TJ - The Publication for Learning and Development

A day in the life of

By Cheryl Guest (August 2006 Issue)
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I work as an Employee Development Officer for Leeds City Council Social Services Department. Working for the Employee Development Unit, my job varies daily and I am constantly being given new challenges. That’s why I love it.

Recently I was delivering a training programme to over 400 adult health and social care staff, supporting the implementation of outcome-focused care management. I enjoy working on large workforce development projects because, if you get it right, you really feel like you are making difference to service-users receiving care.

I feel really passionate about that. It is fundamental to a programme of this size, including so many organisations and stakeholders, that you understand what all of them want from the training. If you don’t, you run the risk of the training making little or no impact back in the workplace. It is all about ‘I-based learning’ that is ‘what’s in it for me’. Making sure staff at all levels, in all roles, and from all agencies can see a direct benefit from the training in their place of work is key.

I have learned many lessons about what makes multi-agency learning successful during my work with health and social care staff implementing the Single Assessment Process. The Single Assessment Process aims to help better identify the health and social care needs of older people, while cutting down on form-filling and bureaucracy.

Through workforce development, I was able to establish common standards, language and a standardisation of approaches to assessing older peoples’ needs across Leeds. Nurses, social workers, occupational therapists etc all needed a shared understanding of colleagues’ roles, the services they provide and the constraints they work under.

The entire strategy, encompassing the materials, training courses and e-learning resources, had to be designed from a multi-professional, multi-agency perspective to ensure that the partnership-working was effective. All of the training courses delivered had to be led by trainers from different professional backgrounds and a variety of organisations.

Without Leeds Social Services department, the five Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), Leeds Teaching Hospitals and the Mental Health Trust remaining in constant communication, the training programme and its benefits would not have been possible.

This good practice has now fed into other projects and opened up communication pathways that ensure a more effective way of working takes place for future projects. I can honestly say, I still feel the benefits of this training now when I see multi-agency staff at the beginning of training events, already acquainted and aware of each other’s roles and responsibilities before the event even starts.

I am delighted about winning the TJ Trainer of the Year award for my work and commitment to this project. I feel passionately about my role in contributing to the development of a more responsive and person-centred service for the people of Leeds. I never expected to win! I was really pleased just to find I had been shortlisted in the top three finalists.

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