Phil Harper, Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care, Newman University
I am a senior lecturer in Health and Social Care, specialising in Social Care and Dementia.Throughout my teaching career many students have expressed interest in care home management. However, after graduating only a small fraction work in care homes, and even fewer secure management positions.
After speaking to students and care homes, I discovered that it is hard for Health and Social Care degree holders to get their qualifications recognised. A lengthy application process, demonstrating transferable skills and meeting the requirements of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and Skills for Care, is often cited as the reason why. In the CQC guidance, it states that a “degree/master’s degree related to social care” is acceptable. However, it does not seem to be as easy as it seems.
Benefits of studying health and social care at university
University students studying health and social care and related subjects, develop advanced knowledge that is research informed. This means that it is at the cutting edge of best practice and policy, as the lecturers and academics are often experts and researchers in their field.
For example, I am a specialist in LGBTQ+ care for people living with dementia. I work on many national and international working groups and projects and, I can bring current global best practices into my teaching, often before national qualification curriculums can be developed or changed.
My collaborative working also benefits my students, as it enables me to support them with networking and other research and work experience opportunities that might not exist outside of a university setting.
Here at Newman University, where I work, we have a strong ethos of applying everything we do to practice to bring about change. We involve our students in research, practice-focused projects, and work placements.Many of our collaborations and opportunities are developed through our outreach and partnership work. This is not always the case when studying other qualifications at different establishments.
Lastly, higher level study encourages students to be critical thinkers. This is often what distinguishes universities and higher education institutions from further education. By encouraging students to challenge practices and gain an advanced level of knowledge, means they are better equipped to lead and develop in their field of practice (Menamin et al., 2014). All of this would mean that our graduates will be knowledgeable, competent managers within social care.
What needs to happen?
There needs to be more awareness around the transferable skills that health and social care graduates, (and graduates of related subjects), can bring to social care. There should also be a simpler process for recognising alternative qualifications with the right experience. This is already happening in healthcare, where graduates often become service leads in the NHS, for example.
We must not let social care be seen as the lower-qualified, poor stepsister to the healthcare system due to unsupportive systems. Degrees getting recognition should not replace or deter from a Level 5 or different qualification for those who want to study and follow this route.This is just to allow for more graduate opportunities and to understand that graduates bring relevant skills, together with experience, to become a registered manager in social care.
We know we have a social care staffing crisis. Why are we not opening management to a wide range of brilliant candidates who have transferable skills and often extensive care experience?
