understand the process to respond to mental health concerns.
The department has recently launched two new resources to help trained mental health leads and wider school and college staff to promote and support pupil mental health, both hosted on the Mentally Healthy Schools site. The resource hub signposts practical resources and tools to embed whole-school or college approaches and the targeted mental wellbeing toolkit gives practical advice and tools to help schools and colleges identify the most effective targeted support options for their setting. The resource hub is available at: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/. The target mental wellbeing toolkit is available at: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/targeted-support/.
To further support teachers and leaders wanting to expand their knowledge and skills, the department has accredited a range of national professional qualifications (NPQs). These qualifications are designed to provide training and support for teachers and school leaders at all levels and deliver improved outcomes for young people. Teachers and leaders who undertake an NPQ in leading teaching, leading behaviour and culture, or leadership will learn the essential knowledge and skills needed to create a calm, safe and supportive school culture, promoting wellbeing for all pupils and staff.
Mentions:
1: Andrew Stephenson (Con - Pendle) predisposition to cancer.Addressing health inequalities for people with rare conditions through publishing a toolkit - Speech Link
Dec. 12 2023
Source Page: Levelling Up: campaign toolkit phase 1Found: Levelling Up: campaign toolkit phase 1