In order to ensure you are eligible to submit claims for TSI funding it is essential your organisation meets the criteria laid down by Skills for Care.

The Skills Funding Agency have produced a document containing a number of frequently asked questions regarding the Qualification and Credit Framework.

There is a new requirement for care home managers to notify the CQC of any DOLS application and the outcomes of such applications.

We are pleased to announce that copies of the Durham safeguarding adult alerter training workbook and assessment sheet are now available on the DECHA website for you to print out and use within your organisations.

The awards are being promoted by Durham County Council and these awards are a celebration of the excellence across the care and support sector. The purpose of the awards is to promote best practice within the sector and pay tribute to service providers who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work.

have recently launched their new website and have asked decha to bring this to our membership's attention.

Please note the brochure for the next round of short courses is now available and can be downloaded from the banner in the right-hand column of this website.

NHS Evidence, a service provided by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), would like you to take part in a short survey to find out more about your experience of accessing information on medicines. It will only take up to 5 minutes to complete.

We now have final confirmation that the funding is available for this contract and we will shortly be able to submit claims to Skills for Care.

Skills for Care have produced a leaflet which includes details of the new diplomas and what the new qualifications will look like.

These awards are a celebration of excellence across the care sector. There are 20 award categories across the care sector available for nominations.

ALL Adult Social Care and Independent Healthcare Providers (CSA) are to be registered

by October 2010

Are moving From the 28th June 2010 the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Team will be based at Priory House. Please see below for our new contact details:

Care providers in social care are now required to provide a minimum of 90% of employee data in their yearly NMDS-SC submission in order to be eligible for Training Strategy Implementation funding.

Craig Rowbotham has recently been seconded to work as Quality Improvement and External Funding Manager within Adult Learning and has been replaced as Alliance Manager by Louiza McIntosh.

Tees Valley Alliance are holding a Practitioners forum on Multiple Sclerosis and have cordially extended the invitation to decha members.

Strategic route to cost saving and innovation for SMEs in health and social care provision. Teeside University are offering a free event aimed at Care Homes that is being held on Wednesday 7th July, at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough.

A DISC service user has won an award for commitment to volunteer work and to his job in social care. One of DISC's service users, who has taken up a job in social care, has received a High Sheriff's Award.

The next Durham County Council Training Brochure is now available and courses can be booked for July to October.

You should be aware that it is recommended that Alerter Training is undertaken every three years in order to ensure you are up to date.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) came into force on 1st April 2009 as an amendment to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The Safeguarding Adults Team have no published their latest Dignity newsletter

The Employment Law Advisory Service have a Care Specific Service which is designed to provide a simple and cost effective way of providing a safe working environment for your staff and clients.

Our colleagues in Learning and Development have offered a number of places on the above courses in various locations and dates. The courses are free to Decha members and will run from 9.15am until 4.30pm for 2 days, unfortunately the funds don't provide lunch.

Please find attached a copy of the Vetting and Barring Scheme Guidance recently published by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (http://www.isa.homeoffice.gov.uk/), which has relevance to providers and seeks to provide practical examples of the application of the scheme. This full guidance release will be followed by a suite of 'sector specific' guidance documents, which will show how the Scheme will be applied in different areas of work.

Wednesday 21st April between 11.00 and 3.00 Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough

Teeside University are pleased to invite you to their annual showcase event to demonstrate some of the exciting and innovative service development and practice improvement work being undertaken at Teesside University.

CareJobFinder.org is a free service designed to take the strain out of recruitment in the social care sector. Whether the site is accessed by employers seeking recruits or recruits seeking work the system is simple!

Durham County Council Lifelong Learning Team are offering FREE Level 1 and Level 2 national qualifications in English or Maths

• Do you think your organisation offers excellent service(s)?

• Would you like national recognition for your work?

• Would you like to attend a glittering awards ceremony in London?

Durham County Council Safeguarding Team's brochure for the beginning of the next financial year is now available.

In order to ensure that people working with Vulnerable Adults undertake the Alerter Training as quickly as possible the Safeguarding Team, working with the Learning & Development Team within Adults, Wellbeing & Health and decha have developed the Safeguarding Alerter Pack.

FREE COURSE The North of England Cardiovascular Network is funding 20 places on the Stroke Association's 'Caring for People Affected by Stroke' one day course to be held on Thursday 11th March. This course is suitable for any staff working in Care/Nursing Homes who are caring for people who have had a stroke.

Two new Key Facilities are now available on the SCILS/EILS website:

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN & GROUP SHARING FORUMS

Skills for Care have issued some useful documents to help you register your organisation's information and use the reports to assist in workforce development

Just a reminder that the final milestone for TSI (Training Strategy Initiative) during this financial year is fast approaching.

The County Durham Safeguarding Adults Inter-agency Partnership is committed to providing safeguarding adults training to all partner agencies, including the independent and voluntary sector.

Due to popular demand the decha Short Course Programme has been extended to include additional dates for the courses which have been newly introduced during the September 2009 to March 2010 programme.

County Durham DISC held their Staff Away Day at Hall Garth Golf & Country Club, Darlington, and the first business of the day was the presentation of a Skills for Care Learner of the Year Award to Jo Hall.

There have been several new dates/courses added to the Short Course Programme and we still have places available on the rest of the programme.

Developing Growth and Opportunity is designed for small to medium sized employers and a grant may be available to cover the majority of the cost. To find out if your organisation may qualify please call Ray Cox on 01494 817000.

The Safeguarding and Practice Development Team, funded jointly by Durham County Council and County Durham PCT, have now published their latest edition of their Dignity newsletter which can be found at the link below.

the HPA have updated their guidance in respect of Swine Flu for Care Homes which can be accessed for information purposes for those working in Social Care Environments.

The following link may be of interest to you, Hartlepool Borough Council are managing a grants scheme which is regionwide and offers grants for VCS groups delivering against Employability outcomes.

The Big Care Debate, launched by the Government to find out what the adult social care sector really thinks about the 'Shaping the Future of Care Together' Green Paper announced in July, has instigated Skills for Care's 1000 Voices Questionnaire in order to attempt to find out what the sector thinks.

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Team are planning to hold four half day sessions to raise awareness on the Mental Capacity Act. These sessions will be used to up date homes on issues surrounding the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and provide guidance on the following areas of the Mental Capacity Act:

through Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS)

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards came into force on 1st of April 2009 as an amendment to the Mental Capacity Act 2005

To date there have been fewer applications than expected across the North-East region. It may be that care home managers do not yet fully understand when they should be applying for an authorisation. There may be unlawful deprivations of liberty taking place

The Durham County Safeguarding Adults Board are offering training to staff from all organisations (including the Independent & Voluntary sector)with the county.

Coming to a Car Park near you!

This Autumn Roadshow has something for everyone, whether you have fully up dated, need to update or never registered there's something for you at the nmds-sc (National Minimum Data Set - Social Care) roadshow. The bus is fully equipped to allow you to obtain a login, upload data and edit any data currently logged to your establishment and there are staff there to support you through the process.

Members, Please be aware that a new e-learning course is now available FREE for all decha members. The hand hygiene course lasts approximately 15 minutes and is great for all staff working at all levels.

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Team (Durham County Council) are planning to hold four half day sessions to raise awareness on the Mental Capacity Act. These sessions will be used to up date homes on issues surrounding the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and provide guidance on the following areas of the Mental Capacity Act:

Just a reminder that the Short Course programme is now open for bookings

This piece of work was initiated and funded by Skills for Care NE. In January 09 it was agreed that Durham Employers’ Care and Health Alliance would facilitate three sessions with local advocacy services in Durham, and regionally where possible, to assess the impact on these services of the introduction of the personalisation agenda.

decha have been advised that the bid we submitted for TSI Funding has now been accepted, and on completion of contractual agreements between decha and Skills for Care we will be managing the funding for 1000 units for our membership.